Stanley Johnson climbing NBA.com’s rookie ladder

Stanley Johnson has stepped up his game over the last two weeks, and NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper has taken notice as the Detroit Pistons’ rookie has cracked the top-10 on his rookie ladder.

It took a little longer than expected, but it looks like the NBA is finally slowing down for Stanley Johnson.

With improved play on the court, Johnson has found his way onto Scott Howard-Cooper’s Rookie Ladder, which is a weekly ranking of the top 10 rookies in the NBA.

Here’s what Howard-Cooper had to say about Johnson (ranked ninth on the ladder) last week (via NBA.com):

"Last week’s rankings: Not rankedIf he keeps shooting like this, he keeps climbing. The move toward respectability on offense, though still at 39.1 percent from the field on the season, has come with making 48.6 of his attempts the last seven games. That includes 39.1 percent while attempting a little more than three 3-pointers in the same time, another big jump. Johnson has had the defense all along, making him a lot like Winslow, forwards with important reserve roles on teams on playoff pace but needing to find some solid ground on offense."

And this week ranking, where Johnson stayed at ninth place on the list:

"Last Week’s ranking: 9The player who has spent most of his time at small forward and has the physical tools and tenacity at 19 years old to handle real minutes at power forward in small-ball situations is now the starting shooting guard in place of the injured Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The key development remains Johnson and his continued improvements as a shooter. He is at 45.3 percent and 12.4 points the last 11 games, the first extended contribution on offense after previously making his mark on the other side of the ball. The season-long number, though, is still 39.3 percent."

Johnson is lumped into one talented rookie class. Ranking ninth is nothing to be discouraged about if you are a Pistons fan, especially since Johnson’s play of late has the arrow trending way up.

Here are the players that are ranked ahead of Johnson (in order) on Howard-Cooper’s list:

1. Karl Anthony-Towns
2. Kristaps Porzingis
3. Jahlil Okafor
4. Nikola Jokic
5. Devin Booker
6. Justise Winslow
7. D’Angelo Russell
8. Myles Turner

Really, the only head-scratcher here is Justise Winslow, who is ranked three spots ahead of Johnson. Both players have been pretty even so far this season, so a three spot lead for Winslow doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. (chalk it up to the name of Winslow and the performance of the Heat this season perhaps?)

Hopefully Johnson not only continues what he’s shown over the last two weeks, but gets even better.

If that happens, expect Johnson to continue to ascend up the rookie ladder.