Regardless of what happens this season in the win column, the Detroit Pistons once again have two of the best rookies in the NBA.
The Pistons have been a mainstay on the All-Rookie team, as both Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart made it in 2021, Cade Cunningham made it last season and both Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren are on the path to making it in this one.
For those who think Dwane Casey should be fired (and they may be right), it’s not because he hasn’t done a good job with his rookies, as he’s had at least one on the first team All-Rookie squad in two straight seasons and it’s likely to be three.
But which Pistons’ rookie will it be? It seemed as though Jaden Ivey was destined for a first-team spot and probably still is, but Jalen Duren is also making his case.
Detroit Pistons: Jalen Duren overtakes Jaden Ivey on Rookie Ladder
The KIA Rookie Ladder is the NBA’s weekly ranking of rookies and both Ivey and Duren have been on it for most of the season.
Ivey has fluctuated between 6th and 2nd, while Duren has spent most of the season hovering between 10th and 7th.
That changed this week, as Duren made his first appearance in the top-5, jumping all the way up to 5th and leapfrogging his teammate in the process, as Ivey stayed at 6th, where he has been for a couple of weeks in a row.
Duren’s move came on the back of his best game of the season, in which he joined LeBron James as one of the youngest players to ever record a 30 point/15 rebound game as a rookie.
Paolo Banchero kept his top spot even though he’s been struggling lately, Bennedict Mathurin came in second, Jalen Williams of OKC landed third and Walker Kessler came in 4th, underpinning just how bad that Gobert trade really was.
Ivey probably should be getting more love, as he’s been much more consistent of late and is actually shooting a higher percentage from 3-point range than Mathurin, who was quickly labeled as a 3-point sniper early in the season.
The rankings of the two rookies on the Detroit Pistons will be one of the storylines to watch in the last 23 games of the season. Will both end up on the first team All-Rookie squad?