For the third straight year, the Detroit Pistons will have at least one player, and maybe more, on the All-Rookie team.
Both Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren have shown signs of big potential this season and look to be part of a trio the Pistons will build around when Cade Cunningham comes back next season.
They’ve been mainstays on the KIA Rookie Ladder and neither has fallen out of the top-10 since very early in the season, and Ivey has risen has high as second in the weekly rankings.
But there are still games left to play and there could be more shuffling, as some rookies continue to rack up big stats on bad teams and others make contributions on teams fighting to get into the playoffs or to get a better seed.
This could make things tough for voters.
Detroit Pistons: Choosing the All-Rookie teams
Traditionally, most of the top rookies end up on bad teams, but that hasn’t been the case over the last few seasons. Last year we saw both Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley help their teams make the leap in the standings, and they were rewarded with the top-2 spots in the Rookie of the Year voting over Cade Cunningham, who arguably put up better stats but on a terrible team.
Paolo Banchero is pretty much a lock for Rookie of the Year, but beyond that, it will be interesting to see if voters reward some of the players who are on better teams over those that are getting their stats on bad ones.
I predict it will be a little of both, so here is my early prediction for the first and second All-Rookie teams.
NBA All-Rookie 1st team
There are really only two locks for the first team in Paolo Banchero and Bennedict Mathurin, though Jaden Ivey has a strong case to be in that group after putting up very good all-around numbers.
The Magic and Pacers aren’t exactly good, but they are at least sniffing the play-in and their two rookies are part of the reason why. Both teams are at least 11 games ahead of the Detroit Pistons.
- Paolo Banchero
- Bennedict Mathurin
- Jaden Ivey
- Jalen Williams
- Keegan Murray
Scoring is rewarded here, as those are the top five guys in points per game in this rookie class, but Williams and Murray are also rewarded for being on better teams, as OKC is also fighting for the play-in and and Sacramento Kings are a surprising 3-seed in the Western Conference, so Murray is putting up numbers on a playoff team.
There have been guys like Walker Kessler and Jabari Smith Jr. who have improved as the season has progressed, but these spots are for the whole season, not just a part of it.
NBA All-Rookie 2nd team
The second team is much harder to fill out, and these spots are definitely up for grabs, especially if some of these guys play very well down the stretch or don’t play at all. Jalen Duren is still recovering from an ankle injury for the Detroit Pistons and is now sharing time with both James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley III, so there is a chance he could slip.
- Walker Kessler
- Jabari Smith Jr.
- Jalen Duren
- Tari Eason
- Jeremy Sochan
I rewarded rebounding and defense with this group, as Kessler has been a block machine this season (how’s that Gobert trade working out?), Duren has led all rookie rebounders and both Eason and Sochan have been good all-rounders who hustle and make plays on defense.
You still have guys like AJ Griffin, Malachi Branham and Mark Williams who have strong cases as well, especially if Duren doesn’t bounce back soon.
The Detroit Pistons hope to add another impact talent this offseason, so it could be the 4th year in a row that they have a player on the All-Rookie team, but let’s hope that starts translating to wins next season and not just more rookie hope.