NBA Rookie power rankings: New name and Ausar Thompson drops

Two things have been consistent for the Detroit Pistons over the last week: They keep losing games and Ausar Thompson continues to impress.

Even in a recent loss, Thompson joined an elite group of rookies statistically that includes Kevin Garnett and Ralph Sampson.

He’s at or near the top of just about every rookie statistic, unfortunately, his team is losing, which is one of the reasons he dropped from last week’s Rookie power rankings.

There have been some huge performances over the last week and the top of the rankings may have already settled where they are going to be at the end of the season.

NBA Rookie power rankings

#5: Jordan Hawkins

Hawkins is a new addition to the top five after having a couple of big games this week, including a 31-point, seven-rebound, three-assist effort against the Nuggets in which he hit 7-of-14 from long range. Hawkins has been thrust into a bigger role because of injuries, as the Pelicans are one of the few teams in the league with as many key injuries as the Deroit Pistons. He’s averaging 12.5 points (good for 4th among rookies) to go along with four rebounds per game while shooting 36.4 percent from long range, which is where he gets most of his shots. The shooting splits aren’t great, but he is launching more than seven per game from 3-point range. Hawkins is a big reason the Pelicans are off to a 4-3 start even though most of their key players are out.