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Another week and another set of incredible performances from Luka Doncic who is on pace for one of the greatest rookie campaigns of all time. Doncic was sensational once again this week and he extended the gap between himself and Ayton who had a mixed bag of a week.
As for the lows, Collin Sexton drops out of the top 5 after a couple of sub-par weeks. He's perhaps going through the phase the guy he is replaced by went through as Jaren Jackson Jr enters the top 5 after a brief hiatus.
As for some guys we had our eyes on, Kevin Huerter had a pretty poor week and drops out of the picture completely while Radion Kurucs started off with 2 Double-Doubles but fizzled out in his next two games. With that being said, here are the top 5 Rookies after week 11.
#5 Jaren Jackson Jr
Jaren Jackson Jr. returns to the Top 5 after a solid week highlighted by a 27 Point outing against the Lakers in which he drilled a game-clinching 3 Pointer over LeBron James of all people.
His return does have something to do with Sexton's production slipping over the past few weeks, however. Jackson averaged 17.6 Points and 5 Rebounds while shooting 55% from the field as the Grizzlies snapped their 5 game losing run and won 2 out 3 this week.
He is probably going to be in and out of the top 5 throughout the season, being the youngest of the elite prospects. Jackson, however, keeps showing flashes of what he is capable of, the game against the Lakers being a prime example, as LA simply had no answer for his unique offensive repertoire. Coming up this week for the Grizzlies are the Rockets, Pistons, Nets, and Spurs.
#4 Kevin Knox
Kevin Knox drops down a spot after two mediocre outings to close out the week. He started off brightly with 21 Points against the Bucks at home, but it was all downhill post that. Knox managed 12 Points in each of the next 2 encounters against the Bucks and Jazz and was a non-factor as New York was blown out.
He finished the week with averages of 15 Points and 5.6 Rebounds, a significant drop from last week. I did expect to see some drop off from Knox this week as the Bucks and Jazz are both top 5 in defensive efficiency and going on the road to that lot is never easy, especially for a rookie.
Still, the competition is high from #3-5 and any slip-ups will result in a tumble down the rankings. It gets a bit easier for Knox this coming week with matchups against the Nuggets and Lakers.
#3 Trae Young
After almost falling out of the top 5 a couple of weeks back, Young has had a resurgence off late as he climbs up another spot. He capped off another solid week with 21 Points and 9 Assists against the Cavaliers.
There has been an uptick in efficiency as well which is a good sign for the Hawks. Trae averaged 16.5 Points and 8.7 Assists as the Hawks went 3-1 this week. These numbers seem to be the status quo now for Young and while I do believe they'll always regret the Luka Doncic trade, they seem to have gotten a guy who will definitely be an All-Star in the future.
The top 3 is now what I thought it'd be at the start of the season and I think there's a good chance that these 3 will be at the podium, come the end of the season. As for the coming week, Trae and the Hawks go up against the Pacers, Wizards, and Bucks.
#2 DeAndre Ayton
It was always going to be difficult for Ayton to maintain the level of excellence that we saw from him last week. Averages of 23.3 Points and 16 Rebounds were always going to be too difficult to maintain.
Coming off four straight 20 point double-doubles, he only managed one this time around, but boy was it incredible. Ayton set career highs in scoring with 33 Points against the Nuggets (24 in the 2nd Quarter alone) to go along with 14 Rebounds.
The scoring fluctuation has a lot to do with the aggressiveness which he doesn't show at times, like against the Magic when he shot the ball only 7 times. Considering how effective and efficient Ayton has been as a scorer, you'd like to see him demand the ball almost every possession but he gets way too passive.
It's up to the coaching staff and his teammates to ensure that Ayton stays aggressive and that they keep feeding him the ball. The Suns have had a mini-resurgence off late and if it has to continue, they'll need Ayton to be at his aggressive best, with games against the likes of The Warriors, Sixers, and Clippers coming up.
#1 Luka Doncic
While the other rookie's had an up and down week, Doncic was his usual sensational self. He averaged 26 Points per game this week to go along with 7.3 Rebounds and 6.3 Assists, which is very LeBron James esque.
Doncic flirted with a triple-double in the 1st of his matchups with the Pelicans, falling just one rebound shy. The next time out, he erupted for 34 Points, but the Mavericks couldn't eke out back to back wins thanks to Anthony Davis going off for 48 Points and 17 Rebounds.
Ayton looked primed to take over the Number 1 spot from Doncic after his sensational week 10, but his level dipped slightly and Doncic has now extended the gap between the duo. Next week promises tougher challenges for Luka with two games against OKC to go along with games against the Celtics and Sixers, but if his play this season is anything to go by, expect Luka to put on a show again.
