With NBA preseason games underway, this is the first time that fans can see their newest players on the court. Several rookies are drawing a lot of attention as this class has some very good players at the top of it.
The trio of Jabari Smith Jr., Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero separated themselves during the pre-draft process as the consensus top-three picks.
While the order ended up flipping, as Banchero went No. 1 to the Orlando Magic and Smith went to the Houston Rockets at No. 3, analysts predicted the first three players off the board correctly. Holmgren went No. 2 overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder but will miss his first season in the NBA because of a Lisfranc injury suffered during the CrawsOver Pro-Am in Seattle.
While we will have to wait to see Holmgren on the court, Banchero and Smith are ready to help their team win some games right away. Both should receive plenty of opportunities early and often, which is why it should come as no surprise that both were mentioned by general managers as picks to win the Rookie of the Year award.
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In the annual NBA App GM survey, Paolo Banchero was the runaway favorite to win the award. He received 79 percent of the votes as no one was really close. Last season, Jalen Green was the top vote-getter at 47 percent, which gives some context into how much of a landslide this is for the Duke product.
Jabari Smith Jr. came in third in the voting with only three percent. Second place was Keegan Murray out of Iowa, who landed with the Sacramento Kings as the No. 4 overall pick.
Keegan Murray is in a good position to produce as he should be starting for the Kings from Day 1. The former Hawkeye was excellent in his preseason debut, scoring 17 points off the bench in 21 minutes to go along with six rebounds, one assist and two steals.
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It is somewhat surprising that Jaden Ivey, who went No. 5 overall to the Detroit Pistons, didn’t receive any votes to win the award. The Purdue product landed in an advantageous position as he should be in the starting backcourt alongside 2021 No. 1 overall pick, Cade Cunningham, for a franchise looking to start winning some games this season.
