Our Top 5 NBA Rookies To Watch This Season

With week one of the NBA season underway, we thought it’d be a great time to name the top 5 rookies to watch this 18/19 season.

There are not many things that are more exciting for an NBA team than a talented rookie. Last years crop had experts thinking it was the best crop of rookies we’ve ever seen and with the likes of Simmons, Mitchell & Tatum it’s hard to argue.

So who will be the standout rookies of the upcoming season? Here are our top 5 rookies to follow this 18/19 season.

5th: Collin Sexton, Cleveland Cavaliers (PG)

LeBron James is gone, and so are the Cavs’ will be looking for an up and coming talent to fill the huge shoes of a legend. They’ve still got veteran talent with Kevin Love, George Hill, and Kyle Korver, but Sexton should find himself playing more of a central role. We expect him to play heavy minutes. He’s a scoring point guard more than a distributor, averaging 19.2 ppg (compared to 3.6 assists per game) in his lone season at Alabama. The knock on him entering the Draft was his outside shooting, so if he can improve in that arena, he could find himself making a name for himself.

4th: Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets (SF/PF)

With his ability to play multiple positions, Bridges will see plenty of playing time. New coach James Borrego is impressed with Bridges’ versatility and his quick learning curve. He should help anchor the second unit and we expect him to score plenty of points thanks to a high motor and ability to step out and hit from beyond the arc.

3rd: Kevin Knox, New York Knicks (SF)

 With Kristaps Porzingis still out, Knox will have a chance to shine right away. He led the young Wildcats to a 10-8 conference record, finishing 4th in the SEC, but still led the team with 15.9 points per game. He’s got the size and outside touch to make a mark at Madison Square Garden and become a starter and building block for the Knicks.

2nd: Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (Guard/SF)

Doncic is just 19 years old, but many see him as the favorite to take home Kia Rookie of the Year honors. The Slovenian playmaker comes to the league with a reputation as a ballhandling floor general in the mold of Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, but with outside range to match. So far in the preseason, that range and passing ability has been on display. That’s not the only thing his opposition will have trouble with. He stands at 6-foot-7 and with brilliant ballhandling or 3-point range we expect to see him getting plenty of minutes. The Mavs are starting him as a forward, but his versatility allows him to do a little bit of everything based on the matchups.

1st: Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns (C/PF)

It wasn’t hard to predict that all eyes will be on the number one draft pick but how could we go past him as the number one rookie to watch out for? The athletic center will be the focus of the offense with current star Devin Booker still working his way back from a hand injury. Ayton, at 7-foot-1, has the size and athletic ability to make an instant impact on a franchise that doesn’t have a long list of dominant centers. Ayton averaged 21.3 points and 12.7 rebounds in 30 minutes per game in three of the Suns’ preseason games.

Watch Deandre Ayton’s preseason highlights in the video below

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