NBA Week 5 Rewind: Warriors, Kobe Bryant rewrite history

Weekly NBA Rookie Watch

This week, we’ll take a look at the three star big men of the 2015-16 draft class.

Kristaps Porzingis

Porzingis is quickly emerging as the most exciting rookie at this early stage of the season. He’s playing with aggression, showing some shooting range, rebounding well, protecting the rim, and has even developed a signature move: ferocious put-back dunks. With 13.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, he’s emerged as the kind of defensive presence and double double machine that few people this side of Phil Jackson were expecting.

Last week was no different. With a 20 point, 14 rebound outing against the Miami Heat and a 20 point, 13 rebound night against the Rockets, he was doing what he does best. Those kind of performances have resulted in Porzingis raising the Knicks’ offensive rating while lowering the scoring of their opponents whenever he’s on the floor, and they lead by an average of 4.3 points per 100 possessions when he’s in the game because of it. Seeing as they trail by 7.9 points without him, it’s clear what kind of impact he’s having.

Jahlil Okafor

Okafor had one of the more difficult weeks of his young NBA career in week 5, which was mainly due to what he dealt with off the court. First, he got into a fight outside of a bar in Boston, and then he was pulled over for driving at 108 mph over the Ben Franklin Bridge (which has a speed limit of only 40 mph). Not the best way to conduct yourself as a rookie and the future face of your franchise, but it’s only two incidents and there’s no need to rush to conclusions that Okafor is going to be a constant problem off the court.

Now, as for his game (except for 30 percent shooting in his last two games), he impressed again. Specifically, his post clinic against Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves on Monday showcased exactly what Okafor can do. With 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting, he displayed his stellar footwork and wide array of moves on the block that are tough for most players to deal with already. After five weeks, he leads all rookies with 17.5 points per game and ranks third in blocks (behind the other two players in this segment) with 1.6.

Karl-Anthony Towns had a quiet week by the early high standards he’s set. His Timberwolves went 3-1, but in their three wins Towns never had more than 7 points in each. In all of those games he never had more than 7 field goal attempts and only had 16 total rebounds. That being said, his playing time was dropped to around 20 minutes a night, which is partly to blame for a drop in his production. However, as the Timberwolves went to Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Clippers, Towns delivered a much better performance against the All-NBA duo of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. With 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and a block, he fared well against such a talented and athletic frontcourt.

Next: Under-the-radar Players to Watch Next Week