Rookie Cards: The 2018 rookie class through two weeks

A preview of the weekly Rookie Cards column, an overview of the 2018 rookie class and a look at which players are leading the class in production through their first two weeks in the NBA.

With so many stars, characters and storylines, so much coverage and access, it’s hard to keep up with even the primary stories around the league these days.

As I was looking through the season outlooks and rosters for all 30 teams thinking about how to cover this season, what areas to focus on, I realized that the most compelling storylines for about half the teams in the league centered around rookie players. Maybe it’s a product of tanking and just how much teams bank on building through the draft. Maybe it’s because there are so many intriguing individual players in this draft class. Maybe I have more of a vested interest in this particular class than any before it because of the time I spent covering the draft and everything leading into it.

Either way, between my own curiosity and the amount of national intrigue surrounding this class, I decided to devote a weekly column to first-year players in the 2018-19 NBA season.

Every Thursday, I will be publishing a piece that focuses on the collective progress and impact of this rookie class and then breaks down three individual players — roles on their teams, performance compared to projections and draft order, how they’ve developed over the season, etc. from both looking at numbers and watching games.

This is a preview of what to expect from the Rookie Cards column as well as some observations through two weeks of play.