NBA Rookie Rankings: Luka Doncic extends his lead

We’re far enough into the NBA season to get a real sense of where rookies stand. One thing we know for sure is that Luka Doncic is amazing.

If the NBA Rookie of the Year balloting was held today then Luka Doncic would win in a landslide. He’s been nothing short of sensational for the Mavericks. Rick Carlisle has to enjoy working with him on a daily basis. He’s still just scratching the surface of his immense potential.

That doesn’t mean he’s the only guy in his draft class capable of blossoming into a consistent All-Star. On the whole, most lottery teams are pretty pleased with how their top selections have performed to date. No one is quite handling the load as well as Doncic, but there’s a lot of quality present.

That makes ranking the 2018-19 rookie class pretty tough. Fortunately, we’re here to do it for you. We start our list with a big man who returns to the rankings this week.

5. Jaren Jackson, Jr.

The Grizzlies big man fell out of the rankings last week in favor of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Fortunately for Memphis fans, he’s started to play better basketball as of late.

We particularly liked the aggression he showed in his team’s 16-point loss at Golden State. He wasn’t overly efficient on offense, but the fact that he was able to get 16 shots up in 32 minutes bodes well for his future. The Grizzlies need him to try to punish smaller players on switches whenever he gets the opportunity. That’s precisely what he did against the Warriors.

The keys for the 19-year-old moving forward will be to stay out of foul trouble and rediscover his perimeter jump shot. His proclivity to pick up cheap fouls in the first quarter has forced him to spend too much time on the bench this year. The fact that he’s currently shooting 15.8 percent from behind the arc has forced him to drive the ball into traffic too often.

The good news is these are fixable problems. Don’t be surprised if Jackson puts up some big games this week.