NBA Rookie Rankings: 5 guys under the most pressure

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A lot of NBA rookies hit the wall after the All-Star break, but these five players are going to be under real pressure down the stretch.

The fun of All-Star weekend is over so it’s time for us to start focusing back in on what will matter to each NBA team down the stretch. Specifically, we’re curious to see how this year’s class of rookies responds to the grind that is the regular season.

A lot of first year players will get the opportunity to play relatively care free basketball over the next few months. Teams eliminated from serious postseason consideration will start to tank and giving rookies big minutes is a great way to enact that strategy. Even so, some players on bad teams will be under pressure to show they can be stars moving forward.

At the other end of the spectrum, rookies who are firmly entrenched in contender’s rotations are going to face a lot of scrutiny. These players can’t afford to hit any sort of rookie wall. They need to play their best basketball when the playoffs arrive.

Without delay, let’s take a look at the five guys facing the most pressure after the All-Star break. We start with a guy who needs to help keep his team in the playoff mix.

5. Miles Bridges

If the regular season ended today, the 27-30 Hornets would sneak into the Eastern Conference Playoffs as the seven seed. Clearly, Michael Jordan would like to see his Hornets move up the standings.

Bridges is one of the only guys on the roster who really has much upside. No one expects him to morph into a star down the stretch, but if he can play like a solid starter it would really help take some pressure off of Kemba Walker.

Specifically, Bridges needs to find a way to make some shots to open up the floor for his teammates. His current effective field goal percentage of just over 50 isn’t going to cut it. In a perfect world he’d start taking and making a few more 3s down the stretch, but getting to the foul line at a higher clip would suffice.

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