NBA Rookie of the Year (ROTY): December 7th, 2021 | Latest Power Rankings by Sportskeeda
The first week of December in the NBA has been wild and crazy. The 18-game winning streak of the Phoenix Suns ended at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. LeBron James entered the league's health and safety protocols, only to be cleared three days later because of false positives.
The Houston Rockets now have the longest active winning streak in the NBA, while Enes Kanter legally changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom after becoming a United States citizen. Evan Mobley and Josh Giddey won Rookie of the Month honors for their respective conferences, but will it have an effect on their ROTY power rankings? Let's take a look at this week's Rookie of the Year Power Rankings by Sportskeeda.
#5 Chris Duarte
Previous week’s NBA ROTY Power Ranking - NA
Last Week: Games played - 3; Games won - 1; Games lost - 2
Overall: Games played - 24; Games won - 10; Games lost - 14
Last Week: PPG - 13.0, APG - 1.3, RPG - 3.7
Overall: PPG - 13.1, APG - 2.0, RPG - 4.1
Last Week: FG% - 41.7%, 3P% - 18.8%, SPG - 2.3
Overall: FG% - 41.9%, 3P% - 34.6%, SPG - 1.1
Chris Duarte of the Indiana Pacers is back in this week's NBA Rookie of the Year power rankings at number five. Duarte returned to the top five after a good week averaging 13.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. It also helped that Josh Giddey missed several games due to injury.
Duarte will have to maintain or even improve his play this week if he wants to keep his spot in the NBA ROTY power rankings. Giddey has recovered from his injury and played on Monday for the OKC Thunder. Duarte struggled from beyond the arc last week, but improved his defense.
Rookie of the Night: Chris Duarte https://t.co/3X2k6ZfeNA
#4 Franz Wagner
Previous week’s NBA ROTY Power Ranking - #3
Last Week: Games played - 3; Games won - 1; Games lost - 2
Overall: Games played - 25; Games won - 5; Games lost - 20
Last Week: PPG - 15.7, APG - 5.3, RPG - 4.0
Overall: PPG - 13.6, APG - 2.8, RPG - 4.3
Last Week: FG% - 52.8%, 3P% - 50.0%, SPG - 2.7
Overall: FG% - 44.0%, 3P% - 36.5%, SPG - 1.2
Orlando Magic rookie forward Franz Wagner slides down one spot in this week's NBA Rookie of the Year power rankings. Wagner didn't have a bad week, but Cade Cunningham just had a better overall performance.
In fact, Wagner played really well last week, averaging 151.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists, while shooting 52.8% from the field and 50.0% from the three-point area. He also showed his defensive potential by averaging 2.7 steals per game.
Franz Wagner appreciation post https://t.co/Ow54LopFLy