NBA Rookie of the Year (ROTY) Power Rankings featuring Josh Giddey, Evan Mobley and more | February 15th, 2022
The race for the NBA Rookie of the Year is heating up. The top five remain solid despite the injury to Cade Cunningham, who made his return in the latter part of last week.
The middle of the pack continues to shuffle this week as the league heads toward All-Star Weekend, wherein a lot of rookies are invited to participate in several activities.
A total of 12 rookies were invited for the Rising Stars Challenge. Cunningham, Josh Giddey, Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes will participate in the Skills Challenge. Second overall pick Jalen Green of the Houston Rockets is in the Slam Dunk Contest.
But before heading into All-Star Weekend, let's take a look at this week's NBA Rookie of the Year power rankings.
#5 Cade Cunningham
Previous week's NBA ROTY Power Ranking - #5
Last Week: Games played - 2; Games won - 0; Games lost - 2
Overall: Games played - 43; Games won - 11; Games lost - 32
Last Week: PPG - 12.0, APG - 3.0, RPG - 4.5
Overall: PPG - 15.6, APG - 5.1, RPG - 5.4
Last Week: FG% - 34.5%, 3P% - 20.0%, SPG - 1.5
Overall: FG% - 39.5%, 3P% - 32.3%, SPG - 1.3
Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons returned to the lineup last week after recovering from a hip injury. Cunningham played in just two games, averaging 12.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in two games.
He struggled with his shot, but it was understandable as he almost missed two weeks due to the injury.
Despite playing just two games last week, Cunningham remains at number five in this week's NBA Rookie of the Year power rankings. He's still capable of putting up big numbers and climbing higher, but he has to avoid further injuries.
Cade Cunningham step back 👀
https://t.co/grqRVhhe74
#4 Scottie Barnes
Previous week’s NBA ROTY Power Ranking - #2
Last Week: Games played - 4; Games won - 2; Games lost - 2
Overall: Games played - 48; Games won - 26; Games lost - 22
Last Week: PPG - 12.0, APG - 2.8, RPG - 4.5
Overall: PPG - 14.5, APG - 3.3, RPG - 7.5
Last Week: FG% - 42.9%, 3P% - 22.2%, FT% - 76.9%
Overall: FG% - 47.0%, 3P% - 31.3%, FT% - 73.3%
Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors has come back down to Earth, moving down to the fourth spot in this week's NBA Rookie of the Year power rankings. In four games, Barnes averaged just 12.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
It was an up-and-down week for the rookie, as he had two single-digit scoring games.
Barnes started off last week with a 17-point performance against the OKC Thunder before a nine-point effort versus the Houston Rockets.
He bounced back with another 17 points against the Denver Nuggets before finishing the week with a five-point dud in New Orleans.
The Raptors really made the right call drafting Scottie Barnes. I'm re-watching the Raptors Nuggets game. Barnes' confidence to attack Jokic is impressive. https://t.co/wwRbhqCYOC