Nuggets center Nikola Jokic sets a screen on Golden State’s Stephen Curry for teammate Emmanuel Mudiay in a game earlier this season. (Photo by Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)
If there’s one thing pretty much everyone agrees on about this year’s crop of NBA rookies, it’s that this is the best class since 2003.
All that class had was LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and David West to name a few. While the top of this class isn’t as star-studded, it can be argued it’s deeper.
These were the first 12 picks in last year’s draft: Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, Jalil Okafor, Kristaps Porzingis, Mario Hezonja, Willie Cauley-Stein, Emmanuel Mudiay, Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminsky, Justise Winslow, Myles Turner, Trey Lyles and Devin Booker.
Almost all of them are A) playing well and B) getting important minutes on their teams in doing so.
“I think it’s probably the best class since 2003 with LeBron and them,” Mudiay said. “I think we got that type of talent. I think the more we keep working — hopefully no one gets too Hollywood or anything like that. Everybody keeps working and we could have a real special class.”
Jokic, backs in for a shot as Toronto’s Cory Joseph defends. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
It will make selecting the all-Rookie teams as difficult as it has been in some time, particularly in picking the first team. Towns is a lock. And probably Porzingis, too, given his full body of work even if he’s cooled off a bit of late. But beyond that? Good players will be left off the first team. Good players might be left off the second team.
Not among those top 12 draft picks is Nuggets forward Nikola Jokic, a second-round pick in 2014. But right now he’s near the top of almost every top rookie list crafted.
Will Jokic be a first-team all-Rookie selection? Will Mudiay? How much of a case do the Nuggets have for both to be on the first-team?
A pretty good one.
Going into Wednesday night’s games, Jokic has the second-highest player efficiency rating among all rookies (22.12), barley trailing Towns (22.80). His true shooting percentage (59.3 percent) is second only to Cauley-Stein. His offensive rebounding rate (11.6) leads all rookies and his defensive rebound rate is second to Towns.
Jokic is fourth in rebound average overall among rookies, grabbing 6.4 per game. He’s averaging 10 points per game, too, which is eighth. Jokic, who was named to the Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend, is playing himself into ‘lock’ territory. A strong finish might solidify that.
Mudiay, meanwhile, leads all rookies in assists (5.8), he is fourth in scoring (12.3 points per game) and he’s turned the volume way up on his play in March with averages of 19.0 points, 6.0 assists, 45.6 percent shooting from the field and 41.7 percent shooting from the 3-point line.
The path to first-team inclusion isn’t as crowded in the backcourt as it is in the front court. Russell and Booker are the most formidable competition. Only once in the Nuggets history have they had two players make all-Rookie teams in the same season. They’ve never had two players both on the first team in the same season.
Stay tuned.
Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com
