The NBA\u2019s Rookie of the Year (ROY) race has had a number of twists and turns already.<\/p>\n
Initially, Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard<\/a> was favored, a byproduct of his play in Summer League<\/a>. After the preseason, Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey<\/a> looked like it was his award to lose<\/a>. Helping him was the fact that he was expected to start throughout his rookie season, unlike Sheppard. Though Edey stumbled out the blocks, he did play well early on.<\/p>\n However, injuries and outstanding play by some of their less revered classmates has completely flipped the ladder.<\/p>\n Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain<\/a> has cooled off considerably over the last week and a half. In his past four games, he\u2019s averaging 14.3 points per game. However, he\u2019s shooting just 37.3 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from three as defenses throw the kitchen sink at him.<\/p>\n With that being said, McCain was so hot prior to that stretch<\/a> it\u2019s all but impossible to knock him down the ladder. In fact, he\u2019s currently leading the rookie class with 16.1 points per game on respectable .459-.377-.906 shooting splits. Yet, his status as the favorite is subject to change.<\/p>\n For one, McCain does still have to prove he can handle the increased attention. Additionally, he\u2019s no longer in the starting lineup now that Paul George<\/a> has returned. Unless Sixers head coach demotes Kelly Oubre Jr.<\/a>, which would have a negative impact on their defense, he\u2019s likely to remain in that role \u2014 outside of spot starts.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an undeniable value in having a marquee marksman and that\u2019s what Dalton Knecht<\/a> has proven himself to be early in his career. At 41.0 percent shooting from three, Knecht isn\u2019t quite as accurate as Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick<\/a>\u2014a career 41.5 percent three-point shooter \u2014 was in his playing days, but he\u2019s close. This ability, which is highlighted by the Lakers\u2019 lack of optimal off-ball threats, makes him an x-factor already<\/a>.<\/p>\n What allows him to be among the NBA Rookie of the Year frontrunners is his tendency to go on three-point barrages. Austin Reaves<\/a>, D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/a>, and Rui Hachimura<\/a> are the players most often mentioned as LeBron James<\/a> and Anthony Davis<\/a>\u2019s supporting cast. However, that trio has been inconsistent this season. Meanwhile, similar to Reaves during his first two seasons, Knecht\u2019s poise and confidence has been outstanding and helps him take pressure off of everyone.<\/p>\n As a starter, Knecht is averaging 16.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, shooting 42.5 percent from three. When he plays over 30 minutes, he\u2019s even better. In those situations, he\u2019s averaging 20.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 53.2 percent from deep.<\/p>\n Grizzlies wing Jaylen Wells<\/a> has started in 17 of the 22 games he\u2019s played in, averaging 13.3 points per game on 40.2 percent from deep. Perhaps as a result of Memphis\u2019 equal opportunity offense, Wells doesn\u2019t tend to have many high-octane performances. To that point, he\u2019s only scored 20 or more points in two games this season.<\/p>\n A star in his role more than an All-Star in the making, Wells\u2019s steady contributions may fly under-the-radar. Nonetheless, he\u2019s playing well as the starting small forward on a playoff contender with high expectations. With the Grizzlies sitting at 14-8, fourth in the West, he should definitely be more appreciated.<\/p>\n As the season wears on, Wells may have more competition among the 3-and-D archetypes. Atlanta Hawks swingman Zaccharie Risacher<\/a> has gotten the opportunity but made just 28.2 percent of his threes. New York Knicks forward Pacome Dadiet<\/a> has converted 41.7 percent of his threes but played sparingly. However, he has the best combination of production and efficiency among two-end players for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The NBA\u2019s Rookie of the Year (ROY) race has had a number of twists and turns already. Initially, Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard was favored, a byproduct of his play in Summer League. After the preseason, Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey looked like it was his award to lose. Helping him was the fact that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":110637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1608,32,62,556,13],"tags":[49212,49067,49877,1143,49134,4741],"class_list":["post-110627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-grizzlies","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-76ers","tag-dalton-knecht","tag-jared-mccain","tag-jaylen-well","tag-nba-awards","tag-reed-sheppard","tag-zach-edey"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110627"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110638,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110627\/revisions\/110638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}NBA ROY Race: Lakers\u2019 Dalton Knecht Rising Up Leaderboard<\/h2>\n
1. Jared McCain<\/h3>\n
2. Dalton Knecht<\/h3>\n
3. Jaylen Wells<\/h3>\n