Golden State Warriors forward Yaxel Lendeborg is No. 1 on the TalkBasket.net NBA Rookie Ladder released Monday, moving past Memphis Grizzlies rookie Cameron Boozer, who drops to third after leading last week.
Lendeborg is averaging 21.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 10 games, shooting 50.4% from the field and 40.4% on 3-pointers. Golden State is 7-3. The ranking covers games through Sunday, Nov. 8.
His score of 1.106 is well clear of the field. Sacramento Kings guard Darius Acuff Jr. is second at 0.634, and Boozer is third at 0.624.
Acuff leads all rookies in points (25.9), assists (7.4) and minutes (37.1) per game. Sacramento is 1-9.
Boozer is averaging 15.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists, down from 17.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists last week. He is shooting 33.9% from the field. Memphis is 6-3.
Oklahoma City Thunder center Aday Mara climbs from sixth to fourth. He leads rookies with 1.9 blocks per game, and the Thunder are 8-2, the best record of any team with a top-10 rookie.
Chicago’s Caleb Wilson is fifth and Washington’s AJ Dybantsa is sixth, each down one spot. Utah’s Darryn Peterson rises from 10th to seventh.
Thunder guard Bennett Stirtz (eighth) and LA Clippers guard Keaton Wagler (10th) are new to the top 10. Atlanta’s Kingston Flemings stays ninth. Cleveland’s Meleek Thomas and Denver’s Trevon Brazile drop out.
The ladder is TalkBasket.net’s own rating. It combines a rookie’s production, his role and how his team is doing, and it ranks the 10 best rookies each week.
The next ladder will be published Monday, Nov. 16. See the full top 10 and the stats behind it.
