The Whiteboard: Top candidates for NBA Rookie of the Year

With Chet Holmgren off the board and preseason action rolling, who are the top candidates for NBA Rookie of the Year this season?

Chet Holmgren’s injury took a huge name off the board in what was a very crowded field of potential Rookie of the Year candidates. But the first batch of preseason games have also revealed some players, a bit below the radar, who could insert themselves into the conversation.

Who are the top contenders for 2022-23 NBA Rookie of the Year?

Paolo Banchero is the heavy betting favorite and was picked by a whopping 79 percent of NBA GMs as the likely rookie of the year. The No. 1 pick has struggled with efficiency in preseason — shooting just 36.7 percent from the field and 2-of-7 from beyond the arc. However, he’s been getting to the line at a high rate and flashing the passing ability that makes him such a compelling prospect as a big-man creator. He’ll be lavished with as much offensive primacy as any other rookie this year and even if it takes a while for his shooting percentages to come around he’ll have plenty of opportunities to put up big counting numbers.

Keegan Murray is second in betting odds and finished second in the GM survey, probably thanks to a dominating performance at Summer League. But he hasn’t slowed down at all in the preseason. He’s played just two games and about 42 minutes so far but racked up 32 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and a block, shooting 12-of-17 from the field and 7-of-10 from beyond the arc. Murray could be playing his way into the starting lineup and could feast on a team with established creators like De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis holding defensive attention and setting him up.

Jabari Smith seemed like a slightly unlikelier Rookie of the Year candidate, given his translatable NBA skills as a 19-year-old — versatile defense and spot-up shooting can help win games but might not translate to the most compelling box score lines. But he certainly impressed in his lone preseason game so far, going for 21 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists, shooting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. If the Rockets’ offense is creating that many open shots for him, he very well could put up the kind of scoring totals it will take to compete with Murray and Banchero.

Tari Eason is a deep sleeper — the No. 17 pick in last year’s draft. But he’s a player who makes a difference with his energy and effort and he’s already demonstrated his ability to pick up points, rebounds and impact defensive plays all over the floor. Across three preseason games, Eason is averaging 20.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game, shooting 64.1 percent from the floor and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. He’s also piled up 16 offensive rebounds in those three games and he could absolutely insert himself in the conversation simply by thriving in the chaos around the Rockets’ other young players.

Jaden Ivey has to share offensive primacy with Cade Cunningham and learning to play more off the ball will be a transition for Ivey. His shooting percentages have been a disaster in just under 60 preseason minutes — 38.1 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from beyond the arc — but he’s gotten himself to the free throw line 12 times already and generated 7 rebounds, 8 assists and a pair of steals. It make take him a bit longer to settle in but his physical tools give him a base to build from and he seems like the kind of player who could really surge in the back half of the season.

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The Step Back 25-under-25 is back

For the sixth year in a row, The Step Back rolled out our selections for the 25 best players in the NBA, under the age of 25. We finished up the reveal on Friday with the rest of the top 10. Check out the whole list.

And in honor of Ja Morant finishing at No. 1, we had artist Rosanna Kalis create these custom kicks for him, honoring his past, present and future.

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