The 2023-24 NBA All-Rookie Teams have everything. From an alien with GOAT potential to future All-Stars to a varied bunch of specialists, it’s simultaneously the deepest and top-heaviest rookie class in a long time.
Finding the ninth- and tenth-best rookies in some seasons means settling for some wormy apples. This year, we’ve got enough Granny Smiths for three whole apple pies. The NBA only has two official All-Rookie Teams, but that’s not quite enough for this class, so I’ve added a Third Team.
As of this writing Monday afternoon, 98 different rookies have logged a minute this season. I’ve compiled the 15 best. Let’s start with the Third Team; that way, you’ll have to scroll all the way to the bottom to confirm if Victor Wembanyama snagged a First Team spot.
All-Rookie Third Team
Cam Whitmore, Houston Rockets
17.9 mins, 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 46% FG%, 36% 3P%
Whitmore is hilarious, man. Nobody in the league has quite as narrow tunnel vision, as his anemic 3.8% assist rate will tell you. I’m not sure what would be more concerning in this clip: that Whitmore didn’t see a wide-open Fred VanVleet, or that Whitmore did and chose to try a contested step-back anyway.
The positive spin is that Whitmore certainly doesn’t lack confidence. He can and will shoot the cover off the ball, but if someone closes out, he has no problem taking off for the rim like his team’s namesake and jamming on fools. He’s even shown some flashes as an on-ball defender, and we’ve seen numerous players make major strides on that end under coach Ime Udoka.
Whitmore has massive potential. If he can shore up his off-ball attentiveness and pass the ball, like, once per game, the Rockets might have yet another young star on their hands.
GG Jackson II, Memphis Grizzlies
24.1 mins, 13.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 43% FG%, 37% 3P%
Jackson is a bit of a mystery to me despite the frankly shameful number of Grizzlies games I’ve watched. He’s shown surprising touch from the three-point line and certainly hasn’t been shy about getting them up (more than eight attempts per 36 minutes!). He rarely passes, but this star-crossed Memphis team just needed buckets from somewhere when their entire rotation was hurt. It’ll be interesting to see what he looks like when the team gets right and he’s bumped down a few spots in the pecking order, but he’s produced when given an opportunity. Even with Desmond Bane back, Jackson dropped 35 against the Warriors a few weeks ago; that’s promising.
Jackson isn’t a great defender or defensive rebounder yet, but he just turned 19. He’ll improve. He’s been a 20-point scorer since becoming a starter, which hints at his long-term potential. Until he gets there, though, shooting nearly 50% on corner threes is an excellent way to stay in the rotation after the Grizzlies get healthy.
Gradey Dick, Toronto Raptors
20.0 mins, 7.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 42% FG%, 36% 3P%
No Dick jokes here. He’s money from the corners (48% on the year) and learning a little bit of the Grayson Allen pump-and-drive game. His on-ball defense will never be good, but he’s done enough as a team defender to survive. Dick has improved throughout the year, and he looks more comfortable finishing at the rack now. You feel his size when he takes the ball right at smaller help defenders, even capable ones:
Dick will need to develop his playmaking and above-the-break shooting further to earn consistent spots, but he’s shown enough growth as the Raptors drive their Abrams to inspire excitement about his sophomore campaign.
Keyonte George, Utah Jazz
26.8 mins, 12.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 39% FG%, 33% 3P%
George has started half of the Jazz’s games, and while advanced metrics do not flatter him thanks to horrible two-point shooting, he’s had to carry a heavy load. Being a starting rookie point guard is hard. The Jazz are filled with scorers, but nobody on the team is a particularly talented (or willing) passer, so George landed the point guard spot almost by default.
George’s highs are as high as almost any rookie’s. George has had six games of 25+ points and dropped 11 assists thrice. Expected growth in finishing around the basket and defensive awareness should do wonders for his overall impact.
Toumani Camara, Portland Trail Blazers
24.8 mins, 7.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 45% FG%, 34% 3P%
Camara has been a defensive monster for the Blazers (side note: there are far more high-level rookie defenders in this class than I can remember ever seeing). D-EPM has him in the 97th percentile as a defender, and while that might be slightly overstating his case, he has All-Defensive Team potential.
Camara’s 6’8” height lets him challenge shots at the rim, but his quick feet allow him to dance on the perimeter. His top five defensive matchups this season by minutes: Devin Booker, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, Dejounte Murray, and Kawhi Leonard. Welcome to the league, rook! Now, go guard living legends.
Camara has excellent off-ball awareness and is a dogged defender around screens. Here, he has to battle through several barricades — including his own teammate! — to get to this blocked shot on Lauri Markkanen:
Offensively, Camara will have to develop his three-pointer. 34% on 2.5 mostly wide-open looks won’t cut it long-term. Camara has a chance to be special defensively, but to maximize that, he’ll have to be good-enough offensively. I think he can get there.
All-Rookie Second Team
Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets
21.4 mins, 9.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 53% FG%, 14%(!) 3P%
Thompson exploded once he finally earned a role in Houston’s rotation. He’s already one of the best defenders on Houston’s fourth-ranked defense. He plays as hard as anyone in the league. Whether he fulfills his NBA potential depends on whether that awful jumper can ever be fixed, but he’s still finding ways to be a productive NBA player as a rookie. That’s an encouraging sign.
Ausar Thompson, Detroit Pistons
25.1 mins, 8.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 48% FG%, 19%(!) 3P%
Thompson is a defensive menace, averaging a block and a steal per game. He might be even better than his brother on that end. Offensively, he’s been challenged by one of the worst offensive ecosystems in the league, where his lack of shooting is compounded by the fact that nobody else on the team can shoot, either.
In better circumstances, Thompson may have been a First Team lock. He’ll need to learn to make a three, but he already possesses many of the other skills needed to succeed in the league. If Detroit can find something resembling offensive coherency around him, he’ll look much better.
A scary blood clot cut Thompson’s season short. I’m fervently hoping for the best for him.
Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City Thunder
20.6 mins, 6.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 50% FG%, 43% 3P%
Wallace plays role-player basketball in its purest, most distilled form. Defend, cut hard, shoot the ball when open, pass back to the stars if not. No overthinking, no doing too much. Just performing his job.
He hits 43% from deep, converts 75% of attempts at the rim, and rarely turns it over, but he also has a little more juice to his game than my description above would lead you to expect. He’s a 3-and-D guy, but like the best role players, he brings a little more to the table to keep defenses honest. He drives hard against sloppy closeouts and loves to finish with a little bit of sauce: a one-handed scoop shot.
Teams spend years searching for a player like Cason Wallace to flank a championship core, and he will only get better.
Brandin Podziemski, Golden State Warriors
26.7 mins, 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 45% FG%, 37% 3P%
Podz is one of the best rebounding guards in the league, and he’s shown a willing and efficient three-point shot. He is a game (if flawed) defender who leads the league in charges drawn by a metric mile. He’s also an excellent passer whose assist totals are diminished by playing next to a point forward like Draymond Green. I don’t think Podz has All-Star potential, but I do think he has a long career ahead of him.
Scoot Henderson, Portland Trail Blazers
27.5 mins, 13.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 38% FG%, 31% 3P%
Scoot has had a rough rookie year, and many advanced metrics paint him as one of the NBA’s worst players (an NBA-record -58 plus/minus in a recent 60-point loss to the Heat doesn’t help that perception, even if it’s as much a function of playing time as true ineptitude). He hasn’t shot above 40% from the field in any month this season, so it’s hard to find a bright spot scoring-wise.
The good news is that rookie point guards often struggle. Much of what I said about Keyonte George applies here, too. This is by no means a death knell to his career, and Portland hasn’t exactly surrounded him with talent to ease his transition to the NBA: they’ve started five rookies multiple times this season. That’s shameless even by tanking standards.
The playmaking, at least, has popped. Scoot is almost certainly the best passer in this rookie class (well, outside of 30-year-old European star Vasilije Micic, having a nice little run since his trade to the Hornets!), and he’s averaging 5.5 assists per game since the All-Star break.
Watch this dime. Scoot rejects the pick and drives into a crowded paint. Moses Brown, the screener, rolls. It’s subtle, but look closely. Scoot pretends to hook a pass to Brown, shifting PJ Tucker’s weight toward the roller, before absolutely rocketing a pass to Justin Minaya in the corner. That’s a savvy trick, and it’s hard to pull off while still putting that much velocity on a cross-court pass.
I’m giving Scoot significant leeway because he’s had to shoulder an enormous burden surrounded by G-League talent, but if you’d rather have someone doing better in a smaller role, I won’t argue. Keyonte George has had an eerily similar season, but Scoot slightly edges him in nearly every statistical category despite worse surrounding talent.