Cooper Flagg narrowly misses out on a triple-double with 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a win vs. the Nuggets.
Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel have held onto the Kia Rookie Ladder’s top two rungs for the past six weeks. Given the way each is playing, it’s conceivable they’ll maintain that stranglehold well beyond the calendar flip to 2026.
So that’s it? No Ladder dynamism, no suspense to the eventual Kia Rookie of the Year balloting?
That’s hard to say. The one thing the Ladder tries to capture is the rookies’ trends, up or down, as the season plays out. The ROY award can be more static, a single snapshot at the time the votes are cast at the end of the regular season.
The 2022 rookie crop revealed how important early impressions can be. That group produced the closest outcome of the past 20 years, with Toronto’s Scottie Barnes (378) taking home the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy after getting only 15 more points than Cleveland’s Evan Mobley (363). Detroit’s Cade Cunningham was a worthy spoiler, collecting 153 points to finish third.
Yet it was Cunningham who performed the best, individually at least, after Jan. 1 that season. He averaged 18.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. Mobley was at 15.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 2.5 apg, while Barnes posted 15.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 3.5 apg.
Through the 2021 portion of that season, Barnes had posted the bigger numbers: 15.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 3.4 apg. Cunningham averaged 15.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg and 5.2 apg with Mobley recording 14.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 2.5 apg.
But there was no catching up when the ballots were cast, with voters possibly factoring in the Raptors’ 48 victories and Barnes ’ positive plus/minus rating compared to the others.
All of which is a way of saying, Knueppel, New Orleans’ Derik Queen and the other rookies holding rungs as we head into 2026 have work to do to pass Flagg in ROY competition. It’s not over at all, but it’s not early anymore either.
Here are this week’s rookie rankings:
Weekly recap
- Kudos are due to Boston’s Hugo González. His hustle has led to increased playing time and his additional minutes have shown up notably on the glass. González has averaged 7.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 19.6 minutes per game in December. The 6-foot-6 wing from Spain grabbed 29 boards in his past three games, all Celtics victories.
- Memphis guard Javon Small made quite the cameo Tuesday at Utah. In his first action since Nov. 7, the native of Indiana logged only 12 minutes with four fouls and zero points. But he dished seven assists and had one steal and one turnover in his brief court time.
- Ryan Kalkbrenner’s .787 field-goal percentage doesn’t show up among the league leaders because he shoots so seldom. But the Hornets’ center leads the rookies by sizable margins in contested shots and box outs, and ranks fifth in the league overall in total blocks.
- Washington’s Tre Johnson has regained his stroke and rhythm since returning from a seven-game (hip) absence. The Texas product has ranked 7th on the Wizards in average minutes but fourth in scoring and shots.
Storyline to watch
The other side of Flagg’s game. It is to Flagg’s credit that he doesn’t jack up 3-point shots when he hasn’t shown a great knack for hitting them (until Tuesday, anyway). Staying in one’s lane is important. But so is staying in others’ grills. Flagg’s defense has been earning him praise as he has put his wingspan and frenetic activity to two-way use. He ranks second in the Class of 2025 in loose balls recovered, third in contested shots and fourth in deflections.
(All stats through Tuesday, Dec. 23)
1. Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
Season stats: 19.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.8 apg
Last Ladder: No. 1 ↔️
Draft pick: No. 1
Belated Ladder birthday wishes go out to Flagg, who turned 19 on Sunday and now has a whole new peer group against whom he’ll be measured after pushing into the LeBron James-Kobe Bryant chatter about 18-year-olds. “The Maine Event’s” stellar week (24 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 5.5 apg) peaked in prime time Tuesday when he went for 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists (with a steal and a block, too) while shooting 14-of-21 (and even stretching his range with 4-of-6 on 3-pointers). He logged 40 minutes, and Dallas was 10 points better when he was on the floor compared to nine points worse vs. Denver when Flagg sat.
2. Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets
Season stats: 19.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.5 apg
Last Ladder: No. 2 ↔️
Draft pick: No. 4
“Comparison is the thief of joy,” Teddy Roosevelt reportedly said, and while that might be true in day-to-day life, the sportswriting profession would be lost without it. So when Knueppel became the fastest NBA player to sink 100 3-pointers at the start of his career this week, comparisons flowed. He’s blown away recent competition: Lauri Markkanen had done it in 41 games with the Bulls in 2017-18, second to Knueppel’s 29. Then there was Knueppel vs. the gold standard: Stephen Curry needed 58 games to reach 100. It’s important to note that Curry only attempted 4.8 per game as a 2009-10 rookie to Knueppel’s 8.7, and is largely responsible for the longball boom. Still, the rookie’s 3.63 makes per game has been surpassed in a full season by just 15 players since the NBA first drew its arc in 1979.
3. Derik Queen, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 13.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 4.1 apg
Last Ladder: No. 3 ↔️
Draft pick: No. 13
The high of their five-game winning streak waned with the adrenaline when New Orleans got routed in Cleveland less than 24 hours later. Yet there was Queen, grinding in the second half with 19 of his 21 points, also finishing with seven rebounds and five assists. He is in some lofty company already, and former NBA guard Jeff Teague praised the Pelicans’ Joe Dumars for making the much-criticized trade to draft Queen. “The thing about Derik, he can play like this the rest of his life,” Teague said on his podcast. “He’s going to be in New Orleans for 10 to 12 years.”
4. VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers
Season stats: 16 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4 apg
Last Ladder: No. 5 ⬆️
Draft pick: No. 3
In his four most recent appearances, Edgecombe averaged 24.3 points, 17.5 field-goal attempts and 37.8 minutes, shooting 50% (40% on 3-pointers) as the Sixers won three. He missed Tuesday due to the illness spreading through the roster. Philadelphia is 9-5 when this rookie scores 14 or more and 7-7 when he doesn’t.
5. Dylan Harper, San Antonio Spurs
Season stats: 12.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.9 apg
Last Ladder: No. 7 ⬆️
Draft pick: No. 2
If you’re focusing on his scoring, you’re missing a lot of Harper’s value. He has averaged a modest 11.1 ppg in the Spurs’ current seven-game winning streak, including a season-best 24 points against the Wizards. But in the second victory over the Thunder in 10 days, Harper had 10 assists and five steals in the surprising blowout. All in barely 20 minutes.
The next 5:
6. Cedric Coward, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 13.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.9 apg
Last Ladder: No. 6 ↔️
Draft pick: No. 11
Coward missed his first game of the season (left heel) on Tuesday, sitting with seven other absent Grizzlies. Against OKC Monday, though, the Washington State product led Memphis’ starters with 16 points with eight boards and six assists and no turnovers in less than 25 minutes, finishing plus-1 in the 16-point loss.
7. Jeremiah Fears, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 14.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.2 apg
Last Ladder: No. 4 ⬇️
Draft pick: No. 7
Fears didn’t fare as well as his Ladder teammate Queen did in Cleveland, perhaps fading in the second of back-to-back games and third in four nights for the Pelicans. In the second half, the speedy point guard hit just one of six shots for two points and was a minus-7 in his 10:31.
8. Maxime Raynaud, Sacramento Kings
Season stats: 10 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1 apg
Last Ladder: No. 9 ⬆️
Draft pick: No. 42
Raynaud averaged a double-double for the week (16.5 ppg, 11 rpg) and cleaned up his turnovers and fouls. The Kings, however, went with undrafted rookie Dylan Cardwell more against Detroit on Tuesday (season-high 27 minutes, despite fouling out), Raynaud’s briefest appearance (22:34) in four weeks.
9. Ryan Nembhard, Dallas Mavericks
Season stats: 8.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 5.6 apg
Last Ladder: No. 8 ⬇️
Draft pick: Undrafted
Nuggets nemesis in the making: In his two outings vs. Denver, the Mavericks’ find at point guard has averaged 19.5 points and 8.5 assists, with just one turnover to those 17 assists in 68 minutes. He has hit 68% of his shots, including 62.5% from the arc, and is a plus-33 in games Dallas won by a total of 11.
10. Egor Dëmin, Brooklyn Nets
Season stats: 9.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.5 apg
Last Ladder: Not ranked ⬆️
Draft pick: No. 8
Nets coach Jordi Fernandez didn’t think much of Dëmin’s work in the Dec. 12 loss at Dallas (1-of-7, 3 points). Since then, the native of Moscow has averaged 16.8 points on 48.9% shooting, 42.4% on 3-pointers.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
