We're about halfway through the season, so now's a good time to check back in on the rookies. We don't necessarily want to look at stats from the whole season since players have settled into their roles, but we don't want to go too short-term either, given COVID-related absences. So, we'll be looking at rookie ranks over the past 30 days. Let's start at the top, with this year's No. 1 overall draft pick:
Cade Cunningham 
Rank (8-Category, Per Game): 59
Cunningham continues to have up-and-down performances – he scored a career-high 29 points Monday and followed it up with eight points and six turnovers the next day. That hasn't stopped him from being the best fantasy rookie this month (though not by much). In his past 10 games, he's averaged 15.2 points on 40/36/82 shooting, 6.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 32.7 minutes. While his shooting efficiency and turnovers (4.1) are an issue, he's got a 27.8 percent usage rate and is the unquestioned leader of the Pistons.
Herbert Jones 
Rank: 60
Jones is narrowly behind Cunningham for most productive rookie over the past 30 days. At the beginning of the year, the prevailing thought was that rookie Trey Murphy would be the more useful rotation piece. That's not been the case. Jones has a great defensive presence for the struggling Pelicans. Over the past 12 games, he's averaged 12.6 points on 51/38/86 shooting, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks in 32.7 minutes. While
We're about halfway through the season, so now's a good time to check back in on the rookies. We don't necessarily want to look at stats from the whole season since players have settled into their roles, but we don't want to go too short-term either, given COVID-related absences. So, we'll be looking at rookie ranks over the past 30 days. Let's start at the top, with this year's No. 1 overall draft pick:
Cade Cunningham
Rank (8-Category, Per Game): 59
Cunningham continues to have up-and-down performances – he scored a career-high 29 points Monday and followed it up with eight points and six turnovers the next day. That hasn't stopped him from being the best fantasy rookie this month (though not by much). In his past 10 games, he's averaged 15.2 points on 40/36/82 shooting, 6.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 32.7 minutes. While his shooting efficiency and turnovers (4.1) are an issue, he's got a 27.8 percent usage rate and is the unquestioned leader of the Pistons.
Herbert Jones
Rank: 60
Jones is narrowly behind Cunningham for most productive rookie over the past 30 days. At the beginning of the year, the prevailing thought was that rookie Trey Murphy would be the more useful rotation piece. That's not been the case. Jones has a great defensive presence for the struggling Pelicans. Over the past 12 games, he's averaged 12.6 points on 51/38/86 shooting, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks in 32.7 minutes. While he's only a low-volume threat from three (2.7 attempts), he's hitting them at a good clip. The defense is really what's carrying Jones' value. Over the past seven games alone, he's had performances of five steals, four steals, and three steals with three blocks.
Josh Giddey 
Rank: 64
The rookie has yet to score 20 points in a game, but he's providing great fantasy value as a stat-sheet stuffer. Over the past 11 games, he's averaged 13.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.3 steals in 32.7 minutes. His shooting splits 42/34/65 leave something to be desired, and he certainly needs to improve upon his 1.5 free-throw attempts over the past month – he's taken just four freebies in the past six games. But it's tough to nitpick too much when he's providing this type of passing with just 2.8 turnovers, nearly half of which he's making up for through steals.
Franz Wagner 
Rank: 86
Wagner has been making headlines with his impressive play, as he's exceeded expectations. However, things have slowed down a bit lately for him with Cole Anthony returning, especially on the assist front. Still, he's provided 18.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 45/29/90 shooting over the past 30 days. The three-point mark figures to increase sooner than later, as his season mark is 36.3 percent. Regardless of how healthy or unhealthy the Magic are, Wagner will continue to be a driving force of the offense alongside Anthony. He's taken double-digit shot attempts in 18 straight games.
Evan Mobley 
Rank: 94
While probably the most impactful real-life rookie, Mobley's stats don't always reflect that. His past nine games have seen him average 17.2 points on 54.5 percent shooting (only 64.5 percent from the free-throw line), 7.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 blocks in 35.3 minutes. His rebounding often fluctuates given how much he shares the floor with Jarrett Allen and how much Mobley is tasked with guarding perimeter players. Still, he's no stranger to big games, especially since he can pass as well. Arguably Mobley's best game was a performance of 26 points (11-15 FG, 2-4 3Pt, 2-2 FT), nine rebounds (three offensive), five assists, one steal and one block.
Omer Yurtseven 
Rank: 140
With Bam Adebayo (thumb) and Dewayne Dedmon (knee) sidelined, Yurtseven has started the past seven games and has been a revelation for fantasy managers that took a chance in adding him. In his starts, he's averaged 12.0 points, 15.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 32.6 minutes. His 46.3 percent shooting isn't great for a big man, but there's often been a lack of offensive talent around him with so many Heat players sidelined during this stretch. However, Dedmon is set to return soon, so Yurtseven's production will probably take a dip, though he should still retain value in deeper formats until Adebayo returns.
Jalen Green 
Rank: 149
Green has been playing better since returning from a hamstring injury. He's scored in double digits in nine straight games (17.7 PPG) while shooting a nice 44/41/83. His passing (1.7 assists) needs to improve, and he's been turnover-prone (2.2 TO) relative to that, but the efficiency is a strong step in the right direction. His upside will only be so high while Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood take up so much usage, but who knows if either player will be on the team after the trade deadline.
Scottie Barnes 
Rank: 151
With the Raptors at essentially full health, Barnes' contributions have slowed down. There's only so much usage to go around with Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby in the fold – Gary Trent isn't shy shooting the ball, either. Over the past eight games, the rookie has averaged 13.5 points on 46/29/70 shooting, 6.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.0 blocks in 34.3 minutes. This ultimately may be his production when Toronto is at full strength.
