Draft Digest Rookies of the Week: Jaden Ivey Flourishes in New Role, Sochan Hits his Stride
Each week, the Draft Digest team picks an NBA rookie from each conference as the best player of the week.
As the season goes on, opportunity comes and goes for different players as injures and roster shakeups occur. As we get to the middle portion of the 2022-23 campaign, a ton of rookies around the league are beginning to become a part of their respective teams’ regular rotations.
When this happens, we really get a good look at how much upside these rookies have.
Who brought home the hardware this week?
Eastern Conference
Jaden Ivey (Detroit Pistons)
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Stats Since Last Week: 3 GP | 12.7 PPG| 5.3 APG | 1.0 SPG | 42.9% 3PT
In the absence of Cade Cunningham, Ivey has really stepped up of late. Most notably, he's found ways to get to the line, earning 18 free throws this week alone.
As a facilitator, he flashed upside with an eight assist game this week and has emerged as quality lead guard. He's also scored 15 or more points in two of his three contests over this span.
With Ivey's success as a 3-point shooter of late, it's really opened up his offensive game overall.
Western Conference
Jeremy Sochan (San Antonio Spurs)
© Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
Stats Since Last Week: 4 GP | 13.0 PPG| 7.0 RPG | 2.8 ORPG | 3.0 APG |
Over the past week, Sochan has played much more aggressively on offense. Furthermore, he's had success with the one-handed free throw as he knocked down all seven of his attempts from the line over his past four games.
The 3-point shot hasn’t been falling, but he’s finding other ways to impact the game. As expected, it starts with defense for Sochan where he's extremely versatile and has notched a 73 DSI per Cerebro Sports on the season. He's produced two steals and five blocks this week alone.
Sochan has been a quality piece for the Spurs and well worth the first-round selection they used on him to this point.
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