NBA Rookies: Final 2022-23 Draft Digest Rookie Ladder

With the 2022-23 NBA regular season over, we can fully assess the 2022 NBA Draft class's debut seasons.

The clock has officially expired on the 2022-23 regular season, and the next time we see NBA basketball in a few short hours, it will be for an automatic Playoffs series berth.

The 2022 NBA Draft class burst onto the scene with authority. Despite No. 2 overall selection Chet Holmgren being sidelined all season due to injury, his fellow draft mates helped shoulder the load.

Orlando’s Paolo Banchero had one of the better rookie seasons we’ve seen in the last five years, immediately looking like an NBA All-Star before his overall production tapered slightly. He'll be a shoe-in for the 2022-23 Rookie of the Year Award, and helped increase Orlando's win total by 12.

Bennedict Mathurin, the Pacers sixth man, came out firing as well, showing poise well beyond his years.

And then there were the late bloomers: Utah’s Walker Kessler and Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams. Both of which functioned not only as solid rookies but impactful and positive NBA players in the latter months of the season.

Other notables include the Detroit pairing of Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, both of which showed progress in their debut years, Portland’s Shaedon Sharpe, who looked like a bona fide star down the stretch, and Sacramento’s Keegan Murray, who set the rookie record for 3-pointers made in a season and will look to help his team against the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series.

The full Draft Digest rookie ladder can be found below:

1. Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic

2. Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder

3. Bennedict Mathurin, Indiana Pacers

4. Walker Kessler, Utah Jazz

5. Jaden Ivey, Detroit Pistons

6. Keegan Murray, Sacramento Kings

7. Jeremy Sochan, San Antonio Spurs

8. Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets

9. Malaki Branham, San Antonio Spurs

10. Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers

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