Jazz center Walker Kessler and Magic forward Paolo Banchero have been named the NBA’s rookies of the month, the league announced on Thursday (via Twitter).
In 11 February games (29.1 MPG), Kessler, the No. 22 overall pick of last year’s draft, averaged 10.6 PPG, 11.4 RPG and 3.2 BPG while shooting 68.9% from the floor and 51.9% from the line. The 21-year-old ranks second in the league in block percentage at 8.2%, only trailing Jaren Jackson Jr., per Basketball-Reference.com. Kessler won for the Western Conference.
Banchero, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2022 draft, has now won the award three consecutive months for the East. He averaged 16.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 3.3 APG, though he did struggle with scoring efficiency, posting a .374/.030/.711 shooting line in 11 games (33.7 MPG). Banchero is considered a strong frontrunner for Rookie of the Year.
According to the NBA (Twitter link), the other nominees in the West were Malaki Branham, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr., Keegan Murray and Jalen Williams, while Jaden Ivey and Bennedict Mathurin were nominated in the East.
Kessler was a nice find.
Banchero is just too good.
I hope magic get wembeyana. Pairing with wagner and banchero
I’m… kind of unsure how to feel about Banchero’s shooting slump. Like yeah, he’s still a great young player, but that’s a very steep drop from how he started. Really hoping he can figure something out.
The Magic haven’t looked great in any capacity recently, so Paolo has a little leeway.
Wow, I thought the 0.030 was a typo!
Teams will adapt. Great ones still get it done. Banchero is ROY. Will have a long nice career.