NBA Rookie Rankings: VJ Edgecombe, Cooper Flagg lead a loaded freshman class but who's been the best?
The top of the draft class has been shining, but who stands out amongst the rest through the first few weeks?
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9 min read
The 2025-26 NBA season is almost a month old and already this rookie class is exceeding expectations on a lot of fronts. This may go down as one of the deepest classes in recent memory, especially after last season's batch of players weren't as productive right out of the gate. That hasn't been the case this year and it's not crazy to say that every guy taken with the first five picks has serious star potential. Ace Bailey is the only one of those five who hasn't put up major numbers, but even he jut had a 20-point performance in Utah's most recent game. It was Bailey's second start of the season and he shot over 50% from the floor and 3-point range. He's now logged back-to-back starts for the Jazz, which could become the norm as Utah prioritizes its young talent.
With enough game footage to review now, it seems like the perfect time to roll out the first volume of Rookie Rankings for the 2025-26 season. Important to note, Derek Harper isn't included on this top-5 ranking and that's simply because he's been sidelined the last five games with a a left calf strain. He's expected to miss multiple weeks, so I thought it was best to not include him in the ranking. Had he been healthy, he certainly would've cracked the top 5 as he was averaging 14 points on 50% from the floor with four rebounds and 3.8 assists off the bench for the Spurs.
Harper's shown great feel for the game, well beyond someone who is just 19 years old. When he's able to return healthy it will be interesting to see how Spurs coach Mitch Johnson handles the backcourt rotation. San Antonio has four quality guards in the backcourt and it should be fairly easy to manage minutes to allow for all of them to get their time. But as Harper continues to develop, there may come a point later in the season where it would be foolish to have him and Fox to be sharing the same workload.
That's something we'll keep an eye on over the course of the season. But let's get into these rankings and break down the top five rookies through the first three weeks of the NBA season.
There isn't a rookie more relentless in attacking the rim than Fears. No really, 32% of his shots come at the rim, which ranks in the 91st percentile, per Cleaning The Glass. His combination of speed, handles and body control allows him to put constant pressure on the rim. He's making them at a 67% clip, which is decent enough for a rookie, and if he's able to hone that skill, it'll open other aspects of his game. As the defense collapses to account for his constant rim pressure, he'll be able to kick it out to the perimeter to get his teammates easier looks.
He's confident in taking 3s and his accuracy is starting to catch up with him. He's shooting 36% from deep in the last five games, which is forcing opponents to play him tighter to run him off the line, but that allows him to get to his strength and attack the rim.
With Zion Williamson sidelined again, Fears -- along with fellow rookie Derik Queen -- is providing a sliver of hope for a Pelicans team that has been rudderless for the last five years.
Flagg's slowly starting to perform at the level many expected him to as soon as he stepped into the league, but it's still a bit awkward given his fit on a clunky Mavericks roster. A team with zero creators or quality (healthy) point guards is heavily impacting Flagg's ability to truly spread his wings. But with some needed front office changes, some roster reconstruction may follow too if the Mavericks' charted path forward is to focus on building around Flagg for the future.
Still, the 18-year-old is doing things that very few his age have accomplished. He's just the second player in NBA history to record multiple games of at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists before turning 19 years old. Flagg joins LeBron James as the only other player to accomplish that feat and he'll likely rack up more games of that statline before he blows out his candles on Dec. 21.
He's also showing no fear for the big moments, like this tough finish in a loss to the Bucks. Flagg wasn't deterred by the fact that Giannis Antetokounmpo was waiting for him under the basket.
Amazing bucket by Cooper Flagg through Giannis pic.twitter.com/y9Nf8Rz37V
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) November 11, 2025
Flagg's offense can't really be analyzed fairly given he's been playing out of position for a bulk of the season. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd has played him at point guard for several games this season, to little success, but that's no fault of Flagg, who has never played the position before. He's at his best when he can catch the ball on the move and use his athleticism to finish above the rim or break a defender down in space and get into the paint. We've seen an uptick of that over the last few games, but with poor spacing around him, we haven't been able to see Flagg's full abilities unleashed yet.
Defensively, though, Flagg is as sound as many expected him to be on that end. He's moving his feet, always engaged and flying in from out of nowhere to deflect or block shots. Even if he gets beat on a drive, he's recovering and taking two giant steps to propel himself off the ground to still try an impact a shot.
COOPER FLAGG ELEVATION 👀
— NBA (@NBA) November 13, 2025
What a rejection from the 2025 No. 1 pick!
Watch on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/oonx7SUN0z pic.twitter.com/fhOHbGtqbe
In the wake of Nico Harrison's dismissal, though, it relieves some of that pressure that plagued the Mavericks to start the season. The hope is that the Mavericks can put Flagg in a better position to succeed and have the type of rookie season indicative of a Rookie of the Year candidate.
Knueppel is on pace to shatter the rookie 3-point record currently held by Keegan Murray at 206 made 3s. Knueppel has already made 32 in 10 games and is on pace to total roughly 262. His 3-point shooting alone makes him a great complimentary piece alongside LaMelo Ball. But in Ball's absence in the last four games, Knueppel is leading Charlotte's offense, with averages of 23.3 points, nine rebounds and 4.8 assists, while shooting 46.3% from the field and 36.8% from deep.
He's initiating Charlotte's offense and developing skills that wouldn't happen if Ball was healthy. It's similar to the development Brandon Miller got in his rookie season when Ball was sidelined for most of the season. In the last few games, Knueppel is showing his ability to score off the dribble, and taking advantage of defenses that underestimate his ability in getting to the rim.
He's making 55% of his mid-range shots, which ranks in the 86th percentile. But his innate ability to use screens to create space is unlike anything we've seen from a rookie. He's navigating these screens like a veteran and sometimes creating an ocean's amount of space to get his shot off.
Knueppel's shown more comfortability in putting the ball on the floor and diversifying his shot selection beyond just 3s. That's a valuable asset in his development.
Edgecombe got out to a blazing start, but has crashed back down to Earth in the last six games. That's to be expected from a rookie, as development is never linear, and the Sixers are integrating some additional pieces back into the rotation who have made Edgecombe adjust. It's not that he's getting fewer touches, he's just struggling to connect on them, whereas the first week and half it felt like he couldn't miss.
| Span of games | PPG | RPG | APG | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First 5 games | 21.2 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 49.4% | 43.8% |
Last 6 games | 10.5 | 5.5 | 3.3 | 31.5% | 26.9% |
That doesn't take away from what the former Baylor product has done to this point for the Sixers. He's been better than Philadelphia could've ever hoped he'd be this early on and that's on both ends of the floor. On one end, he's guarding the opposing team's best perimeter player; on the other, he's constantly amazing everyone with the variety of ways in which he can score.
He's either knocking down a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, making everyone hold their breath with what could be an outrageous dunk or getting a defender out on an island in isolation.
The tandem he and Tyrese Maxey create in Philadelphia's backcourt gives them a duo that wreck havoc in transition and gives someone like Joel Embiid a break from having to do everything offensively for this team. Edgecombe's efficiency will even out as the season progresses, so the last batch of games shouldn't be too worrisome.
What will be interesting to see is how Paul George figures into all of this, as his return is just around the corner. Edgecombe's already proved himself to be better than just a guy you stick in the corner to shoot 3s, but there's only so many shots and possessions to go around. Someone's going to have to sacrifice and, as crazy at it sounds, it may not be the rookie.
Coward became the first player in NBA history to average at least 15 points and 50/40/90 shooting splits over their first 10 career games. In his third NBA appearance, he racked up 27 points on nearly 70% from the floor. Every game is evidence to show why the Grizzlies were so desperate to trade up in the draft to nab him with the 11th overall pick.
He shot to the top of boards as a former Division III player before transferring to Washington State last season. It's not surprising that, given Coward's physical attributes (specifically a 7-foot-2 wingspan), he's quickly become a defensive nightmare for opponents. Already he's been tasked with checking Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, Cade Cunningham, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Devin Booker, to varying levels of success.
For a rookie, he shows no fear when guarding some of the best players in the world and he's also not overly aggressive to the point that he's committing a ton of fouls, which is what you'd expect from a first-year player. No, Coward moves his feet well, doesn't get fazed by the myriad slick crossovers and hesitations that so many of those players have in their bags and he fights over a screen better than most other players -- regardless of experience -- in the league.
And that's just his defense. Offensively, Coward's showing the maturity of his age that comes with most 22-year-old rookies. His 3-point shooting will get the most attention, but it's lower down on the totem pole of what makes his offensive game impressive this early. His off-ball movement, knowing when and at what angle to cut, is levels above what you'd expect from a rookie. His finishing rate at the rim (68%) is something younger players typically struggle with, but that doesn't seem to apply to Coward.
When the Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic, there were questions about who on this roster would fill the production he provided. Coward's proven just 12 games into his career that he's up to the task.
