This week 11 in the NBA some young talents have stood out. Let’s go through the NBA Top 5 sophomores of the week with Franz Wagner, Jalen Green, Evan Mobley, Josh Giddey, and Scottie Barnes. All of those players had a huge impact on their team during this week’s games.
1. Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic) – Franz Wagner week has been full with big performances as he has been dominating. Three of Five of Franz’s last games have been 20 point performances. All against some of the top teams in the NBA. The most impressive part has been Franz’s three point shooting percentages. Shooting the ball over 40% even over a week span is hard, but Franz has made it look easy. You can see the off season work has been paying off for Franz this year, unfortunately not for the team as a whole.
2. Jalen Green (Houston Rockets) – Jalen Green and the Rockets have not had the best success winning this year. Jalen on the other end has been showcasing his talent on a high level. On top of his high scoring games which he has had plenty of, he has also taken a role in guarding some of the best players on these teams. Jalen has also added more of the pick and roll game into his scoring compared to his usual off the catch play. You can see Jalen is constantly working as his game has not stopped developing and is always improving.
3. Evan Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers) – Evan Mobley and the Cleveland Cavaliers have continued to make a name for themselves in the eastern conference division. Led by Donavan Mitchell, but the bigman on the team are good as well. Evan Mobley being so good offensively doesn’t make him who he is, the defensive impact he brings to the Cavaliers is big. He has been rebounding well and protecting the rim at a high level. His high level play is much needed for the Cavaliers to clinch themselves a good seeding in the east and make a run during the playoffs.
4. Josh Giddey (Oklahoma City Thunder) – Josh Giddey has been a master with the ball, showcasing his playmaking leading the thunder to some victories against some big teams. Alongside Giddy is Shai Alexander who is playing at all star level, but that has not slowed down Josh’s scoring ability. Josh put up an early 25 point game this week and followed it up another 20 point game and a triple double. The all around game of Giddy shows his talent and explains why the Thunder continue to run through Giddy.
5. Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors) – Scottie Barnes has gotten the respect from the best scorers in the NBA and gets the responsibility of guarding these players, having some of the best players screening Scottie off of them. Scottie’s size and strength makes him so useful and positionless. The biggest improvement from Scottie has been his aggressiveness attacking the basket. Shown all week with some efficient percentages. Guarding these high level players will age Scottie fast and hopefully make Scottie the franchise player the Raptors need.
