Rookie Team of the Week: 4/7-4/13

Who makes the final Rookie Team of the Week?

This is the final Rookie Team of the Week. Next week’s edition will be the Rookie Team of the Year.

Mason Plumlee

While the Nets allowed the Atlantic Division crown to slip away with losses to the Magic and Hawks this week, it wasn’t Plumlee’s fault. If it weren’t for Plumlee, the Nets would’ve and could’ve easily suffered a 1-3 or 0-4 week if it weren’t for his emphatic, timely block on LeBron James at the rim that sent Marv Albert and the entire basketball world into a frenzy. Plumlee contributed 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, and 1 steal as the Nets completed their season series sweep of the defending champion Miami Heat. Plumlee also turned in a solid double-double performance against Orlando on Sunday (17 points on 6-8 FG, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block in 26 minutes after they were defeated by the Magic earlier in the week. For the week, Plumlee averaged 14.5 points on an incredible 23-28 from the field to go along with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1 steal in 28 minutes per game. His name really hasn’t been mentioned in the race for rookie of the year, and while PER doesn’t mean nearly as much to me as it does Mr. John Hollinger, that he has the highest PER among rookies and is contributing heavily to a playoff team should earn him at least some consideration for ROY.

Gorgui Dieng

Dieng helped the Wolves to another 2-2 week with wins over the Spurs and Rockets. He performed admirably against the NBA’s best team, contributing 12 points, 15 rebounds, and 1 block in 27 minutes in their romping of San Antonio. While Corey Brewer stole the show with his 51 point performance vs. Houston, Dieng stepped up big time with Kevin Love out, adding 12 points, 20 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in 33 minutes and wouldn’t have escaped with a 112-110 win without him. And on Sunday with Kevin Love back he turned in another impressive performance, adding 21 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, and he just continues to work his way up the rookie ladder late in the season after not receiving many opportunities for the majority of the year. Dieng posted weekly averages of 13.5 points and over 14 rebounds per game, and has flexed his value heading into an all-important offseason for the Wolves.

Ray McCallum

With Isaiah Thomas still ailing, McCallum had another huge week for the Kings. His 23 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals weren’t enough to help Sacramento earn the win against Portland, but he did help the Kings get past the Wolves on Sunday behind his 11 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, and only 1 turnover. McCallum posted weekly averages of about 12 points and 7 assists per game. Going into the offseason there aren’t many teams with as many questions as the Kings, but one thing is for sure: they have a nice young piece in McCallum who is going to continue to grow and develop, and might be the answer for the Kings as a backup point guard for the foreseeable future.

Michael Carter-Williams

Based on per game averages, Carter-Williams pretty much has this year’s ROY award locked up. For a while it seemed like Victor Oladipo might catch and pass him, but solid play, and perhaps more importantly to those voting- numbers from MCW down the stretch have been bordering on a triple-double on a nightly basis. Against Toronto MCW contributed 19 points on 7-12 FG, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists, and later in the week he tallied 23 points on 7-11 FG, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds vs. the Bobcats. He struggled mightily against the Grizzlies in between those two games, but Memphis is fighting for their playoff lives and they have one of the best defenses in the league. And the best part about this for 76ers fans is that his big numbers have not helped them win any games; i.e. they haven’t played themselves out of a guaranteed top-5 pick, which is what Sam Hinkie wanted all along.

Kelly Olynyk

With Jared Sullinger out on Sunday, the Celtics earned a rare second straight win, and it wouldn’t have come without a major effort from Olynyk. He still needs to greatly improve his defense, but that he is far from shy on the offensive end shows how confident he is in his ability to score the ball. After knocking the Bobcats back into 7th by beating them on Friday, Olynyk went off against Cleveland the next night, scoring 25 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing 3 assists in the Celtics 111-99 road win. Going into the offseason there’s a lot of uncertainty about the direction the Celtics will choose to go from here (especially if they keep winning games here down the stretch and play themselves out of a favorable pick in the draft). One thing is for sure though: they definitely have some nice young pieces to build around and they’ll have the ability to attract trade partners with all their assets.