The 2025 NBA rookie class has been very impressive to start their careers, making every update to Steve Auschburner's NBA rookie ladder very dramatic. The top two spots have been set in stone, but spots after that have been fluid every week.
The two top New Orleans Pelicans rookies have had a lot of fluctuation this season, but both have ultimately exceeded expectations. This wasn't a banner week for them, but it could have been worse.
Dallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg and Charlotte Hornets sharpshooter Kon Knueppel have been set in the top two spots. There's no real argument against them being the best so far. Last week, it was Derik Queen at the No. 3 spot, but that's no longer the case.
VJ Edgecombe has come back to take that third spot back over, moving up one spot and sending Queen down one spot to No. 4.
This past week of games, Queen played in three games and New Orleans lost all of them. The Pelicans rookie center has had fluctuating success on offense and this was no different. His scoring was down at 11.7 points per game but he had nine rebounds with 3.3 assists, a steal and a block per game.
While it wasn't his best week, it does bring up one good recent change about his game. Earlier this year, he was sort of shutting down when he wasn't getting his way on offense. James Borrego would have to sit him.
Now, he's just getting involved in different ways. His rebounding has improved a ton over this campaign.
Fellow rookie Jeremiah Fears also sits on the rookie ladder. He didn't move at all this week, staying steady at the No. 7 overall spot. Still a great place for him to be, because that's the spot he was drafted and he is still better than expected. No one passed him up, either, it's just that it was hard to rise.
Fears had one great game this week and two mediocre ones, so it's fair for him to not move up.
The great game was when he had 18 points with eight rebounds and two assists agains the Phoenix Suns. Still, he averaged just 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists between the three outings.
His offensive potential has remained great, but his consistency took a hit in December. Nothing to worry about too much.
Perhaps the New Orleans rookies can make some positive progress before the next edition of the rankings with games against Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers before next Wednesday.