Grading Every NBA Team's Top Under-24 Player After 2 Weeks

When young players show signs of development early in an NBA season, it can change the entire complexion of a franchise. Depending on where the team is in its own growth trajectory, a step forward from a prospect could create hope where none existed before or even make championship aspirations feel more legitimate.

On the other hand, when a key young piece of an organization doesn't improve, the questions can get existential.

If he's not "the guy," do we need to blow this whole thing up?

Most of our early-season grades of the under-24 set fall somewhere between those boom and bust extremes.

We'll grade each player on their performance to date, skipping those that haven't played in some cases, but not all. We can't discuss the New Orleans Pelicans without mentioning what Zion Williamson has (or, in this case, hasn't) done.

Finally, to the extent it's possible, we'll hand out grades relative to expectations. Who's playing better or worse than his past track record and pedigree suggest he should be? As much as anything, we're judging progress, which is what everyone cares about most when it comes to young talents. 

Trae Young juiced the Atlanta Hawks offense by 12.7 points per 100 possessions last season, doubling down on a 2019-20 campaign that established him as one of the exceedingly rare players whose mere presence on the floor assures his team of top-end scoring efficiency.

Though his three-point shot is falling at career-low rates, and though he's getting to the foul line less frequently than ever, his positive impact on Atlanta's scoring is even more pronounced. Unfortunately, his minutes have also coincided with an astronomical spike in points allowed per 100 possessions. Young posted negative on-court plus/minus figures in double-digit road losses to the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers to close out last week.

The bar coming into this season was high for Young, already a bonafide All-Star and the best player on a conference finalist. He's been a bit of a disappointment by that standard, though his shot profile has some intriguing growth indicators.

Perhaps in response to opponents running him off the three-point line so aggressively (and to cover for his generally poor conversion rates at the rim), Young is taking more mid-rangers and is hitting them at career-best rates.

Grade: C-

Jaylen Brown is 25 and therefore too old to meet our under-24 requirement. But it's only fair to note he's doing that thing again where he starts the season out by making us question which young Boston Celtics wing is actually the team's best.

Brown's growth as a mid-range shooter made it a closer call than ever last year, and all he did this season was drop 46 points in the Celtics' season-opener.

Just in case Brown's big debut cast doubt on Boston's young-talent hierarchy, Jayson Tatum's 41 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six made threes in an overtime win against the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 25 restored order.

That effort gave him the franchise lead in 40/5/5/5 games.

The 23-year-old's shooting percentages are down, but he's contributing more rebounds per game than ever, and he's ratcheted up his long-range attempt rate. Two weeks into his fifth season, Tatum looks every bit the complete two-way force and fringe top-10 talent he was when last year ended.

Grade: B+

Nicolas Claxton has played more minutes than the Brooklyn Nets' other two sub-24 players, Day'Ron Sharpe and Cam Thomas, combined. But while the 22-year-old center is clearly the team's top young player, he hasn't exactly wowed overall.

We're still getting the odd highlight dunk, and Claxton continues to look capable as a switch defender in spurts. But he's appeared a little sped-up since the preseason, and he might be pressing to prove he can be counted on in a larger role than the one he played last year.

Claxton started Brooklyn's first three games and averaged 6.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 19.8 minutes, but he came off the bench against the Washington Wizards on Oct. 25. The Nets' lineups have been fluid to begin the year, and head coach Steve Nash may be right to play matchups. An illness also knocked Claxton out of the rotation for a handful of games, making it tougher for him to seize a first-unit gig with a hot start.

He's been fine in a limited role to this point.

Grade: C

Charlotte is ruthless on live-ball turnovers, streaking the other way in search of fast-break highlights like they're worth double the points. Considering how demoralizing a stretch of sprint-out Hornets buckets is for the opposition, they might as well be.

The emphasis on transition play is schematic and teamwide, but LaMelo Ball is the one who makes the operation work. He sees everything in slow motion, throws teammates open in space and chucks a mean deep ball.

His creative flair as a passer is unequaled, and his finishing craft (I'm particularly a fan of the running, one-handed swoopers) is increasingly slick.

That Ball is also competing on defense and drilling threes off the dribble with spikes in volume and efficiency solidifies his place as one of the 2021-22 season's most impressive early performers of any age. It also doesn't hurt that Ball is leading a Hornets team that has surprised with some impressive early wins.

Bonus points for potentially turning a lottery team into a playoff threat ahead of schedule.

Grade: A-

Patrick Williams' second season is probably over due to a wrist injury, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. So, sadly, this is a final grade instead of a progress report on the No. 4 pick in the 2020 draft.

Williams had a lot less to do on this year's version of the Chicago Bulls, and that might have been a good thing. The 20-year-old combo forward is at his best as a low-usage gap-filler, which is all the revamped Bulls needed him to be.

Lonzo Ball, Nikola Vucevic, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan handle the heavy lifts on offense, which reduced Williams' usage rate from an already low 14.9 percent last year to 9.7 percent this season. Primarily a dependent scorer as a rookie, Williams fed off nothing but setups from Chicago's other four starters, all of whom are good passers.

Before going down, 90 percent of Williams' two-point field goals were assisted. That's a big reason he shot a sparkling 56.5 percent from the field.

Williams looked a little stiff in the early going, but that owed mostly to a preseason ankle sprain. He was still a key piece for a surprisingly good Bulls defense. And though Chicago would ultimately like to see more playmaking and scoring from Williams as he develops, he was solid in a limited role that played to his strengths. At 20, that's just fine.

Grade: B-

All you're really looking for from rookies this early in the season are flashes. Evan Mobley's first few weeks have had a strobe-light quality to them.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting nothing but bursts of tantalizing, "this guy is special" light. Mobley has the people and the GOATS talking.

Mobley is the rare 7-footer with the mobility and body control to impact the game on the perimeter and still recover to the rim as a helper. He's coordinated, exceptionally rangy and, best of all, is already showing an advanced understanding of how to use his gifts intelligently.

Most rookies can't keep their heads above water when confined to basic defensive responsibilities. Meanwhile, Mobley is swimming smoothly with complex, high-leverage assignments.

Cleveland has gone to a 3-2 zone early this year, which is practically a necessity when you're trying to keep starting small forward (!?!) Lauri Markkanen from being attacked on every possession, and Mobley's been the guy at the top of it. Whether in those sets or in man coverage, his defensive highlights are already piling up.

Toss in great feel as a facilitator on offense and efficient double-digit scoring, and Mobley looks like the kind of do-it-all big man we so often hope for but so rarely get.

Grade: A

Luka Doncic is still the best bet among the under-24 crowd for multiple MVPs in his career.

He's doing fine. Check back in five years.

While it's tempting to brush off grading Doncic because of his reliable and established superstardom, it's only fair to treat him like every other young player in this exercise. And by his lofty standards, the early stages of his 2021-22 campaign haven't been impressive.

Doncic is shooting it worse from the field and from three than he has in any prior season, and his Dallas Mavericks lost their season opener to Trae Young, for whom Doncic was traded, and whose Atlanta Hawks have already advanced deeper into the playoffs than any team Doncic has led. That probably didn't feel great.

Still, if any other 22-year-old were scoring more than 20 points per game in a slow start while flirting with averaging a triple-double, we'd be over the moon.

For Doncic, "very good" isn't good enough. He's set the bar too high.

Grade: C-

I had Michael Porter Jr. pegged as a sneaky scoring-title candidate coming into this season, so he's fallen well short of my own outsized expectations. But even if you only anticipated moderate growth in MPJ's third campaign, you've been disappointed so far.

Despite Jamal Murray's absence, Porter hasn't taken on a larger offensive role. Through the first six games of the season, during which MPJ averaged the second-most minutes on the team, Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Will Barton and Monte Morris all ranked ahead of him in points per game.

There have been encouraging signs of defensive growth, but Porter, a plug-and-play source of 20 points in theory, hasn't been effective on that end of the floor in practice. He managed only 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting in an ugly Oct. 25 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and scored 15 points or fewer in each of the first six games this season. He never had a drought like that last season.

Porter has plenty of time to get it going, but this has been a brutal beginning to what many thought would be a breakout year.

Grade: D-

The sample is small for everyone here, but it's microscopic for Cade Cunningham. He's seen action in only one game and should probably get a pass for his performance due to rust.

During Cunningham's NBA debut, he put up two points, seven boards and two assists in 19 minutes of a 110-103 win over the Orlando Magic on Oct. 30.

The 2021 No. 1 overall pick suffered an ankle injury in training camp that cut into his developmental reps, though he at least got a feel for NBA competition in summer-league play.

Cunningham is long on skill and versatility, but it was encouraging to see him also get after it from an effort perspective in his debut. When franchise players are willing to hit the floor in a fight for a loose ball, it sets the tone for team-wide hustle.

Grade: Incomplete

Jordan Poole has laid a few eggs to start the season, including a 4-of-14 night with seven turnovers against the Los Angeles Clippers, but he's still showing enough to validate the hype train that started rolling late last year.

Shifty on the ball, extremely confident and dangerous at all three levels, Poole is a massively important figure for the Golden State Warriors this season. Other than Stephen Curry, he's the only player on the roster who's capable of breaking down the defense with regularity.

A starter in every contest so far, Poole's true value lies in his ability to run the offense without the Warriors' two-time MVP on the court.

Poole's numbers haven't been great, and he has been visibly pressing, perhaps sensing how integral he is to his team's plans and overeager to show he's up for such a key role. But his skill level is obvious, and his capacity to embarrass a defender has been there.

Poole's shooting percentages will rise, and he's still a great bet to finish second on the Warriors in scoring this season. He just hasn't calmed down enough to find a groove.

Grade: C-

Jalen Green's rookie season has been predictably uneven, but the highs have made the inconsistency worth it. Or, actually, the high—singular.

Green's only stellar effort so far was a 30-point night in a 10-point loss to the Celtics on Oct. 24, a game in which he drained eight of his 10 three-point tries, one short of a rookie record.

That game featured more than a window into Green's combustible scoring. It also showcased his ridiculous athleticism. The Zach LaVine comps aren't going anywhere with plays like that.

Bet on that record for made threes by a rookie falling. The springy wing has confidence to spare and the greenest of green lights for a Rockets team in full-on developmental mode. As good as third pick Evan Mobley has looked, Houston probably isn't regretting its decision at No. 2.

Grade: B+

This spot would have been a lot more interesting had it gone to Chris Duarte, who's looked as ready to play as any draftee in some time. But he's already 24 and is therefore disqualified from inclusion here due to age.

Rookie Isaiah Jackson, 19, would have been an option if he hadn't gone down with a knee injury on Oct. 27 that'll keep him out indefinitely. That leaves Oshae Brissett, the Indiana Pacers' 22-year-old forward who posted a dozen double-figure scoring nights as a starter over roughly the final month of last season.

Undrafted out of Syracuse in 2019, Brissett has shown his worth as a solid defender who can score at low volume. This season, he's seen his role reduced in a crowded Pacers forward rotation and isn't striping it anywhere near as well from deep as he did in 2020-21, when he drilled 42.3 percent of his triples. 

Hopes shouldn't have been too high for the role-playing combo forward in the first place, but Brissett has so far fallen a little short of expectations.

Grade: C-

That journeyman center Isaiah Hartenstein checks in as the Los Angeles Clippers' top under-24 player speaks to the roster's construction. This is an experienced squad that isn't in the business of giving minutes to youth. Ivica Zubac (24) and Terance Mann (25) aren't kids anymore, either.

Hartenstein has long felt like an underappreciated contributor. His mobility, shot-blocking and sneaky passing chops are legit.

His role is never going to be much larger than it is now as a low-minute backup 5 on a team that prefers to play without a big man in key moments, but Hartenstein has been a net-positive when on the court.

The Clips have outscored opponents with him on the floor.

Grade: B

Malik Monk's usage is down, and his scoring efficiency is up, which is what the expectation should have been after his move from the Charlotte Hornets to the Los Angeles Lakers.

In L.A., Monk is still primarily a spark-plug scorer. But with more veteran stars around him, the 23-year-old guard has had no choice but to be more judicious in his shot selection.

He has also basically given up on the concept of passing this season, as evidenced by a career-low assist rate, and he's never been into playing D. Monk is on this roster to get buckets and spread the floor, which he's done effectively.

A career-high percentage of Monk's attempts are coming from deep, and it appears the 40.1 percent he shot on threes last season is real.

On an aging roster that has already lost LeBron James for a handful of games and seen Anthony Davis take some scary bumps, Monk's importance as a reliable source of offense only grows. His confidence level is already about as massive as it can get.

Grade: B

If the season ended today, the top on-court storyline would probably be Ja Morant's ascent to superstardom. Whether he sustains the production level he's established in the early going is a separate question.

So far, he's been a no-questions-asked MVP candidate. He might even be the favorite.

Morant's singular ball-handling creativity and athletic burst still define him, but he's been deadly from deep and shown major development in his in-between game. Already adept with his floater, Morant is now hitting more mid-range pull-ups against defenders who wind up on their heels against his drives.

If he's a true three-level scorer now, there's no stopping him.

The Memphis Grizzlies already have road wins over the Clippers and Warriors, and they played the Lakers tough in a three-point loss at Staples Center on Oct. 24. Desmond Bane and other young Grizzlies have contributed, but this team's success owes mostly to Morant making a leap.

Grade: A+

We can all relax about Tyler Herro now.

After a second season that failed to meet the expectations he set in the bubble and that may have been most notable for the questions about his off-court life, Herro shot out of the gates this year. He's played like a guy who either doesn't care about the narratives that formed around him or desperately wants to change them.

Either way, he's been locked in and effective as the Miami Heat's quick-trigger scorer off the bench.

Herro racked up 27 points in 24 minutes to open the season, then hung 30 on the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. More polished, seeing the floor better than ever (nine assists on Oct. 25), and sitting above 20 points per game without his three-ball falling regularly until he hit a combined 8-of-14 on Oct. 29 and 30, Herro is realizing his potential as—at least—one of the league's best reserve weapons. 

Grade: A

Everything's relative, and Jordan Nwora might deserve a high grade simply for sticking in the league after coming to the Milwaukee Bucks with the 45th pick in the 2020 draft. Players selected that low don't tend to hang around long, let alone carve out a role on a title-defending squad.

Nwora can flat-out shoot it, which was obvious after he hit 45.2 percent of his triples in spot minutes last season. He's seeing increased time on the wing with Rodney Hood and Donte DiVincenzo out, and the 6'7" swingman is taking more than half his shots from deep.

In 2020-21, Nwora posted extremely high block and steal rates for his position, and he's swatting away opponents' attempts with great frequency again this season. Though he's mainly a shooting specialist unfamiliar with the concept of passing, Nwora could stick in the rotation even when the Bucks get healthy.

Grade: B-

The Minnesota Timberwolves are as young as teams get. Patrick Beverley is the only player on the roster over 27.

But there's only one option here: 2020 No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards.

Edwards began his breakout during the second half last year, and his growth is continuing apace. His usage rate, points per shot attempt and assist rate are all above last year's levels, while his turnover rate is down. When a player with athleticism best described as nuclear shows signs of developing craft and court awareness, special things become possible.

We're still early in the Edwards experience, and he has no shortage of visible rough edges to his game. But even at this phase of what's looking like an eventual superstar career, he's contributing over 25 reasonably efficient points per game with no shortage of jaw-dropping highlights. 

That he's playing a major role for a Wolves team that's actually winning some games and (gasp!) defending is just icing on the cake. And nobody holds court at a postgame presser like him.

Edwards is an A-plus interview, that's for sure.

Grade: B+

Zion Williamson hasn't played, and it's unclear when that's going to change as he recovers from surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot.

This is a problem for the New Orleans Pelicans, who saw Zion put together a healthy stretch last season good enough to earn him an All-Star nod at age 20 and solidify his potential as a top-10 player in the league. That potential won't matter if Williamson can't stay on the floor.

Add the offseason foot surgery to the torn meniscus he suffered as a rookie, left knee soreness prior to that during summer league, the fractured finger and thumb sprain late last year, foot and knee issues in college, and you have an injury report that feels terrifyingly long for a player so young.

The strain that his large frame puts on his joints are a genuine concern, and things are going wrong for Zion in ways that validate that precise worry.

Grade: Incomplete

RJ Barrett's grade is a perfect example of how small our sample size is—and of how profoundly one or two performances can change things.

If it was sustained gains in long-range shooting or playmaking, low marks were in order until the 21-year-old lefty exploded for 55 points on 20-of-33 shooting in wins over the Bulls and Pelicans on Oct. 28 and 30. Barrett's threes weren't falling prior to that back-to-back effort, but now it appears he's sustained the gains he made last season when he shot 40.1 percent from distance.

With so much more playmaking on board thanks to the additions of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, Barrett is firing away on the catch, posting his highest three-point attempt rate by a huge margin. Perhaps even more importantly, he's locking in on defense to a degree that would earn him some All-Defensive Team consideration if the season ended today.

At 21, Barrett is showing subtle indicators of being an awesome role player while also keeping his chances of becoming a top-option scorer alive.

Grade: B+

It's going to take Grade-A patience for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to make it through this season. His Oklahoma City Thunder have played hard to open the year, even beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 27, but no team has less talent or experience anywhere in the league.

It's going to be a long year for one of the game's most gifted young guards.

Rookie Josh Giddey is handling the ball often, so SGA is playing facilitator less frequently than he did a year ago. As a result, the guy who led the league in drives per game in 2020-21 is taking a much lower share of his shots at the rim.

And despite spending more time off the ball, Gilgeous-Alexander's teammates aren't setting him up. A comically low percentage of his field goals are assisted.

It isn't his fault, and the Thunder should think seriously about the wisdom of any strategy that takes the ball out of SGA's hands. But Gilgeous-Alexander, 23, hasn't been quite the same player that he was last season.

Grade: C-

All five of the Orlando Magic's starters are 23 or younger, and four of them were top-10 picks. Options abound, but Jalen Suggs came off the board earlier than any of his fellow starters (fifth in 2021). So he gets the spot here as the shiniest new thing in the Magic's youth collection.

Unfortunately for Suggs and Orlando, he hasn't been great.

The combo guard was hitting under 30 percent from the field and hadn't been able to buy a three-pointer until a 21-point effort that included 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc in a one-point loss to the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 29.

Despite Cole Anthony handling the heavy playmaking work in the Magic's offense, Suggs is also floundering as a facilitator. When a secondary ball-handler is flirting with a one-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio, it's a tough look.

Suggs went as high as he did in the draft because of his character, maturity and relatively complete two-way game. He has too much polish, athleticism and past success to write off—especially this early, and especially when he's surrounded by so few experienced teammates. But the results have been ugly to this point.

Grade: D+

More isn't necessarily better, which is a thought we should keep in mind while discussing the first two weeks of Tyrese Maxey's sophomore season.

The 21-year-old guard is logging twice as many minutes per game as he did a year ago, due mainly to the playmaking void created by Ben Simmons' absence. Maxey's counting stats are all way up, but he's largely been the same player he was as a rookie from an efficiency standpoint.

That's not all bad. It means Maxey is still an ace downhill attacker who ranks among the leaders at his position in both rim-attempt frequency and accuracy.

More broadly, it's hard to maintain efficiency when volume rises, as it has for Maxey. That he's holding steady on his percentages from a year ago could be construed as a positive—even if the marks he managed (46.2 percent from the field; 30.1 percent from deep) aren't all that impressive.

That's a roundabout way of saying Maxey has demonstrated the ability to be just as productive as he used to be over a larger sample of playing time. For a 21-year-old who's still developing, that's encouraging.

Grade: C+

Deandre Ayton may be disappointed by his team's refusal to offer him a full max contract extension, but those feelings don't seem to be affecting his play.

The fourth-year center and 2018 No. 1 overall pick is producing like he did last year, or at least close enough to where any differences are more likely attributable to the small sample than any dip in his effort.

Don't worry about Ayton's brutal conversion rate in the short mid-range area, either. His hands are too soft and his touch is too developed to struggle like this from a spot where he's had so much success in the past.

Some might prefer to see Ayton take a step forward by shooting more threes or taking on a larger offensive role. That just isn't going to be called for on a team like this, where Chris Paul and Devin Booker run things and everyone else fits into their various supporting positions.

In fact, that dynamic may inform Phoenix's decision on Ayton's contract offer. Maxing out a player, no matter how accomplished or promising, doesn't make sense if you don't envision said player occupying a lead role.

Grade: C

Athleticism was never a question, and offseason tales of his work ethic removed any doubt about Nassir Little's commitment to improving.

Now that it looks like the 21-year-old forward can also be counted on for efficient shooting, the Portland Trail Blazers might really have something.

Little was in line for a role expansion after showing flashes of rotation-worthiness in his second season, but he's been pressed into duty a bit more quickly with Norman Powell missing early time due to a knee injury. Though he's still an extremely low-usage option, Little is making his touches count by hitting eight of his first 16 tries from deep this year.

Looking more comfortable as a shooter and still providing reliable infusions of energy on defense, Little is establishing himself as the kind of two-way talent every team wants.

Grade: B+

De'Aaron Fox hasn't looked this bad since his rookie year.

Though he's visibly bulked up, Fox isn't using his new heft to draw fouls at the same elite frequency of the last three seasons. Combine that with sub-40-percent shooting from the field and sub-20-percent shooting from deep, and Fox's offensive start has to rank up there with the most disappointing in the league.

He doesn't necessarily have to match or exceed last year's 25.2 points per game for this season to count as a success, but Fox can do better than this.

It's way too early to believe this is the new normal. The safer bet is still on him settling in and producing a season that gets him some All-Star consideration. But the returns so far have been poor, and Fox's individual struggles are all the more damaging because this year's Sacramento Kings, led by a somehow-still-improving Harrison Barnes, look like they could get frisky.

That won't happen if Fox doesn't find his form.

Grade: D

Devin Vassell is getting very interesting in his second season, but the San Antonio Spurs are still treating Keldon Johnson like their top young talent. They've started him every night, and Dejounte Murray is the only player on the team with more field-goal attempts.

Johnson, a bulldozing forward who's never seen a basket he didn't want to attack with head-down ferocity, has also bowling-balled his way to the foul line almost twice as often as any other Spurs player.

It'd be nice if Johnson's three-point shot weren't missing in action, but he's finding ways to contribute while he works out his stroke. An energetic pursuer of loose balls and second-chance opportunities, Johnson juices the Spurs' offensive rebounding rates whenever he's on the floor.

If his shot starts falling, the 22-year-old banger could sniff 20 points per game on solid efficiency while also harassing opponents on D. He hasn't quite put everything together, but it's easy to be optimistic he will.

Grade: C+

A positionally ambiguous 6'9" playmaker who already sees the court and anticipates actions like a veteran, Toronto Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes has opened eyes through the first two weeks of the season. Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd knows a thing or two about playing high-IQ basketball, and he's already seen enough to vouch for Barnes' imminent stardom.

Chris Duarte and Evan Mobley are the only guys who'd take votes away from Barnes if Rookie of the Year ballots went out today.

Essentially a point forward, Barnes is doing absolutely everything but hit threes. No surprise there, as his shot was a question mark coming into the league.

Already on pace to be one of the best first-year players in franchise history, Barnes has otherwise been one big exclamation point.

Grade: A

Jared Butler is the only under-24 player on the Utah Jazz who's seen more than a smidgen of playing time, and he's logged more personal fouls than points, rebounds or assists in his limited minutes.

Utah is a veteran outfit with precious few opportunities to crack the rotation, but Butler isn't helping his chances by shooting 1-of-12 from the field spread over six games.

The Baylor product was a great value pick at No. 40, and he's shown he can play at a much higher level against NBA competition. But the numbers are what they are, and somebody has to get a failing grade or it wrecks the curve, right?

Grade: F

First of all, it's just good to see Deni Avdija on the court again after he ended his rookie year with a gruesome ankle fracture that required him to get taken off the floor in a wheelchair.

And it's even better to see the 21-year-old showing absolutely no ill effects from that injury.

The Washington Wizards have plenty of depth at the forward spots, so Avdija is actually playing less this season than he did last year. Other than scoring, though, his numbers are at or above last year's levels on a per-minute basis.

The most encouraging sign for a prospect who entered the league with the potential to become a playmaking forward is an improving assist percentage.

Objectively, Avdija hasn't been great. As happy as we should all be that he's back in action, and as real as his upside still is, we have to take sentiment out of it.

Grade: D+

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Accurate through games played Sunday, Oct. 31. Salary info via Spotrac.