Shaedon Sharpe’s all-rookie case fittingly hinges on an emphatic finish
By Rowan Kent
What are Shaedon Sharpe’s chances to make an all-rookie team?
If the votes were due today, the First- and Second-Team All-Rookie squads would look something like this:
The first team would definitely have Banchero, Mathurin, Ivey, and Williams on it, as all four play significant roles for their teams. The last spot would be a tossup between Kessler or Murray, both of whom are also starters and have played quite well this year.
With either Kessler or Murray then being shunted to the second team, there are just four spots up for grabs for Sharpe, Smith Jr., Jalen Duren, Sochan, Branham, Daniels, and Andrew Nembhard, amongst others.
Given the wide breadth of competitors, it’s not a knock on Sharpe that he’d end up as one of the odd men out from the second team, too. Branham has been a more consistent scorer, Sochan has made a legitimate two-way impact for the Spurs, Duren has shown some real starter flashes on defense, and Smith Jr.’s shooting is coming from high volume but can’t be denied.
A combination of a smaller role, diminished counting stats, and on-court impact will keep Sharpe from either all-rookie team unless he has a marvelous stretch of scoring games where he helps the Blazers claw their way back into the play-in picture.
If he can do that, Sharpe stands a chance of leapfrogging Smith Jr. and potentially Duren as well.
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Even if he doesn’t make these teams, however, Sharpe’s recent stretch of play should inspire optimism about the type of offensive weapon he can be in the near future. If Sharpe can keep using his outlier athleticism to his advantage, it may be chuckle-worthy trivia fun fact that a player as good as him never made an NBA All-Rookie team.