There are some nice-looking rookies this year, but not a whole lot of them are from the latter half of the first round. Landry “Shamwow” Shamet, taken 26th overall, is the best of the bunch. Kevin Hurter and Omari Spellman are pretty good too, but then there a bunch of players who barely see the court except in the closing minutes of blowouts (I want Dzanan Musa to be better so I can start collecting those delicious Balkan views).
In that range of players, teams are just looking for role-players who can contribute without sabotaging team success, and I would say that Shamet has already exceeded those expectations. His ultra-flat three-point shot, which, by the principles of geometry, should go in roughly 15% of the time, is inexplicably accurate, and he’s not a bad scorer from other areas of the court either. Ben Simmons has a new assist target, the 76ers have a cheap shooter for a few years, and J.J. Redick is happy because there’s a legit backup for him, meaning he doesn’t put more mileage on his aging legs than he has to.
The ROTY of the year award is severely out of reach for Shamet, but he’s definitely in the running for the RRPOTY award which I just made up. The Rookie Role Player of the Year trophy isn’t as prestigious as the real ROTY trophy, but it’s still a trophy. Who doesn’t like trophies?