{"id":1874026,"date":"2026-04-09T14:15:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1874026"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:15:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:15:43","slug":"the-bounce-whos-your-rookie-of-the-year-plus-nba-coaches-on-the-hot-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1874026","title":{"rendered":"The Bounce: Who\u2019s your Rookie of the Year? Plus, NBA coaches on the hot seat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Bounce Newslette<\/b>r<\/strong>\u00a0\":basketball:\"<\/span>\u00a0| This is The Athletic\u2019s<\/em> daily NBA newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

On this date in 2019, both Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade played in front of their respective home crowds for the last time. Each player scored 30 points. There was one more incredible feat that happened that day too. Jamal Crawford went for 51 points to become the oldest player ever to drop 50.<\/p>\n

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Rookie debate<\/h3>\n

The Flagg-Knueppel race is fascinating<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have only a couple of games left in the 2025-26 regular season, and the Rookie of the Year debate<\/a> got reignited this past week with Cooper Flagg doing some historic stuff. We talked about this on Monday, when Flagg was coming off scoring 96 points over the span of two games. He is the only rookie not named Wilt Chamberlain to do this in NBA history. The Dallas Mavericks franchise guy all of a sudden seemed to remind everybody that he\u2019s the best rookie in his class.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The funny thing about that is, the Rookie of the Year award is not about who is going to be the best player. While I think guys like Dylan Harper and VJ Edgecombe have been pushed aside in that discussion, Kon Knueppel has put up an impressive case for taking ROY away from his former Duke teammate\u2019s grasp. In fact, until the 51-point game by Flagg, Knueppel had been the odds-on betting favorite for weeks.<\/p>\n

Some of that was Knueppel\u2019s stellar play all season. People have taken extra notice because the Charlotte Hornets have been one of the best teams in the league the last couple of months. Knueppel\u2019s presence is a massive part of that. He makes the right plays, and he might be the best shooter in the NBA this season<\/strong> (in terms of production and efficiency; obviously Steph Curry is still the actual best).<\/p>\n

How do you determine who has had the best season? My criteria have usually been weighing 1) if a rookie is the big story of the year, 2) if the rookie has some pretty cool stats and 3) looking at team success if we have two rookies in a dead heat. Funny enough, both Flagg and Knueppel have qualified for the first two. Let\u2019s look at the stats first:<\/p>\n