Part 2 - NBA Rookie Yearbook for Class of 2018

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Class of 2018

It's almost impossible to predict how certain players will perform as rookies — let alone throughout their entire careers — but we're going to try to anyway.

After looking at which rookies from the 2018 NBA Draft class are most likely to win a scoring title, lead the league in assists, become an All-Star the quickest and win Defensive Player of the Year, we've got four more superlatives for you in Part 2 of our NBA Rookie Yearbook.

MORE: Part 1 - NBA Rookie Yearbook for Class of 2018

From who is most likely to be crowned Rookie of the Year to who is destined to break the all-time 3-point record, let's get to it...

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Luka Doncic

Here is some of what Doncic accomplished before stepping foot on an NBA court:

  • EuroLeague champion
  • EuroLeague MVP
  • EuroLeague Final Four MVP
  • Two-time EuroLeague Rising Star
  • Three-time Liga ACB Champion
  • Liga ACB MVP
  • EuroBasket champion

Pretty impressive for a 19-year-old, huh? With that sort of résumé, Doncic enters his rookie campaign as the most NBA-ready player in this stacked class and the one least likely to crash head-first into the proverbial rookie wall when we approach the second half of the season.

That downplays how complete of a player Doncic already is, too. He's basically a 6-foot-7 guard who can space the floor out to the 3-point line and dish out the types of passes you'd expect to see from someone like LeBron James or Ben Simmons.

Just look at this dime Doncic threw in the first quarter of his highly anticipated debut this week:

Again, pretty impressive for a 19-year-old, right?

Expect to see a lot more of that creativity from the Rookie of the Year favourite this season.

Deandre Ayton

Ayton has the potential to be one of the most dominant big men in the NBA. He proved it at Arizona, when he averaged 20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game as a freshman before becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

There's no reason to doubt that Ayton won't soon put up similar numbers in the NBA. The 7-footer is already a monster on the low block and he has the shooting touch to punish opposing centres from midrange.

He might even be able to eventually stretch teams out to the 3-point line depending on how he continues to develop.

The NBA obviously doesn't hand out MVP awards to players for simply putting up big individual numbers, but Ayton has an opportunity to cement himself as a force on an up-and-coming Phoenix Suns team that has more than enough talent to develop into something special in the years to come.

If he really can establish himself as the Shaq to Devin Booker's Kobe, a future spot in the MVP discussion isn't out of the realm of possibility.

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Mikal Bridges

A two-time NCAA champion. A game that is tailor-made for today's NBA. The son of a mother who works for an NBA team. A three year player under legendary Villanova head coach Jay Wright. Take your pick when it comes to why Bridges has a future as a head coach in the NBA.

 

Trae Young

Because you don't get compared to Stephen Curry and Steve Nash if you can't shoot.

In his lone season at Oklahoma, Young attempted 10.3 3-pointers per game and made 36.0 percent of those opportunities. He had several impressive performances along the way, like when he dropped 10 3-pointers against TCU en route to 43 points and when he went a cool 8-for-13 from deep in a win over Northwestern.

Where the Curry and Nash comparisons come directly into play is the way in which Young gets off those 3-pointers. Not only is he comfortable shooting off the dribble — an incredibly important skill for a point guard in today's NBA — he is not afraid to let it fly from deep, as he proved in the preseason with one of the more ridiculous game-winners we'll likely see this season:

Even if he comes out the gates slow, nobody in this class shoots the rock, as well as Young, does from deep. So if anyone is going to break Ray Allen's all-time 3-point record, it's the guy who is now running the show in Atlanta.

Author(s)
Scott Rafferty Photo

Scott Rafferty is a Senior NBA Editor for The Sporting News