As an avid NBA fan I was really looking forward to watching this 2015-2016 NBA rookie class play. A lot of the players had big reputations coming into the season, and the group had a variety of big men and point guards. Now that the season is over and the playoffs have begun, I did some thinking about this rookie class and I posed the question..Is this the best NBA rookie class ever?

It’s obviously too early to tell, but I went back to some of the past highly touted rookie classes in NBA history, and I found some interesting results. Now in no way does success in a players rookie year mean prolonged success, so I only took into account the rookie season for every first round pick in 8 of the strongest draft classes in NBA history.

2015 NBA Draft

Pick Player Points Rebounds Assists 1 Karl-Anthony Towns 18.3 10.4 2 2 D’Angelo Russell 13.2 3.4 3.3 3 Jahlil Okafor 17.5 7 1.2 4 Kristaps Porzingis 14.3 7.3 1.3 5 Mario Hezonja 6.1 2.2 1.4 6 Willie Cauley-Stein 7 5.3 0.6 7 Emmanuel Mudiay 12.8 3.4 5.5 8 Stanley Johnson 8.1 4.2 1.6 9 Frank Kaminsky 7.5 4.1 1.2 10 Justise Winslow 6.4 5.2 1.5 11 Myles Turner 10.3 5.5 0.7 12 Trey Lyles 6.1 3.7 0.7 13 Devin Booker 13.8 2.5 2.6 14 Cameron Payne 5 1.5 1.9 15 Kelly Oubre 3.7 2.1 0.2 16 Terry Rozier 1.8 1.6 0.9 17 Rashad Vaughn 3.1 1.3 0.6 18 Sam Dekker 0 0.3 0 19 Jerian Grant 5.6 1.9 2.3 20 Delon Wright 3.8 1.4 1.1 21 Justin Anderson 3.8 2.4 0.5 22 Bobby Portis 7 5.4 0.8 23 Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 5.8 5.3 1.5 24 Tyus Jones 4.2 1.3 2.9 25 Jarell Martin 5.7 3.2 0.6 26 Nikola Milutinov 0 0 0 27 Larry Nance Jr. 5.5 5 0.7 28 R.J. Hunter 2.7 1 0.4 29 Chris McCullough 4.7 2.8 0.4 30 Kevon Looney 1.8 2 0 AVERAGES 6.85333333 3.42333333 1.28

I don’t think this is an overstatement, but there are at least 10 franchise players in this class. Youth and length are the two words that sum up this group, and the rookie numbers aren’t eye popping, but look back at this class in 5 years and there will be multiple All-Stars.

Here are the other 7 top NBA rookie classes. Draw your own conclusions and hit up the comment section for debate.

2014 NBA Draft

Pick Player Points Rebounds Assists 1 Andrew Wiggins 16.8 4.5 2.1 2 Jabari Parker 12.3 5.5 1.7 3 Joel Embiid 0 0 0 4 Aaron Gordon 5.2 3.6 0.7 5 Dante Exum 4.8 1.6 2.4 6 Marcus Smart 7.8 3.3 3.1 7 Julius Randle 2 0 0 8 Nik Stauskas 4.4 1.2 0.9 9 Noah Vonleh 3.3 3.4 0.2 10 Elfrid Payton 10.6 5 7.7 11 Doug McDermott 3 1.2 0.2 12 Dario Saric 0 0 0 13 Zach LaVine 10.1 2.8 3.6 14 T.J. Warren 6.1 2.1 0.6 15 Adreian Payne 6.7 5.1 0.9 16 Jusuf Nurkic 6.9 6.2 0.8 17 James Young 3.4 1.4 0.4 18 Tyler Ennis 3.7 1.1 2.2 19 Gary Harris 3.4 1.2 0.5 20 Bruno Caboclo 1.3 0.3 0 21 Mitch McGary 6.3 5.2 0.4 22 Jordan Adams 3.1 0.9 0.5 23 Rodney Hood 8.7 2.3 1.7 24 Shabazz Napier 5.1 2.2 2.5 25 Clint Capela 2.7 3 0.2 26 P.J. Hairston 5.6 2 0.5 27 Bogdan Bogdanovic 0 0 0 28 C.J. Wilcox 2 0.3 0.4 29 Josh Huestis 0 0 0 30 Kyle Anderson 2.2 2.2 0.8 AVERAGES 4.91666667 2.25333333 1.166667

2012 NBA Draft

Pick Player Points Rebounds Assists 1 Anthony Davis 16.9 10.2 1.2 2 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 9 5.8 1.5 3 Bradley Beal 16.1 4.4 2.8 4 Dion Waiters 14.7 2.4 3 5 Thomas Robinson 4.8 4.5 0.7 6 Damian Lillard 19 3.1 6.5 7 Harrison Barnes 9.2 4.1 1.2 8 Terrence Ross 6.4 2 0.7 9 Andre Drummond 7.9 7.6 0.5 10 Austin Rivers 6.2 1.8 2.1 11 Meyers Leonard 5.5 3.7 0.5 12 Jeremy Lamb 3.1 0.8 0.2 13 Kendall Marshall 3 0.9 3 14 John Henson 6 4.7 0.5 15 Maurice Harkless 8.2 4.4 0.7 16 Royce White 0 0 0 17 Tyler Zeller 7.9 5.7 1.2 18 Terrence Jones 5.5 3.4 0.8 19 Andrew Nicholson 7.8 3.4 0.6 20 Evan Fournier 5.3 0.9 1.2 21 Jared Sullinger 6 5.9 0.8 22 Fab Melo 1.2 0.5 0 23 John Jenkins 6.1 1.5 0.9 24 Jared Cunningham 2 0.4 0.1 25 Tony Wroten 2.6 0.8 1.2 26 Miles Plumlee 0.9 1.6 0.1 27 Arnett Moultrie 3.7 3.1 0.2 28 Perry Jones 2.3 1.6 0.3 29 Marquis Teague 2.1 0.9 1.3 30 Festus Ezeli 2.4 4 0.3 AVERAGES 6.39333333 3.13666667 1.136667

2009 NBA Draft

Pick Player Points Rebounds Assists 1 Blake Griffin 0 0 0 2 Hasheem Thabeet 3.1 3.6 0.2 3 James Harden 9.9 3.2 1.8 4 Tyreke Evans 20.1 5.3 5.8 5 Ricky Rubio 0 0 0 6 Jonny Flynn 13.5 2.4 4.4 7 Stephen Curry 17.5 4.5 5.9 8 Jordan Hill 5.2 3.7 0.4 9 DeMar DeRozan 8.6 2.9 0.7 10 Brandon Jennings 15.5 3.4 5.7 11 Terrence Williams 8.4 4.5 2.9 12 Gerald Henderson 2.6 1.3 0.3 13 Tyler Hansbrough 8.5 4.8 1 14 Earl Clark 2.7 1.2 0.4 15 Austin Daye 5.1 2.5 0.5 16 James Johnson 3.9 2 0.7 17 Jrue Holiday 8 2.6 3.8 18 Ty Lawson 8.3 1.9 3.1 19 Jeff Teague 3.2 0.9 1.7 20 Eric Maynor 4.7 1.6 3.3 21 Darren Collison 12.4 2.5 5.7 22 Victor Claver 0 0 0 23 Omri Casspi 10.3 4.5 1.2 24 Byron Mullens 1.1 0.8 0.1 25 Rodrigue Beaubois 7.1 1.4 1.3 26 Taj Gibson 9 7.5 0.9 27 DeMarre Carroll 2.9 2.1 0.5 28 Wayne Ellington 6.6 2.1 1 29 Toney Douglas 8.6 1.9 2 30 Christian Eyenga 0 0 0 AVERAGES 6.89333333 2.50333333 1.843333

2008 NBA Draft

Pick Player Points Rebounds Assists 1 Derrick Rose 16.8 3.9 6.3 2 Michael Beasley 13.9 5.4 1 3 O.J. Mayo 18.5 3.8 3.2 4 Russell Westbrook 15.3 4.9 5.3 5 Kevin Love 11.1 9.1 1 6 Danilo Gallinari 6.1 2 0.5 7 Eric Gordon 16.1 2.6 2.8 8 Joe Alexander 4.7 1.9 0.7 9 D.J. Augustin 11.8 1.8 3.5 10 Brook Lopez 13 8.1 1 11 Jerryd Bayless 4.3 1.1 1.5 12 Jason Thompson 11.1 7.4 1.1 13 Brandon Rush 8.1 3.1 0.9 14 Anthony Randolph 7.9 5.8 0.8 15 Robin Lopez 3.2 2 0.1 16 Marreese Speights 7.7 3.7 0.4 17 Roy Hibbert 7.1 3.5 0.7 18 JaVale McGee 6.5 3.9 0.3 19 J.J. Hickson 4 2.7 0.1 20 Alexis Ajinca 2.3 1 0.1 21 Ryan Anderson 7.4 4.7 0.8 22 Courtney Lee 8.4 2.3 1.2 23 Kosta Koufos 4.7 2.9 0.4 24 Serge Ibaka 6.3 5.4 0.1 25 Nicolas Batum 5.4 2.8 0.9 26 George Hill 5.7 2.1 1.8 27 Darrell Arthur 5.6 4.6 0.6 28 Donte Greene 3.8 1.6 0.5 29 D.J. White 8.9 4.6 0.9 30 J.R. Giddens 0.7 0.5 0 AVERAGES 8.21333333 3.64 1.283333

2007 NBA Draft

Pick Player Points Rebounds Assists 1 Greg Oden 0 0 0 2 Kevin Durant 20.3 4.4 2.4 3 Al Horford 10.1 9.7 1.5 4 Mike Conley 9.4 2.6 4.2 5 Jeff Green 10.5 4.7 1.5 6 Yi Jianlian 8.6 5.2 0.8 7 Corey Brewer 5.8 3.7 1.4 8 Brandan Wright 4 2.6 0.2 9 Joakim Noah 6.6 5.6 1.1 10 Spencer Hawes 4.7 3.2 0.6 11 Acie Law 4.2 1 2 12 Thaddeus Young 8.2 4.2 0.8 13 Julian Wright 3.9 2.1 0.7 14 Al Thornton 12.7 4.5 1.2 15 Rodney Stuckey 7.6 2.3 2.8 16 Nick Young 7.5 1.5 0.8 17 Sean Williams 5.6 4.4 0.4 18 Marco Belinelli 2.9 0.4 0.5 19 Javaris Crittenton 5.6 2.2 1 20 Jason Smith 4.5 3 0.3 21 Daequan Cook 8.8 3 1.3 22 Jared Dudley 5.8 3.9 1.1 23 Wilson Chandler 7.3 3.6 0.9 24 Rudy Fernandez 0 0 0 25 Morris Almond 1.4 0.2 0.3 26 Aaron Brooks 5.2 1.1 1.7 27 Arron Afflalo 3.7 1.8 0.7 28 Tiago Splitter 0 0 0 29 Alando Tucker 3.7 1.3 0 30 Petteri Koponen 0 0 0 AVERAGES 5.95333333 2.74 1.006667

2003 NBA Draft

Pick Player Points Rebounds Assists 1 LeBron James 20.9 5.5 5.9 2 Darko Milicic 1.4 1.3 0.2 3 Carmelo Anthony 21 6.1 2.8 4 Chris Bosh 11.5 7.4 1 5 Dwyane Wade 16.2 4 4.5 6 Chris Kaman 6.1 5.6 1 7 Kirk Hinrich 12 3.4 6.8 8 T.J. Ford 7.1 3.2 6.5 9 Mike Sweetney 4.3 3.7 0.3 10 Jarvis Hayes 9.6 3.8 1.5 11 Mickael Pietrus 5.3 2.2 0.5 12 Nick Collison 0 0 0 13 Marcus Banks 5.9 1.6 2.2 14 Luke Ridnour 5.5 1.6 2.4 15 Reece Gaines 1.8 1 1.1 16 Troy Bell 1.8 0.7 0.7 17 Zarko Cabarkapa 4.1 2 0.8 18 David West 3.8 4.2 0.8 19 Sasha Pavlovic 4.8 2 0.8 20 Dahntay Jones 1.8 1.2 0.6 21 Boris Diaw 4.5 4.5 2.4 22 Zoran Planinic 3.1 1.1 1.4 23 Travis Outlaw 1 0.5 0.1 24 Brian Cook 4.4 2.9 0.6 25 Carlos Delfino 0 0 0 26 Ndudi Ebi 0.8 0.2 0.2 27 Kendrick Perkins 2.2 1.4 0.3 28 Leandro Barbosa 7.9 1.8 2.4 29 Josh Howard 8.6 5.5 1.4 AVERAGES 6.11724138 2.70344828 1.696552

1996 NBA Draft