Can anyone join Holmgren, Wembanyama in ROY race?
THUNDER MAILBAG
In this edition of the Thunder mailbag, we answer reader questions about the NBA Rookie of the Year race, albums of the year and more.
@Peej751: Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama are gonna be scrapping for ROY all season, but who outside of them has the best chance of pushing his way in? You know I’m going to say Jaime Jaquez Jr., but I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’d agree at the moment. The combination of maturity, production and usage for a team with playoff aspirations leaves me no choice.
Jaquez is averaging 13.1 points, 3.7 boards and 2.6 assists. He’s doing all that for the fifth-seeded Heat. He’s basically averaging starter minutes, has been an efficient shooter and has looked pretty far along as a role player for a rookie.
The arguments against his peers? Jaquez has played more games than Dereck Lively II and will probably hold more weight for a team that tends to trudge through the regular season. Unlike Brandon Miller, he’s contributing to winning (tough for anybody to do in Charlotte). His limitations aren’t as glaring as Ausar Thompson’s and, again, isn’t losing (tough for anybody to lose like the Pistons have).
James Watkins: Who is the worst NBA player that gets regular rotation minutes?
This feels like a trap. It’s also not super fair because these past 25 games don’t necessarily mean everything for the next 25, or the season as a whole. But a few names come to mind to this point.
If you’re a Thunder fan, you’ll probably scream Josh Giddey. He’s been among them. Part of it is his still incredibly high usage rate, but teams have adjusted to Giddey’s lack of shooting gravity and devised some frustrated game plans against OKC. Outside of a few games, it hasn’t been pretty. I’m not sure he’s the absolute worst, though.
Jeremy Sochan’s name is part of some undesirable lists. Gonna have to get nerdy here. He owns the NBA’s fourth worst VORP at -0.6. He’s bottom-15 in PER at 9.1. He’s shooting 43.8% on 2s, averaging 2.2 turnovers, and San Antonio’s attempted point guard experiment with him has probably steered Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season off the path some.
Andrew Wiggins is up there in terms of negative impact, too. Ziaire Williams isn’t great. I imagine these are a few of the names that should be tossed around at the moment. Do I think any of them are the least talented in the league? Maybe not. But they’ve been among the worst starts this year.
@PlatteCat: What’s been the biggest transition/challenge/favorite part of switching from covering college ball to NBA?
The biggest transition has been mastering the art of Marriott points, finessing constant window seats on Southwest flights and laughing at how empty my apartment’s fridge is. The players are pretty good at this level, too.
So good that I can hardly stand to watch college basketball anymore. I turned away from Duke versus Baylor as I was writing this. The talent, the big men, the scoring — none of it is the same. And I knew this, but watching it every night has made me turn my nose at college ball.
The biggest challenge has been the length of an NBA season — 82 games is a lot. I’d never be a baseball writer for obvious reasons (besides not liking baseball). It’s exhausting and rewarding and dope. This is the best league in the world.
My favorite part is telling the stories of the best, most charismatic athletes in the world. There are some seriously interesting people in this league. And it’s jarring to realize I haven’t even scratched the surface in helping tell their stories.
@prodchar: What’s your favorite album of 2023? Mine gotta be Earl x Alchemist
I’m with you. I basically spun every Alchemist collab this year — Earl, Boldy James, Domo Genesis, MIKE, Larry June. Midnight Oil might’ve been my favorite song this year.
But if we’re talking my favorite, most listened to albums this year, it’s probably Brent Faiyaz’s ‘Larger Than Life’ and Lucki’s ‘s*x m*ney dr*gs.’ Just elite artists doing their thing in their respective lanes. Brent’s album dropped at the end of October and I probably have given him 10,000 plays.
Veeze’s ‘Ganger’ was tough, too. I love Westside Gunn but wasn’t crazy about his album this year.
@reidicuss: Favorite food spots in OKC since moving here?
I really haven’t been around long enough to say. There’s this spot by The Oklahoman (subscribe) called Cafe de L’Aise that I’m a fan of. I like their twist on Asian food. I make famous columnist Joe Mussatto pick up my takeout from there when I’m hungry.
I get the Bulgogi Patty Melt, the Honey Sriracha Chicken Bun and the Chicken Cheesesteak Eggroll when I pull up. Don’t count my calories.
I also just don’t know what Oklahoma City is known for. I’m hardly here and when I am, no one is putting me on to these kinds of things.
To make future editions of the mailbag, email questions to jlorenzi @oklahoman.com or message him on Twitter @jxlorenzi.