The December version of the NBA Rookie Rankings is here, and it’s time to talk about a truly terrific Rookie of the Year race shaping up between two former Duke teammates.

Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel are off to historic starts for their age and class, with Flagg scoring a significant number of points for a player before his 19th birthday and Knueppel having hit his 100th 3 in his 29th game, breaking the previous record for fewest games to hit 100 3s by 12.

These two are standouts in any draft class, and they’ve been so good that they’ve almost cast a shadow over the rest of the class, a group that features seven players, including Flagg and Knueppel, who I think would have topped the Rookie of the Year race at this point last year. This class has great depth as well as continually rising players who show positively when they get their chance. While the 2026 NBA Draft is rightfully hailed as being elite at the top and through the middle portion of the lottery, I wonder if the 2025 class might end up having more depth in long-term role players.

A refresher on this ranking: We rank the league’s top 15 rookies, based on how they have played in the NBA thus far, not as a projection of who they will become. This is a full-season ranking, not a “who is playing the best right now” ranking.

What do I look for when I rank players? Minutes and roles matter. What is each rookie getting asked to do? How often are they seeing the court? Are they being asked to create offense? Is their role limited, and how successful are they in that role? How successful is the team with them within that role? What is the degree of difficulty of said role? Is the player logging major minutes on a good team or eating up minutes for a bad team?

This is an art, not a science. The rankings involve examining numbers and analyzing a painstaking amount of tape; I value the latter more.

Let’s see the rankings and dive in. (Stats are as of Monday afternoon.)

NBA Rookie Rankings, December 2025

RANK

PLAYER

TEAM

PTS

REBS

ASSTS

1

Cooper Flagg

Dallas Mavericks

19.5

6.4

3.9

2

Kon Knueppel

Charlotte Hornets

19.3

5.1

3.5

3

VJ Edgecombe

Philadelphia 76ers

15.5

5.4

4

4

Dylan Harper

San Antonio Spurs

11.9

3.3

4.2

5

Derik Queen

New Orleans Pelicans

13.5

7

4

6

Cedric Coward

Memphis Grizzlies

13.5

6.2

2.9

7

Jeremiah Fears

New Orleans Pelicans

14.8

3.6

3.1

8

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Charlotte Hornets

8.7

6.4

0.6

9

Maxime Raynaud

Sacramento Kings

10.6

6

1.1

10

Tre Johnson

Washington Wizards

11.6

3

1.6

11

Egor Demin

Brooklyn Nets

9.3

3.1

3.4

12

Ace Bailey

Utah Jazz

10.5

3.3

1.6

13

Will Richard

Golden State Warriors

8.1

2.9

1

14

Hugo Gonzalez

Boston Celtics

4.4

3.2

0.6

15

Sion James

Charlotte Hornets

6.8

3.2

1.6

Knueppel on pace for historic season

Knueppel is good. That much is obvious. But I’m not sure that saying he’s “good” is doing enough of a service to explain what the Charlotte Hornets guard has done before rolling his ankle over the weekend against the Orlando Magic.

The better terminology is to say Knueppel is on track to do something historic for a rookie over the last 40 years. Knueppel is averaging 19.3 points per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field, 42.8 percent from 3 and 89.7 percent from the line. For a second, let’s even throw away the best part of Knueppel’s game — the shooting ability from distance — and just talk about his scoring at this field-goal percentage for a guard. Do you know the last rookie guard to shoot at least 46 percent from the field and average at least 19 points? Hall of Famer Mitch Richmond all the way back in 1989.

And this is before we throw in that Knueppel is clearly on track to be the best 3-point shooting rookie of all time. The 20-year-old has already made 113 3s. If he plays 75 games this year, he’s on pace to make 270 3s, which would shatter Keegan Murray’s rookie record of 206. And that’s giving Knueppel some leeway to miss games. If he plays all 82 — which now seems unlikely given his recently rolled ankle — he’d be on pace for 295, which would place him in the top 15 all-time in a single season. Murray, Matt Maloney, Stephen Curry and Landry Shamet are the only rookies ever to make at least 150 3s while shooting 40 percent from behind the arc, and Knueppel is on pace to nearly double that volume.

Just as important as the statistical production, though, is that Knueppel embodies everything that the new-ish Hornets front office under president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson wants. The Hornets are clearly looking to build an offense with similarities to the Boston Celtics under Joe Mazzulla; current Charlotte coach Charles Lee was an assistant under Mazzulla during the team’s 2024 championship run. The Hornets want to get dribble penetration, find mismatches and create drive-and-kick opportunities that involve swinging the ball around the court to find open shooters. That requires not only players who can shoot but also players who make decisions quickly.

Knueppel thrives at making those choices in a split second. As soon as he catches the ball, he knows exactly what to do with it. If he has an open shot, his shot preparation is spectacular, and he’s always ready to fire. If someone closes out too heavily, he’ll drive and take up the real estate, either to find a quick shot from the midrange (typically from that left elbow area) or to find a kickout after he draws a help defender. Or, if he has an open teammate immediately upon catching the ball, he’ll swing it and quickly create an open 3 or potential to drive for his teammate. He puts both himself and his teammates into positive positions through sheer economy of movement.

https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2025/12/23201326/knueppel.mp4

And that economy of movement has also helped him as he’s transitioned into playing more on the ball. Per Synergy, Knueppel has a 57.7 effective field-goal percentage in shots that he takes out of ball screens as the ballhandler. That’s top 35 in the NBA, sandwiched between Curry and Austin Reaves. Knueppel turns the ball over a bit too often out of screen situations, but his ability to play off two feet and with full control over his limbs gives him an advantage that makes up for some of his lack of more traditional burst.

If it weren’t for Flagg going supernova and turning into a teenage star before our eyes, Knueppel would be the shoo-in pick for the first-trimester Rookie of the Year. He’s been spectacular for the Hornets — one of the most effective, efficient first-year players on the offensive end that we’ve seen enter the NBA in quite a while.

Flagg figuring out the NBA

It’s hard to remember this now, but Flagg did not start his lone season at Duke in the same manner that he finished it.

Over his first 10 games, Flagg averaged just 15.9 points while shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 22.2 percent from 3 and 72.5 percent from the line. Yes, there were standout games in that time that allowed scouts to not panic that Flagg may not have been everything he was cracked up to be entering college, including a monster 26-point, 11-rebound game in the Champions Classic against Kentucky and a 24-point, seven-rebound game against Arizona. But there were some minor flaws, and people began to question how elite a shot creator he was and how much he could separate consistently from collegiate defenders.

What we know now, of course, is that it took him some time to adjust. Over Flagg’s last 25 games, he averaged 20.5 points in 30 minutes per game, shooting 51.1 percent from the field, 45.1 percent from 3 and 88 percent from the line. By the end of the season, there was no question he was the best player in college basketball at just 18 years old. He dominated games and led Duke to the Final Four. He figured out the college game, assessed how he could best dominate it and did just that.

In many ways, Flagg’s first two months in the NBA have matched that timeline. Over Flagg’s first 10 games in the NBA, he averaged 13.9 points while shooting 40 percent from the field, 27 percent from 3 and 96 percent from the line (but was only getting there twice a game). The questions from skeptics began to rise again, as some wondered if Flagg could separate and consistently be a top scoring option in the NBA.

Unsurprisingly, Flagg has again answered any questions with his following 22 games. In that time, all before he turned 19 on Dec. 21, Flagg averaged 22.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 53 percent from the field, 30 percent from 3 and 77 percent from the line (now getting to the stripe nearly six times per game). His turnover rate is down, and his defense has gotten better off the ball. He dropped a monster 42-point game against the Utah Jazz, had a 35-point game against the LA Clippers, had 22 points, five rebounds and eight assists against the Brooklyn Nets and then had 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists against the East-leading Detroit Pistons.

Last Tuesday, he popped a 33-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist masterpiece against Denver, and then he had 27 points versus the Golden State Warriors on Christmas. He’s not quite an All-Star yet, but I wouldn’t be stunned if he’s playing that way by the time February rolls around, given this current trajectory.

So what has changed? First and foremost, Dallas has more consistently played him next to other guards, which has helped alleviate the pressure on him to initiate offense and get him into more off-ball actions, where he can catch the ball on the move and get downhill. It also helps him get out in transition more consistently, where a teammate is more capable of finding him streaking down the court. But it’s really the more consistent off-ball role and comfort that has helped him. Dallas has run more intricate offensive actions, which allow Flagg to find mismatches.

That mismatch hunting has allowed Flagg to get into the paint much more consistently. Dallas has started to live out of horns sets, in which two players line up at the elbows and two line up in the corners. Flagg can either catch at the elbow if the team likes his matchup, or the Mavs can bring him out of the corner and attack that way to get him on the move ahead of time. Here’s a particularly loud example of that, in which Dallas enters the ball into Caleb Martin at the elbow and sets up for an empty side dribble handoff for Flagg to fly up from the corner. Flagg getting the ball on the move puts an immense amount of pressure on Nikola Jokić, who can’t stop Flagg from turning the corner before he rises to detonate on Spencer Jones at the rim.

https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2025/12/23231317/2025-12-23_20-09-18_resized.mp4

Beyond the high-rising dunks, another huge factor for Flagg has been the increased use of his off hand. Flagg’s always been very comfortable with his left hand, but that’s gone to greater lengths early in his rookie year. He’s extremely comfortable using it not only as a counter, but as a primary option driving downhill to his left to get to his spots before finishing with touch. This one against the Jazz was his most impressive of the season, as he isolates against Kyle Anderson, feels Anderson rip down with his hands and then goes up immediately as he feels the contact with a sweet lefty floater that goes in for the and-1.

https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2025/12/23232304/2025-12-16_17-05-10_resized.mp4

Flagg is also getting far more comfortable with contact, plowing through opposing players using his shoulders to get to the rim. One of Flagg’s superpowers shows up well in that clip above, where you can really see his ability to bend and create leverage against his opponents by getting his hips lower than theirs to drive them backward. At just 19, Flagg is already becoming one of the biggest bullies in the schoolyard with his explosiveness, power and ability to flexibly bend to create leverage. That’s allowing him to get paint touches far more often than he did early in the year and has counteracted any of his early shooting woes.

There are areas Flagg will need to improve, like his footwork on his gathers going toward the rim. Obviously, his shooting from distance needs to spike upward. But even without those aspects of his game being perfect yet, Flagg is starting to dominate against NBA-level talent. It seems exceedingly likely, given his rapid rate of improvement, that Flagg will end up winning the Rookie of the Year award.

Raynaud running with his chance

Maxime Raynaud, whom the Sacramento Kings drafted at No. 42, has had one of the most fun, non-traditional NBA pathways you’ll find. He grew up in Paris but didn’t go to basketball factory INSEP as many elite young French players do. Instead, he stayed in his local area so that he could attend one of the best academic high schools in France, with the idea that he could eventually have a career in astrophysics.

He eventually began playing with Nanterre’s youth team, where he faced off regularly against Victor Wembanyama in practice. He also made the French Under-16 European Championships team, so it’s not like he came out of nowhere. But he averaged two points per game at that event, and playing in the NBA didn’t seem like a realistic outcome. That is, until his junior year at Stanford, where the mathematics major took a massive leap and won the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player of the Year award. Then, as a senior, he took another leap, averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.

I give you all of this background on Raynaud to showcase a simple fact about his trajectory: He has gotten substantially better at basketball for at least eight consecutive years. Not just adding small things to his game, but making real, tangible growth every year. He nearly doubled his production in each of his first three years at Stanford, then became one of the five best players in the ACC as a senior. And now, the 7-foot-1 skilled big man is doing it again, stepping directly into Domantas Sabonis’ absence with a knee injury and thriving for the Kings.

Over his last 13 games, Raynaud has been as productive as any rookie not named Flagg or Knueppel. He’s averaging 15.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 57 percent from the field, 43 percent from 3 and 72 percent from the line in that time and looks the part of a multi-skilled starting NBA center on the offensive end. First and foremost, his hands are outstanding, and he catches everything both below and above his waist. The Kings don’t exactly have a legion of passers who tend to hit him in the chest, and Raynaud does an amazing job around the rim of catching the ball low and still maintaining the dexterity and balance to bring the ball up to finish.

What stands out even more is Raynaud’s timing and basketball IQ when rolling to the rim either out of dribble handoffs, give-and-gos or ball screens. He always seems to find that little dead spot in the defense, even against some of the league’s best. His synergy with the guards has been tremendous of late. Here are a couple of examples from the second quarter against the Houston Rockets recently, where his ability to play in handoffs and move the ball, followed by timing his rolls to the rim well, resulted in quick buckets.

https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2025/12/24011039/2025-12-23_22-04-42_resized.mp4

Throw in that Raynaud also has awesome touch and will take beautiful touch floaters out of short rolls that haven’t been seen in Sacramento since the departure of Richaun Holmes, and then he will also toss in the occasional 3? Raynaud absolutely has the kind of offensive game that works at this level, especially given his ability to pass, make quick decisions and handle the ball. Teams are quickly learning that they can’t really play off him with their bigs and be aggressive in help because of how sharp he is moving without the ball and how dangerous he is as a play finisher.

There are holes in his game, to be clear. He hasn’t been particularly good on defense yet because of his slow feet. He rebounds the ball well and ends possessions, but that’s really the only place that he’s contributing on that end. His improvement as a defender will tell the tale of his upside. If he can become a bit more stout at the rim and improve his lateral agility at all, Raynaud has a chance to be an impactful NBA center. If not, he’ll probably be more of a third big who puts up offensive numbers. But for the Kings, the most important part of his early-season play is that his game has clearly translated to the NBA level on offense, and the team got a steal in the draft. In what’s been a down year in Sacramento, he’s been a bright spot.

Other notes

• Knueppel and Flagg belong in their own tier, and I think you could rank Nos. 3 through 7 in a lot of different orders. V.J. Edgecombe has been a bit of a roller coaster, but his best minutes remain incredibly impactful for the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s a tremendous energy player, and you can really feel the difference for the Sixers in their speed of play and on the defensive end when he misses games. He’s less of a shot creator than the Dylan Harper, Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears group below him, but he’s helping a winning team by finishing plays efficiently from beyond the 3-point line and in transition. And that’s while producing counting numbers in the box score that are pretty close to that trio. That’s why he’s No. 3.

• The Pelicans’ Queen and Fears have been really fun, earning their starting spots even after the returns of Jordan Poole and Zion Williamson from injury. Queen has gotten a bevy of interest this year thanks to his prowess on offense, with his best games exceeding everyone else’s outside of Flagg and Knueppel. His 20-point, 11-assist, seven-rebound game against Dallas was a monster, as was his 33-point triple-double against a Victor Wembanyama-less San Antonio Spurs team. Over his last 19 games, all of which he’s started, he’s averaging 15.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and five assists while shooting 53 percent from the field. The less said about his defense at this point, the better, but there are certain matchups where he can be OK. Much like in college, his issues tend to come when teams can force him into north-south situations more so than when he’s asked to move laterally. But undeniably, his offensive reel is remarkable already, with his Euro steps and gathers against other bigs off his drives becoming some of the most watchable moments in the league.

Fears has been less efficient, but he’s been productive in his minutes because he plays with toughness and, for lack of a better word, fearlessness. The issues come when teams give him looks he hasn’t seen yet, or when athletic defenders can stay in front of him. He struggled a bit with San Antonio, Brooklyn and Indiana recently but then looked terrific for a teenager against the L.A. Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers. He ranks No. 7 because his lower-end moments push him further down the board compared to other rookies’ worst games, but he looks like a keeper for the Pelicans.

• Harper and Cedric Coward round out this top seven. Coward remains a solid two-way wing for a Memphis Grizzlies team that is starting to surge. He’s turned into a starter for the Grizzlies, having been in the lineup for the last 18 games. In those starts, his scalding hot shooting start has cooled off, as he’s made just 29 percent from distance in this run. But he’s impacting the game in other ways, scoring 13 points, grabbing nearly seven rebounds, averaging three assists and playing tough defense. Harper is also playing tough defense for a Spurs team that is a genuine contender and has averaged 12.2 points and 3.9 assists while shooting 46.8 percent from the field. He gets aggressive at the point of attack, consistently gets paint touches and is averaging 21 minutes.

• The next tier of players, from No. 8 to No. 13, includes Ryan Kalkbrenner, Raynaud, Tre Johnson, Egor Demin, Ace Bailey and Will Richard. Kalkbrenner has been really solid throughout the year as the Charlotte Hornets’ starting center. Johnson has been good since returning from his hip flexor injury, averaging 13 points and three rebounds over his last seven games while shooting 46 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3. He is earning more responsibility as the season goes on. The same goes for Bailey, who started slowly in his first 10 games. But he has started his last 18 games and is averaging 13 points, three rebounds and shooting 46 percent from the field in them. Neither Johnson nor Bailey is making much of an impact beyond scoring, but they are putting the ball in the rim.

The Nets’ Egor Demin has shown progress, especially with his outside shooting. (Bill Streicher/ Imagn Images)

The more fun development has been Demin, whose early-season struggles keep him down the board, but who has looked much more confident recently. He’s still extremely perimeter-oriented, attempting more than twice as many 3s as 2s. I’m not sure what to make of his inability to get to the rim and how fixable that is long-term, given that this was an issue at BYU. However, unlike at BYU, Demin is drilling 3s now. He’s hitting 36.5 percent from distance, which is allowing him to at least occasionally attack a closeout and take advantage of his ability to make passing reads. The jumper always looked clean in its release, but the results hadn’t followed. Maybe he just ends up being a solid rotational wing as opposed to a big guard. But over his last five games, Brooklyn has gone 4-1 with him averaging nearly 15 points, making consistently good decisions and knocking down shots. The problems come when the shot isn’t falling, and he’s not all that valuable out there. I also haven’t loved the games when he’s gotten a chance to play more on the ball, like in the Nets’ recent loss to the Miami Heat. But his growth throughout the season has mostly been positive, and he’s becoming more comfortable dealing with contact, even if he’s not quite capable of dishing it out.

• The last player I want to highlight briefly is Hugo Gonzalez, whose infectious energy has helped the Boston Celtics off the bench in a big way. Few players bring the motor and hustle that Gonzalez does every time he takes the court. He’s a live wire of loose ball dives and activity, using his nose for the ball to make an impact. The Celtics are beating their opponents by a preposterous 20.1 points per 100 possessions in the 354 minutes that he’s played, undeniably a noisy stat influenced by teams shooting poorly from 3 when he’s on the court. But Gonzalez has worked his way into playing significant minutes through his sheer energy and willingness to make the right play. He chases rebounds, moves the ball quickly, doesn’t take bad shots and gives his all on defense. That’s enough for Boston to keep him in the lineup, and it feels like he’s in the rotation to stay even though he’s averaging just seven points during his recent run in the rotation. He’s also averaging seven rebounds, 1.2 steals and nearly one block in 25 minutes per game.