Milwaukee Bucks: Midseason Rookie Report and Grades
By Kenny Jilek
Jordan Nwora
Most teams have a 19 or 20-year-old on their roster as a development project, but at 22, Nwora is the youngest Buck and by most metrics, their best rookie.
Here’s a stat that doesn’t sound very impressive: His 5.1 points per game rank 25th among NBA rookies this year. The impressive part is that he’s scored those points in just 8.2 minutes per game, and of the 24 guys above him on the list, only two are under 15 minutes per night.
A lot of that scoring is coming from long range, as he was also drafted as a shooter and had the best percentage at the NBA Combine in the spot-up shooting drill. So far, he, like Merrill, is exactly 50 percent from three, with a very slightly larger sample size at 8-of-16. Even with it being in limited chances, his shooting seems legitimate in this league, as he’s hit threes off the dribble, stepbacks, and catch-and-shoot.
He also played one game in the G-League where he showed that he doesn’t belong down there. He scored 26 points on 9-14 shooting and 3-5 from behind the arc in just 23 minutes of game time. Unfortunately, he suffered an ankle injury in that game, but he should be back soon.
The question is whether he’ll get minutes once he recovers. The first few games after the All-Star break will be extremely telling in what Coach Budenholzer’s rotations will look like in the second half of the season, and Nwora getting some significant minutes would be a great sign.
The guy can shoot it for sure but has plenty of areas to improve, including rebounding, passing, and taking care of the ball. His game has a long way to go before he hits his peak, but he can put the ball in the hole, and that is extremely beneficial off the bench, especially in the playoffs. Here’s to hoping he gets the chance to prove himself as an asset for this Milwaukee Bucks team.
Grade: C