Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming

The best rookies in NBA 2K22 so far

By

This year’s NBA rookie class will be taking the floor for the first time soon and will finally be able to prove if they have what it takes to make it in the world’s premier basketball league. While these young guns haven’t played a single second in the NBA, they’re been added to NBA 2K22 ahead of the upcoming season and 2K has delivered preseason ratings based on their college play.

Will the top rookies live up to the pre-season hype? Which rookies will be surprise stars in their first season? 2K22 ratings will change throughout the year, but these are the best rookies in NBA 2K22 so far.

Recommended Videos

Cade Cunningham

Cade Cunningham in NBA 2K22.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The 2021 NBA draft’s #1 pick Cade Cunningham is expected to make an immediate impact on the Detroit Pistons and be a breakout star as a rookie. The current version of Cunningham in 2K22 has an 80 overall ranking and has an Offense Initiator build. His shooting is the only high-quality stat right now (specifically for outside scoring), but he’s solid overall. Since Cunningham will get a lot of minutes leading the less-than-stellar Pistons, we expect his rating to fluctuate the most this season.

Related

Jalen Green

Jalen Green in NBA 2K22.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

New Houston Rocket guard Jalen Green has a 79 overall rating and a Well-Rounded Guard build. Green opted out of going to college to play in the NBA’s G-league, so he’s already got experience playing against near-NBA talent. He’s a reliable shooter and is very athletic, so he can spot up from 3 or take it to the hole. Green is going to be a big part of the Houston Rockets’ rebuild phase, so he’ll get a lot of minutes to develop quickly this season.

Evan Mobley

Evan Mobley in NBA 2K22.

Evan Mobley is the lone big man at the top of the rookie charts right now. Standing at 7-feet tall, he’ll play in the post for the Cleveland Cavaliers to start his NBA career. Mobley has an overall rating of 78 and uses the Glass Cleaner build in 2K22. In the game, his inside scoring and rebounding stats are the only worthwhile skills, but we’re sure his other stats will go up throughout the seasons with serious minutes for the Cavs.

Jalen Suggs

Jalen Suggs in NBA 2k22.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you’re looking for a young, athletic playmaker to pick up point guard duties in one of your 2K22 teams, it sounds like Jalen Suggs would be a good rookie to build around. At a 77 overall rating with the Playmaker build, Suggs has some elite playmaking stats and top-tier athleticism scores. Who doesn’t want a rookie guar with 88 Speed, 86 Ball Handle, and 80 Pass Accuracy scores? Hopefully, his shooting skills bump up quickly — they’re good, not great to kick off his rookie 2K season.

Scottie Barnes

Scottie Barnes in NBA 2K22.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Coming in fifth in the rookie rankings is the Toronto Raptors’ rookie forward Scottie Barnes with an overall rating of 76 and a Well-Rounded Four build. Barnes isn’t a prolific scorer, but he can hit buckets down the stretch. Instead, he’s expected to be a defensive presence in his rookie year — his defensive stats are all in the high 70s to start the season and he’s got off the charts athleticism stats.

These are the top five best rookies in NBA 2K22, but there are plenty of other newcomers to the league expected to make an impact in their first NBA season and we might see them on this list down the road. Other notable rookies include Davion Mitchell, Josh Giddey, Jonathan Kuminga, Jonathan Kuminga, and Franz Wagner.

Editors’ Recommendations

Sam Hill
Sam Hill
Gaming Guides Editor
As Digital Trends' Gaming evergreen lead, Sam Hill is here to help you find your new favorite game and dive right in. The…
2XKO: everything we know so far
Two characters pose in 2XKO key art.

After spending years under the working title of Project L, Riot Games' expansion into the fighting game genre has officially been dubbed 2XKO. Hailing from the makers of the massively popular League of Legends, this fighter will feature a cast pulled right from that MOBA, but now using far different mechanics. This genre was once notorious for how hard it was for newcomers to get into, but recent examples like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 have proven that it is possible to make the genre accessible to more players. Considering the popularity of the source material here, and the fact that it will be free to play, we expect a lot of players who normally don't touch fighters to at least be curious. Whoever you are, let's start at round one and go over everything we know so far about 2XKO.
Release date window

Along with the reveal of the title's full name, we also learned that 2XKO is set to arrive sometime in 2025. That leaves a lot of room, so odds are the team is giving itself plenty of time to iron out any issues.
Platforms

Read more
Cities: Skylines 2: everything we know so far
A screenshot from Cities: Skylines 2's cinematic reveal trailer.

After the Sim City franchise faded away, gamers were left with few options when it came to city-building simulations. That changed when Cities: Skylines came out. The first game was a smash hit, filling the void left by the pioneer of the genre - and in many ways even surpassing it. However, that game came out in 2015, and even the numerous updates and DLC packs added to the game could only extend its life so long. Now, Cities: Skylines 2 has been officially revealed and fans have already built up their hopes as high as skyscrapers. Have the developers designed the perfect system for this sequel to thrive and grow? Let's take a bird's-eye view and see what groundwork has been laid for Cities: Skylines 2.
Release date

Cities: Skylines 2 will be fully constructed and ready to play on October 24, 2023 for PC, however, the console versions of the game have been delayed to sometime in spring 2024.
Platforms

Read more
You can get NBA 2K23 and more with PS Plus this June
Donovan Mitchell in NBA 2K23.

The three games that make up PlayStation Plus Essential's June lineup have been revealed. There are any major console exclusives or no releases included; instead, there's NBA 2K23, a Jurassic Park tie-in title, and an indie game inspired by classic samurai films.

NBA 2K23 needs little introduction, as it's the latest entry in 2K's long-running, annualized basketball video game series. This latest entry stands out from the ones that came before by deepening the controls an AI further, as well as adding a Jordan Challenge mode that chronicles Michael Jordan's career. Beware of some pretty intrusive microtransactions, though. 
Also available this month is Jurassic World Evolution 2, a theme park management game that swaps out roller coasters and other festivities for dinosaur-related attractions. The management genre is a surprisingly great fit for the Jurassic Park IP, and this game even provides a bit of story context to fill in the gap between Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World Dominion.
Finally, there's Trek to Yomi, a very cinematic indie game. It's stylized like a classic black-and-white samurai action movie, which makes sense as it's telling a revenge story about a pupil trying to avenge their dying master. If you didn't play this game through Game Pass, it's now available on a Sony subscription service as well.
This certainly isn't the most exciting game lineup, but it still provides a wide variety of gaming experiences. NBA 2K23, Jurassic World Evolution 2, and Trek to Yomi will be available through PlayStation Plus from June 6 until July 3. Make sure you download May's PS Plus games before then too. 

Read more