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…
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 has leaked online, so be wary of spoilers
warhammer 40k space marine 2 leaked

Saber Interactive has responded to a number of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 leaks, including a playable version of the game that has emerged online.

People have already played a pre-release build and posted videos of it on YouTub, and it can still be downloaded on torrent sites. It also not only includes the campaign but also a version of the multiplayer. According to Insider Gaming, the build is around 75GB and feels mostly player-ready besides some placeholder assets.

Read more
Ark 2: everything we know so far
People riding a T-Rex in Ark 2.

In the surge of survival games that flooded the market around the time of Minecraft's release, only a few were able to carve out an audience and, well, survive. Those that did were the ones that had strong mechanics, lots of content, and a unique spin on the world. Ark: Survival Evolved was a little late to the party in some ways, hitting early access in 2015 and fully launching in 2017, but it was a hit right from the start. That was, of course, thanks to the key feature of the game: dinosaurs.

A sequel was not only announced, but it also has the involvement of none other than Vin Diesel himself. Seeing Diesel riding on the back of a T-Rex might be enough on its own to sell most people on this ambitious survival game, but for everyone else who needs a bit more information before investing in this prehistoric adventure, here's everything we know about Ark 2.
Release date

Read more
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