NBA Rookie Ladder: No Zion Williamson, no problem

7. PJ Washington, Charlotte Hornets

15.8 PPG, 7.0 REB, 1.0 AST

What a first game for the Charlotte Hornets‘ new stretch big in Washington.

PJ Washington shot 7-of-11 from 3 in his first NBA game and hasn’t slowed down attempting those same looks since.

Shooting 52.0 percent from distance isn’t something to sneeze at for a rookie, let alone his overall field goal percentage of 54.7 percent.

Coming out of college, a lot of scouts and observers questioned if Washington had the range on his jumper out beyond the arc or if he was going to be more of a mismatch specialist around the post.

Washington is exhibiting scoring versatility that not everyone knew he had and it’s exciting for Charlotte as he’s arguably the team’s most talented prospect despite the Hornets getting some flak for drafting him in the lottery.

He’s already comfortable getting buckets as a pick-and-pop or roll threat, but generating more of his own offense and taking full advantage of posting up smaller guys or taking slower bigs off the dribble will be the key to unlocking more of his arsenal.

It’ll be interesting to see how much more of a featured option he becomes in the near future, as defenses will figure out how to limit his shot attempts if he remains just a spot-up threat with enough open-court athleticism to get a lob every now and then.