The 2024-25 Youth Movement NBA Awards: Junior Edition
Our own Nathan Grubel finishes up his NBA awards for the league's young talent by discussing which players in the junior class have lived up to or surpassed expectations.
Welcome back to the first annual Youth Movement NBA Awards!
The goal of these awards is to celebrate the young players in the NBA in more ways than the traditional set of rookie awards officially balloted by the league. Why shouldn’t the top second- and third-year players get some recognition for how well they’re playing?
Not all of the players I’m referencing are quite at All-Star or All-NBA level, so unless they get a spot on an All-Defensive team, it’s easy for those who aren’t quite the cream of the crop to get swept under the rug after excellent seasons because they aren’t key parts of the “championship fabric” that is the NBA’s postseason.
With that in mind, here are a few quick caveats:
Just like the Rookie Awards, the Sophomore and Junior Awards will NOT have games played qualifiers like the traditional NBA ballots’ 65-game minimum; Older players are expected to play and contribute more, but I didn’t want to put that requirement here (though games played and injuries ARE factored in regarding where certain players finished on my ballots).
The categories have been expanded to include an All-Rookie Third Team, as well as Defensive Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Rookie (Sophomore and Junior Awards also have these additional categories). This is a way to highlight those getting it done beyond the traditional box score categories that are generally factored into the voting for Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie Teams, as well as to nominate players who saw legitimate improvements throughout the entire season.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to break down each expanded award category and provide my “ballots” for each class based on years of service.
For now, it’s time to finish strong with the NBA’s junior class!
*All stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference, Synergy Sports, Dunks and Threes, and Cleaning the Glass*
NBA Junior of the Year Nominees
Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
Christian Braun, Denver Nuggets
Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks
Winner: Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
Jalen Williams was the most complete player in the junior class this NBA season from start to finish, and he’s still contributing at a high level in the postseason.
What Williams did in scaling his usage to a career-best while also stepping up as an efficient scorer and table setter was nothing short of remarkable, and it was a large part of why the Oklahoma City Thunder won 68 games.
Registering over 2,200 minutes in 69 games this season, Williams flourished alongside the starters and bench unit for the Thunder. His ratings in terms of estimated plus/minus and estimated wins per Dunks and Threes ranked in the top 5% of all NBA players. Per Cleaning the Glass, Williams contributed to a net rating that was 8.7 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor. Expanding upon that, Williams registered minutes at FOUR different positions this year for the Thunder, showcasing his versatility both with and without the ball.
Williams did everything for the Thunder this season, from handling the ball in the pick-and-roll to acting as an off-ball screener and cutter, to rolling in the paint and even making the most of his transition scoring opportunities. Defensively, Williams routinely took on one of the opposing team’s top perimeter options depending on the lineup construction, and constantly forced turnovers and blocked shots. Williams’ length, strength, and discipline allowed him to cover bigs in the post on one trip down the floor and switch out and hound guards on another.
While Williams didn’t rate out as “Excellent” in any one offensive play type per Synergy, he did essentially rate out as “Very Good” across the board in all categories. Nitpicking evaluators will point to Williams as not quite having the chops to create enough off the bounce for himself in high-leverage situations, but as a second or third offensive option, that’s not his role. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the captain of the offense for a reason, and it’s Williams’ job to balance things out and play off both him and Chet Holmgren while wearing whatever hat he needs to.
Before the season, I had legitimate questions about how good the Detroit Pistons would be if he and Cade Cunningham traded places. While Cade certainly did his part in answering that question as the year went on, it’s my belief Williams could command a significant role in an offense like Detroit’s and find a way to lead a good team to the playoffs with the requisite pieces around him. From start to finish, he’s been the most impressive junior I’ve seen in the league this season.
Two other candidates to mention for Junior of the Year here are Christian Braun and Dyson Daniels, who will both be discussed at length for other awards. Both took phenomenal steps forward in their own right and are deserving candidates for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award.
NBA All-Junior First Team
Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
Christian Braun, Denver Nuggets
Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks
Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
Tari Eason, Houston Rockets
Jalen Williams, Christian Braun, and Dyson Daniels were incredibly easy choices for the All-Junior First Team. All three players contributed to playoff-caliber teams (and in Williams’ and Braun’s cases, legitimate contenders) on both ends of the floor. Not to mention that all three saw growth in several areas offensively, which allowed them to take on higher usage roles and find ways to make plays for others.
The two other players on this list also had excellent seasons and shouldn’t be ignored as some of the best young talents in the league.
Paolo Banchero would’ve likely ended up among that top three, but he only played in 46 games on the season. Had he hit a 65-ish game mark, Banchero could’ve very well been in contention for All-NBA honors and even the MVP discussion, like Cade Cunningham was.
The Orlando Magic started the season 13-2 in large part because of the start that Banchero had, all before he suffered an injury that kept him sidelined for a few months. When he came back, it took him a bit to find his footing in terms of efficiency, but Banchero’s March-April stretch quickly reminded everyone the type of player he is and can become as a 6’10” point forward.
Banchero has all of the tools to succeed as an NBA team’s primary scoring option given his brute force approach to creating offense inside the arc. In larger samples this year, Banchero has even taken to creating his three-point shots off the bounce, which contributed to several high-scoring outbursts. Without the duo of Banchero and Franz Wagner, the Magic would have an offense rating comparable to that of a G League roster. He’s as important a player to his team as any other high-usage star.
In Eason’s case, his two-way play for the Houston Rockets helped to propel a super young core to the second-best regular season record in a brutal Western Conference.
Most of Eason’s minutes came off the bench, but the dynamics of the game always changed when Eason played alongside his Terror Twin, Amen Thompson. Eason’s gambling style has its moments where it pays off and moments where it creates a symphony of chaos in transition. His massive hands, length, and anticipatory instincts to play passing lanes helped generate offense for a team that struggled in the halfcourt.
As a finisher, spot-up shooter, transition playmaker, and versatile defender, Eason would fit like a glove on any team across the league. His style of play and attitude fit perfectly with the Rockets and the identity the franchise is currently built on. Eason is likely on many teams’ wishlists, but it remains to be seen if the Rockets would entertain trading him for any other player across the league—he’s that valuable to what Houston does on a nightly basis.
NBA All-Junior Second Team
Scotty Pippen Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
Walker Kessler, Utah Jazz
Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers
Keegan Murray, Sacramento Kings
Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons
Does anyone realize just how good Scotty Pippen Jr. has been for the Memphis Grizzlies?
From playing on two-way contracts with the Lakers and Grizzlies to earning a standard conversion this year amid a career-best stretch, Pippen Jr. has been one of the biggest and best surprises of this junior class.
A few seasons ago, the Memphis Grizzlies invested in Tyus Jones as a backup point guard who could play alongside other backcourt mates and produce as a scorer and facilitator. Jones did enough to hold his own defensively and emerged as a candidate for a starting role in a different situation. I still appreciate Jones as an NBA guard despite how this season turned south on him in Phoenix with the Suns, but let me be very clear: Pippen Jr.’s ceiling far exceeds that of Jones.
For starters, I trust Pippen Jr. as a spot-up shooter. He has now registered back-to-back season of 39%+ shooting from three-point range on decent volume per 100 possessions. He hasn’t created a high volume of those looks off the dribble, but he’s been one of Memphis’ most reliable spot-up options this year above the break. And despite not registering a significant portion of his threes from the corners, he’s been one of the league’s best marksmen from those areas in terms of percentage.
Pippen Jr. plays a high-assist, low-turnover brand of basketball that helps keep the offense balanced for the Grizzlies. The level at which he’s been able to play on both ends (particularly on defense with his ability to get in the grill of opposing ball-handlers and force steals) has won him a starting job with Jaylen Wells injured. As a starter this year, he’s registered a better than 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, with considerable jumps in both production and efficiency while sporting a +9 net rating.
In an era where small guards are under-discussed and nitpicked far too often due to their limitations on defense, Pippen Jr. bucks that trend as a dependable two-way guard with a higher floor than anticipated. Expect him to earn a lot of money throughout his NBA career. It was excruciatingly difficult to leave him off my All-Junior First Team, but this nod is well deserved.
A pair of big men take up two more spots on the All-Junior Second Team: Walker Kessler and Jalen Duren. Duren’s case became much easier over the course of the season, with a great second-half stretch during which he improved his production across the board while contributing to winning on defense. Duren isn’t quite the switchable big that many projected he could become out of college, but he’s improved his efforts defending around the basket and in moments where he’s caught in space. His feet have gotten better, he plays with active hands, and he’s still one of the better rebounders in the league.
As for Kessler, he was one of the lone bright spots for a Utah Jazz team that tanked to the bottom of the “Poop for Coop” race (my wife prefers that one to Capture the Flagg). Kessler’s defensive impact hasn’t wavered in his first three NBA seasons, and while he hasn’t taken any noticeable steps forward in terms of abilities on offense, he’s still a hyper-efficient finisher at the rim who can both catch lobs and score in the post.
Few players can match his level of production in terms of blocking and rebounding rates, as well as number of dunks and true shooting percentage. Kessler, analytically, is among some of the better bigs in the NBA in a number of these areas, which should factor into some Defensive Player of the Year races as the Jazz improve through the next few drafts.
Shaedon Sharpe and Keegan Murray were good enough in my book to earn these last two nods on the All-Junior Second Team. Both had up-and-down seasons for different reasons, but both had moments where they looked like long-time starting NBA wings.
Sharpe’s explosive scoring outbursts and transition dunks have lit up YouTube highlight machines for a few seasons, but he really started to find his groove as the year progressed. He still isn’t an efficient scorer and has had to deal with several injuries since entering the NBA, but I’ve been impressed with Sharpe’s willingness to get downhill and create rather than exclusively settle for contested two-point jumpers. He’s still growing in his ability to impact the game defensively, but there were quite a few games where the Portland Trail Blazers would’ve lost without the help of Sharpe contributing a 30+ point effort.
Regarding Murray, his game took a step back this season in terms of raw production. However, watch a Kings game from the last few months and you can see what he meant to the team in terms of intangibles this season.
Murray took on the “enforcer” role at the power forward position for the Kings after spending a few seasons as a spot-up shooting wing. Without Murray’s efforts as a low man, help defender, rebounder, and defensive playmaker, the Kings would’ve had a much worse defensive season. Murray guarded the other team’s best forward more nights than not while also trying to find his groove within the flow of the offense.
His shooting took a step back, but I would bet on Murray bouncing back next season in that regard. As he continues to expand his game and take on more of the dirty work for Sacramento, Murray will hopefully be rewarded with more opportunities to “explore the studio space” offensively as the team makes some roster changes. I’m still bullish on Murray’s long-term NBA future, and I respect the grit and toughness he showed for a postseason team in the Western Conference.
NBA All-Junior Third Team
Jeremy Sochan, San Antonio Spurs
Bennedict Mathurin, Indiana Pacers
Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets
Andrew Nembhard, Indiana Pacers
Keon Ellis, Sacramento Kings
Jeremy Sochan’s experiment as a “point forward” didn’t quite take shape for the San Antonio Spurs, but he greatly upped his efficiency moving back into a play-finishing role this past season.
Sochan’s effectiveness as an interior scorer, transition threat, and spot-up shooter was a bright spot for the Spurs alongside Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul. When factoring in how impactful of a defensive player he is, there was a real case for Sochan to end up higher than where he is on this list. It was my opinion that those above him had better overall seasons, but I did want to reward Sochan here as a deserving All-Junior Third Team candidate.
Not many forwards of his size can cover perimeter matchups, power wings, and big men across back-to-back-to-back possessions. Sochan did the dirty work and filled a role that made sense for both the Spurs and himself, and I’d expect more of the same next season as he strives to improve his three-point shot to better space the floor next to De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and other drivers.
Bennedict Mathurin hasn’t progressed his ball-handling and playmaking in ways that would inspire confidence to declare him as a top-tier offensive wing, but he still stepped into the starting lineup for the Indiana Pacers and flat-out produced. He’s a microwave scorer at his core, and when he did register pick-and-roll possessions, he graded out as “Good” per Synergy, scoring 40% of his shots as the ball-handler. He didn’t rate nearly as well when factoring in passes and overall turnover rate, but Mathurin is still growing as an offensive threat.
I did notice growth from Mathurin defensively, as he’s continued to get stronger and fill out his frame. Mathurin was a more willing defender this season, and he improved across the board in terms of Overall Defense per Synergy, Defensive EPM per Cleaning the Glass, and in defensive rating per 100 possessions. He has the tools to defend the other team’s best backcourt player and was better against wings this season contesting isolated jumpers and closing out on corner shooters.
Jabari Smith hasn’t quite lived up to the hype of being a third-overall pick, but he was rock solid for the Houston Rockets all year. There are still ups and downs with his game, but all Smith has to do to be an effective role player is knock down open threes, attack the occasional hard closeout, and play connected help defense along the backline. Smith did all of those things this season and even had a few standout offensive games of his own. Still a negative assist-to-turnover player, he has a ways to go as a playmaker and shot creator. But he at least held his own this season, and deserves a spot on the All-Junior Third Team given how he performed as one of his team’s better defenders.
Two guards round out the All-Junior selections in Andrew Nembhard and Keon Ellis. Nembhard wasn’t as efficient as he’s been in the past in terms of his shooting, but it’s difficult to watch the tape and not consider him one of the better players in his class. His on-ball defense alone likely has him in consideration for a spot much higher, but I couldn’t get there due to the step back he took offensively. He still improved in several categories despite his offensive box plus/minus indicating a decline in his overall impact, but it’s not as easy to find guards of his stature that take care of the ball like he does, operate as a pick-and-roll playmaker, and guard multiple positions well.
Ellis crashed the party for the Sacramento Kings last season as a breakout sophomore, and despite not getting as many starting opportunities as some expected, he still played very well in his junior season as a shot maker and backcourt defender. Ellis has great length for a guard, which allows him to create deflections and steal opportunities for easy transition offense. His end-to-end speed with the ball in his hands is impressive, and he has that short-burst quickness too in the halfcourt—he’s able to launch through tight spaces and find gaps in the defense as a scorer. Ellis is still getting better at handling more volume as a playmaker, but I love his approach to the game. He’s improving his driving angles, changing gears, and looking to pass as much as he is to score. When factoring in how much of a menace he can be defensively, Ellis is a player to monitor in the coming years.
NBA Defensive Junior of the Year Nominees
Tari Eason, Houston Rockets
Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks
Walker Kessler, Utah Jazz
Winner: Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks
Could I have chosen any other player for this award?
Dyson Daniels had a historic defensive season for the Atlanta Hawks. He broke their franchise record for most steals in a regular season and averaged 3.0 SPG, a number that hasn’t been seen in quite some years. No other player in the league came close to making that level of defensive impact on the perimeter as a playmaker.
There are plenty who could argue that Daniels isn’t a Defensive Player of the Year candidate because his role on that end of the floor isn’t as meaningful as a primary rim protector and glass cleaner. I’m a bit up in the air on this one, as I would’ve voted Amen Thompson for that award despite his positional value being on the perimeter rather than down low.
What he and Daniels can do as playmakers empowers their teams to play up tempo and get out on the break. It’s important for younger cores to play to their strengths as pace-driven offenses, and the best way to do that (outside of continuous stops) is to steal the ball and create deflections.
Daniels wasn’t just a lane diver when trying to create steal opportunities. The way he gets up in someone’s grill and knocks the ball free is excrutiatingly annoying, especially when he picks up an opposing point guard for 94 feet. Daniels WANTS to defend at a high level, and he knows its his calling card. Few players wear defense like their identity the same way Daniels does every possession.
His length, athleticism, and motor help him to not only force timely turnovers, but also contest shots that others can’t reach on hard closeouts. Daniels knows where to position himself away from the ball and rotates well in help coverage to get out to opposing shooters. Possession after possession, it feels like Daniels is all over the floor at once—that’s exactly how the league’s best defenders make their presence known.
Tari Eason and Walker Kessler are very deserving honorable mentions here, and even though they both provide excellent value on that end in the frontcourt, I couldn’t give this honor to either of them over Daniels.
NBA Most Improved Junior Nominees
Christian Braun, Denver Nuggets
Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks
Scotty Pippen Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
Winner: Christian Braun, Denver Nuggets
Many of you probably expected me to hand this award to Dyson Daniels or Scotty Pippen Jr. given how I discussed their improvements this season earlier. But in this instance, I’ve saved the best for last.
Christian Braun is my favorite story to come of the NBA junior class this season.
Braun was drafted as a pure role player out of Kansas. Fill in some gaps, play hard defense, and run the floor in transition: just don’t make mistakes and knock down as many open shots as you can. While that’s largely been the role Braun has had for the Denver Nuggets, he’s been an absolute STAR in that role.
Braun credits every ounce of his success to Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray for helping integrate him into their offensive infrastructure, but I’ve seen enough noticeable improvements in him to feel comfortable rewarding him as the Most Improved Junior.
His numbers across the board saw drastic upticks in terms of efficiency from where he was just a season ago. Many expected Braun to steadily improve as a rim finisher and defender given his competitive spirit and toughness. But one area in particular broke open his case as one of the league’s most improved players: his jump shot.
Braun is stepping into threes with considerable confidence even in this postseason, and all of that comes from what he developed in the regular season. Braun didn’t up his volume in terms of threes launched per 100 possessions, but the tape shows a player who wasn’t afraid to let those shots fly even when defenses closed out on him.
Where Braun excels as a perimeter player is that he takes what defenses give him. Should defenders go under on ball screens, or just not respect him at all as a shooter, Braun steps into those looks with confidence and did so all season. His form looks much quicker and his footwork has improved, as he’s much more balanced off the catch these days. These changes in his shooting motion led to 80 more makes from three compared to his sophomore campaign.
Whether it was handling the ball in transition, finding gaps working off screens, or just cutting and moving without the ball at the right time for Jokic to deliver an on-target pass, Braun’s understanding of timing and positioning put him in a position to succeed more often than not for the Nuggets. Is he a product of what Jokic and Murray can do as a two-man game? It’s fair to say that he is. But let’s not let that take away from how he’s asserted himself as a scorer, rebounder, defender, and playmaker. Braun has as well-rounded of a two-way approach as any other player in the junior class. He’s the type of role player every NBA team wants on its roster. He takes nothing off the table given his shooting improvements, and is an additive to what his organization does on both ends of the floor.
Oh yeah. I didn’t even discuss his defense! Braun’s on-ball defense has significantly improved by my eye test, as he’s only gotten tougher as a one-on-one matchup. He moves his feet well, plays with active hands, and routinely angles off opposing ball-handlers to play to their weaknesses.
Braun isn’t perfect, as there are still bigger guards and more experienced floor generals who can catch him off guard. But his utility in guarding some of the other team’s best players only helps to provide some level of defensive spark from a starting group that collectively lacks a true standout on-ball stopper.
I was a fan of Braun before the 2022 NBA Draft, and I remain a strong supporter of his given the level of improvement he’s shown this season alone. He’s on his way to earning a ton of money throughout his career—possibly capturing another championship ring or two alongside Jokic and Murray.