NBA Rookie Rankings Damian Lillard leads league in minutes played

RANK	ROOKIE	RUNDOWN	RECENT
1		DAMIAN LILLARD, G, PORTLAND: Overall shooting has slipped a bit of late but now has 170 3-pointers, four more than previous record holder Steph Curry drained in his rookie season. While Curry shot a blistering 44 percent from the arc that season, Lillard hasn’t exactly been a slouch at 37 percent.	1
2		ANTHONY DAVIS, F-C, NEW ORLEANS: Managed six points on 2-of-11 shooting Wednesday at Golden State, just the second time in nearly a month he failed to reach double figures. His 17 double-doubles leads all rookies, and his PER of 21.24 second only to Andre Drummond. Nice to see him finishing strong.	2
3		JONAS VALANCIUNAS, C, TORONTO: Another strong finisher. Current run of 10 games in double figures fueled by a LeBron-like 68 percent (59-of-87) from the field and capped by season-high 24 with 10 boards Wednesday, when he was a dominant 16-of-18 from the line.	4
4		MOE HARKLESS, F, ORLANDO: Scored a season-high 28 points Monday at Houston, part of a five-game stretch that has seen him average 19.8 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 47 percent. And as long as we’re talking minutes, he has seven straight games with 40-plus.	3
5		ANDRE DRUMMOND, F-C, DETROIT: Nice to see him put in the effort to return from back injury and wasn’t bad, dropping 17 points in first game and sweeping 14 boards in second. But minutes are being limited due to lack of conditioning, evidenced by 1-of-12 free-throw shooting.	–
6		HARRISON BARNES, F, GOLDEN STATE: A light week for the playoff-bound forward, who scored in double figures in his only two games. Among his potential postseason matchups are Danilo Gallinari (20.5 ppg vs. Golden State), Kawhi Leonard (6.3) or Kevin Durant (27.7). Guess which one Barnes wants to see?	5
7		PABLO PRIGIONI, G, NEW YORK: Was inserted as a starter 10 games ago and is averaging 3.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 19.7 minutes. Not impressive, you say? How about 8-of-18 from the arc during that stretch? Or how about a 7.75 assist-to-turnover ratio? Or how about New York’s spiffy 10-0 mark?	–
8		MEYERS LEONARD, C, PORTLAND: Spent most of season getting default minutes at big spots due to extremely thin bench but is producing now with LaMarcus Aldridge sidelined. Averaging 13.4 points and 7.2 rebounds in 33.4 minutes over last five games while shooting 55 percent from the field.	–
9		MICHAEL KIDD-GILCHRIST, F, CHARLOTTE: Put together two good games for the first time in almost a month with a combined 35 points on 15-of-22 shooting and 17 rebounds, then missed a game for personal reasons. Stat-stuffing that was evident early in the season has virtually disappeared.	–
10		TYLER ZELLER, C, CLEVELAND: Big fella’s steadiness has returned and should be acknowledged; has scored in double figures in five of his last seven games with 62 percent shooting and two double-doubles during that stretch. However, he hasn’t scored 10 points in a win since Feb. 23.	–

DROPOUTS: Kyle O’Quinn, F, Orlando (6); Patrick Beverley, G, Houston (7); Terrence Ross, G, Toronto (8); Kyle Singler, F, Detroit (9); Donatas Motiejunas, F, Houston (10).

FIVE TO WATCH: Patrick Beverley, G, Houston; Chris Copeland, F, New York; Nando de Colo, G, San Antonio; Orlando Johnson, G, Indiana; Donatas Motiejunas, F, Houston.

Chris Bernucca is the deputy editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.