The “Knecht” mania from last week morphed into a more sober stretch with the Lakers’ little skid and his recent 42.9% shooting. Lakers coach J.J. Redick was asked about his defense, and TheRinger.com ran a lengthy piece questioning his ceiling as a 23-year-old newbie and justifying his slide to No. 17 in the Draft. Welcome to the NBA, rook.

Nearly a month into the NBA season, rookies are finding their footing, led by Jared McCain and Donovan Clingan. Who else is thriving?

The NBA season is now officially a month old, which means we can really start to form opinions on teams and players around the league. We're still in "small sample size" territory, but trends are starting to set in.

McCain’s big jump in the Ladder came from big contributions. His production over the past week — 27.7 ppg, 50.8 FG%, 19.7 shots nightly, 10.7 of them from the arc — is right in line with Maxey’s work in his seven games before his injury. Additionally, his 27.3% usage rate ranks higher than Devin Booker’s and LeBron James’.

Philadelphia 76ers rookie Jared McCain is coming off his first tough contest of his rookie season. With the Los Angeles Clippers focusing so much on him during the game, McCain was held to 3-for-15 shooting and 2-for-11 from deep.