The NBA season creeps closer, with the unveiling of Christmas games and team schedules to arrive in the coming days, meaning it’s the beginning of another cycle for NBA 2K.
To count down to the game’s Sept. 4 release, 2K released the top-10 rookies in the game. While it looks quite similar to the NBA Draft order, some things stand out.
Here are the top 10 rookies coming in to NBA 2K27! 🎮
2K Thinks There’s a Clear Top Three
AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer round out the top three, all sitting at 79 overalls. Unsurprisingly, the trio was the first three picks of the draft. However, during the NBA Draft, while the first round was notably an incredibly deep pool of players, the consensus was that the top four were the future superstars.
This would include Caleb Wilson, the fourth overall pick of the Chicago Bulls. However, 2K has punched him into a sort of tier of his own, sitting at a 77 overall, two overall points ahead of fifth and two below the top three.
Wilson had buzz to go in the top three and is certainly capable of playing at a similar level to Dybantsa, Peterson and Boozer.
Against Boozer’s Memphis Grizzlies, Wilson scored 35 points, the most points in a Summer League debut. He was fifth in scoring, averaging 23.5 points a game. Wilson was exceptional shooting the ball as well, posting a 50% from the field and a blistering 41.9% from three.
His scoring marks were better than the top three, outside of Dybantsa’s 25 points per game.
Darius Acuff Jr. ahead of Mikel Brown Jr.
The only switch-up on the draft order came in the sixth and seventh positions. The two were a heavily debated topic at the draft and remain one on NBA 2K. Acuff Jr. slots in at the sixth position with a 75 overall. Not much split the two, with Brown Jr. coming in at a 74 overall.
At Summer League, the two remained in a similar boat. Both of their scoring outputs were solid, with Acuff Jr. winning that duel with 19 points a game to Brown Jr.’s 16.7. But they struggled to score efficiently, both shooting below 40% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc.
Yaxel Lendeborg Doesn’t Make List
The Summer League MVP and 11th pick in the NBA Draft did not make the cut of 2K27’s top rookies. Lendeborg, 23, doesn’t have the flair the top rookies in the class have, but through his experience, showed he can adjust to the NBA pretty quickly.
Lendeborg was more than his stats showed, averaging just 14.8 points and a little under 7 rebounds a game. He was the leader of a Golden State team that cut down the nets at the end.
Granted, it’s hard to put leadership into 2K abilities, and the Summer League is a small sample size to go off of.
But maybe the slight to both Wilson and Lendeborg’s summer performances can provide some bulletin board material.
NBA 2K27 Rookie Ratings Revealed: Caleb Wilson Shunned From Top Three