highest nba rookie defensive rating this year

Jeremiah Fears has the highest defensive rating by a rookie this season, with a 121.6 rating.

Interpreted as:

highest NBA rookie defensive rating with a minimum of 2000 minutes played per 82 team games this year

	NAME	DRTG	SEASON	TM	GP	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TPG	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	+/-
1	Jeremiah Fears J. Fears	121.6	2025-26	NOP	35	26.7	14.2	3.5	3.1	1.2	0.1	5.3	12.4	43.2	1.0	3.0	33.3	2.5	3.2	78.4	51.5	0.7	2.8	2.3	934	496	123	109	43	5	79	65	-253
2	Kon Knueppel K. Knueppel	121.3	2025-26	CHA	32	33.1	19.3	5.1	3.6	0.7	0.2	6.7	13.9	48.2	3.7	8.5	43.2	2.3	2.5	90.0	64.4	0.9	4.2	2.4	1,059	617	164	115	22	7	76	74	-46
3	Sion James S. James	120.8	2025-26	CHA	33	25.8	6.7	3.2	1.6	0.7	0.4	2.1	5.1	40.5	1.1	3.1	36.3	1.4	1.7	85.5	57.2	0.5	2.7	0.8	851	220	105	54	22	14	27	58	-101
4	Derik Queen D. Queen	117.1	2025-26	NOP	35	25.8	13.1	7.0	4.0	1.0	0.9	5.0	10.0	50.0	0.2	1.0	20.6	2.9	3.8	77.4	56.3	1.6	5.4	2.3	904	460	246	141	36	33	82	112	-115
5	VJ Edgecombe	116.7	2025-26	PHI	27	35.2	15.9	5.4	4.0	1.3	0.4	5.9	14.1	42.0	2.1	5.7	37.4	1.9	2.4	77.3	52.3	1.9	3.6	1.7	951	429	147	107	35	12	45	90	+55
6	Cedric Coward C. Coward	115.2	2025-26	MEM	32	27.2	13.9	6.5	2.9	0.5	0.3	5.0	10.6	47.3	1.5	4.5	32.9	2.5	2.9	84.0	58.8	1.6	4.9	1.6	871	446	208	94	17	10	51	64	+29
7	Cooper Flagg C. Flagg	113.8	2025-26	DAL	33	34.6	19.4	6.4	4.0	1.2	0.8	7.4	15.2	48.6	1.0	3.5	28.1	3.6	4.5	80.5	56.4	1.2	5.2	2.2	1,141	640	211	132	40	27	74	77	-153

StatMuse has season-level data for defensive rating going back to the 1973-74 season.

More Pelicans Stats

Team Leaders

PPG

22.7

Williamson

RPG

7.0

Queen

APG

4.0

Queen

Team Rankings

ORTG

113.7

23rd

DRTG

121.1

28th

NETRTG

-7.4

27th

3P%

34.1

26th

2025-26 Conference Standings

	TEAM	W	L	PCT	GB
11	Jazz	12	20	.375	16.0
12	Mavericks	12	22	.353	17.0
13	Clippers	11	21	.344	17.0
14	Kings	8	25	.242	20.5
15	Pelicans	8	27	.229	21.5

Schedule

DATE	MATCHUP			TIME (ET)
Fri 1/2	POR	@	NOP	8:00 PM
Sun 1/4	NOP	@	MIA	6:00 PM
Tue 1/6	LAL	@	NOP	8:00 PM
Wed 1/7	NOP	@	ATL	7:30 PM
Fri 1/9	NOP	@	WAS	7:00 PM

Last Game

Pelicans

8 - 27

118

Final

134

Bulls

16 - 17

Wed 31 Dec 2025

NBA 2025-26 Leaders

PPG Leaders

33.5

Dončić

32.1

Gilgeous-Alexander

30.8

Maxey

RPG Leaders

12.2

Jokić

11.7

Towns

11.1

Zubac

APG Leaders

11.0

Jokić

9.7

Cunningham

9.0

Giddey

SPG Leaders

2.2

Wallace

1.9

Daniels

1.8

Maxey

BPG Leaders

2.3

Sarr

2.3

Huff

1.9

Stewart

3PM Leaders

4.8

Curry

3.9

Mitchell

3.8

Porter

TS% Leaders

71.3

Jokić

70.5

Ayton

69.7

Williams

NBA 2025-26 Rankings

ORtg Rankings

125.0

122.8

122.6

121.7

120.4

119.3

DRtg Rankings

106.0

111.5

112.5

113.0

113.1

113.4

NetRtg Rankings

14.4

8.7

7.1

6.6

6.4

Tank Leaderboard

6-28

8-27

8-25

8-24

11-22

10-20

NBA Fantasy 2025-26

FanDuel Points Leaders

2,035.3

Jokić

1,725.7

Gilgeous-Alexander

1,587.7

Johnson

DraftKings Points Leaders

2,165.8

Jokić

1,728.5

Gilgeous-Alexander

1,675.8

Johnson

USG% Leaders

38.2

Dončić

35.9

Brown

32.8

Gilgeous-Alexander

MPG Leaders

39.8

Maxey

36.7

Thompson

36.3

Dončić

FanDuel PTS/MIN Leaders

1.84

Jokić

1.61

Dončić

1.57

Gilgeous-Alexander

DraftKings PTS/MIN Leaders

1.96

Jokić

1.71

Dončić

1.58

Gilgeous-Alexander

NBA 2025-26 Betting

Best Record ATS

22-11

21-14

18-12-1

19-14

17-13

Worst Record ATS

12-23

12-21

13-21

13-19

14-20

NBA 2025-26 Standings

	Eastern	W	L	PCT	GB
1	Pistons	25	8	.758
2	Knicks	23	10	.697	2.0
3	Celtics	20	12	.625	4.5
4	Raptors	20	15	.571	6.0
5	Magic	19	15	.559	6.5
6	76ers	17	14	.548	7.0
7	Heat	18	15	.545	7.0
8	Cavaliers	19	16	.543	7.0
9	Bulls	16	17	.485	9.0
10	Hawks	16	19	.457	10.0
11	Bucks	14	20	.412	11.5
12	Hornets	11	22	.333	14.0
13	Nets	10	20	.333	13.5
14	Wizards	8	24	.250	16.5
15	Pacers	6	28	.176	19.5

	Western	W	L	PCT	GB
1	Thunder	29	5	.853
2	Spurs	24	9	.727	4.5
3	Nuggets	23	10	.697	5.5
4	Rockets	20	10	.667	7.0
5	Lakers	20	11	.645	7.5
6	Timberwolves	21	13	.618	8.0
7	Suns	19	14	.576	9.5
8	Warriors	18	16	.529	11.0
9	Grizzlies	15	18	.455	13.5
10	Trail Blazers	14	20	.412	15.0
11	Jazz	12	20	.375	16.0
12	Mavericks	12	22	.353	17.0
13	Clippers	11	21	.344	17.0
14	Kings	8	25	.242	20.5
15	Pelicans	8	27	.229	21.5

NBA 2025-26 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATE	MATCHUP			SCORE
Sat 11/29	MEM	@	SAC	115-107
Sat 11/29	NOP	@	LAL	121-133
Sun 11/30	MIL	@	WAS	126-129
Sun 11/30	ATL	@	DET	98-99
Sun 11/30	CLE	@	IND	135-119

Schedule

DATE	MATCHUP			TIME (ET)
Thu 1/1	PHI	@	DAL	8:30 PM
Thu 1/1	BOS	@	SAC	10:00 PM
Thu 1/1	UTA	@	LAC	10:30 PM
Fri 1/2	SAS	@	IND	7:00 PM
Fri 1/2	BKN	@	WAS	7:00 PM

Jeremiah Fears has the highest defensive rating by a rookie this season, with a 121.6 rating.

Interpreted as:

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NBA 2025-26 Leaders

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NBA 2025-26 Rankings

NBA Fantasy 2025-26

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