Lakers: Ball and Kuzma are one of the best rookie duos of the 2000s

3. Zach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins — 2014-2015 Minnesota Timberwolves

Combined rookie stats: 27.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists

Outside of Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma, the tandem of Zach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins is the most recent on this list. Although LaVine was sent to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Jimmy Butler, the young trio of Wiggins, LaVine and Karl-Anthony Towns was arguably the most promising in the league. While it is gone now, the time the duo did spend together was great.

LaVine was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and exceeded a lot of critic’s expectations. The rookie shooting guard averaged 10.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. It only took LaVine three seasons to hit the 18.0 points per game threshold and arguably would be a 20+ per game scorer if it wasn’t for his ACL injury.

Wiggins, on the other hand, was hyped tremendously heading into the league and may not have immediately produced like many would have expected. The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Wiggins with the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft before trading him to Minnesota for Kevin Love to form a super team alongside LeBron James.

Wiggins averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in route to winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Although he was the best rookie that season, many expected more out of the first overall selection. Now, however, he is one of the best young small forwards in the game and is a key component on the title-contending Timberwolves.

While the partnership between LaVine and Wiggins may be no more, the two were the third best rookie duo since the turn of the century.