NBA Playoffs: Rookies Seeing Limited Action in Conference Semifinals

The NBA Playoffs have lived up to the hype so far.

With the first round of the postseason in the rear-view mirror, four squads remain standing in each conference as teams continue their hunt for an NBA title. The conference semifinals have already seen mutliple surprising results, as the lower seeded team won its opening matchup in each series.

In fact, the Indiana Pacers opened up a 2-0 advantage against the Cleveland Cavaliers and will head back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse with plenty of momentum. During the intense battles that have made up the second round of the playoffs, though, rookies haven't seen much time on the floor.

This phenomenon isn't unusual, as most teams who have a serious shot to win the NBA Finals aren't heavily relying on rookies to turn in big contributions, but it is a change from the first round. Prior to the conference semifinals, multiple rookies saw significant time on the floor, including Zach Edey and Kel'el Ware.

So far in the second round, Quinten Post and Terrence Shannon Jr. are the only rookies who have seen any action. Both Post and Shannon got a few minutes in Game 1 of the series between Golden State and Minnesota.

Post played six minutes in the Warriors victory, logging just one rebound but leaving the floor as a +14 in the box score. Shannon logged around a minute and a half on the court, going 0-for-1 from the field while failing to record any additional statistics.

Post, who finished his collegiate career at Boston College, was selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, but has already managed to find a spot in the Warriors rotation. As a rookie, the 7-footer averaged 8.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 44.9% from the field and 40.8% from beyond the arc on more than four attempts per game.

Shannon was picked No. 27 overall last summer after finishing his college career at Illinois. The former Illini standout has shown flashes during his first year in the NBA, but didn't earn much consistent time on the floor as a rookie outside the month of Februrary, where Shannon logged more than 10 minutes of action in nine games.

In his first year as a pro, Shannon averaged 4.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and one assist per game while shooting 48.2% from the field and 35.5% from 3-point range.

As the playoffs progress, this trend will likely continue with teams attempting to cut down their rotations.