We’ve reached that part of the offseason where NBA 2K begins to release their player ratings as we’re less than a month away from the release of NBA 2K22. They began by releasing the player ratings for some notable stars around the league, including the Milwaukee Bucks’ big three of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday.
We certainly had our thoughts on the controversial ratings for the Bucks’ stars, but what about the rest of the roster for the champs? There are still 13 more players left to get their ratings and one two-way player.
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2K ratings obviously are not the be-all, end-all for how good a player is, and they definitely don’t weigh the defensive aspect as highly as they do with offensive stats. Yet, it’s always a debate every season with players being rated too high or too low, why one player is rated higher than another, etc.
What I’ve found most interesting is how 2K rates role players and younger players, however. The debate is always around the top ratings (like what we saw with Antetokounmpo’s rating being the same as three other NBA stars), but how they rate role players is almost more important.
The Bucks added some very intriguing role players to their roster this offseason, and how 2K rates them compared to the rest of the roster should inspire some debate among Bucks fans. I’m going to do my best to predict what 2K will rate the rest of the roster, and after seeing Holiday’s rating compared to what I thought it would be… I am ready to be disappointed.
Predicting the Milwaukee Bucks’ rookies and sophomore players 2K ratings
Let’s begin with the Milwaukee Bucks’ group of young players, consisting of Jordan Nwora, Mamadi Diakite, Elijah Bryant, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Georgios Kalaitzakis. These won’t be incredibly high ratings by any means, but it’ll be interesting to see how 2K rates the Bucks young talent.
Jordan Nwora: 72
The low 70’s might be a little high for Jordan Nwora, but with how 2K values shooting and offense, Nwora could end up being higher than expected. He finished last year with a 73 overall rating, gaining four points from when he opened at 69 overall to begin the year. Nwora got some publicity after his 33-point performance at the Olympics for Nigeria and a 30 point game in Summer League, so that should help him stick around where he finished last year.
Jordan Nwora’s highlights from his 33 point performance vs Germany pic.twitter.com/IsFYU56X1t
— Jake Reetz (@jajareetz) July 28, 2021
Mamadi Diakite: 69
I would personally have Mamadi Diakite rated a little closer to Nwora, but I don’t think 2K and I will see eye-to-eye on this one. He should have gotten some sort of boost for his impressive showing in the G-League bubble last year, but he stayed at a 68 overall the entire season. He should get a slight bump if they watch how Diakite developed and progressed last season, as well as his Summer League performance, but not as high as fans might like.
Elijah Bryant: 68
Elijah Bryant didn’t see a lot of playing time for the Bucks after being signed midway through last season, but he stuck as a 69 overall through the whole year, and I don’t think that should change too much.
Sandro Mamukelashvili: 68
It’s so hard to predict how 2K will rate a rookie, especially one that was picked near the end of the draft, and even more especially so with a player like Sandro Mamukelashvili. He has a unique skill set for his position, so this could be interesting how they rate him. I think his combination of ball handling, rebounding, and shooting should get him to around where Nwora was to begin last year, but I don’t think it’ll raise much during the season.
Georgios Kalaitzakis: 66
For as hard as it is to predict a rating for Mamukelashvili, at least he has a lot of college tape to go back and watch. I don’t think the ratings folks at 2K have watched a ton of Georgios Kalaitzakis in their scouting for these ratings. Due to that, and that he didn’t play a lot in Summer League, I think he’ll be the lowest rated player on the team and there will be a gap between him and his fellow rookie.