Bojan Bogdanovic back in top five after breaking out of slump

Bojan Bogdanovic is out of his slump, averaging 12.3 points over the last three games, including a nice effort --14 points and season-high eight rebounds-- against the world champion Spurs.  Good for the Nets.  When he is producing, as Chris Bernucca notes, the Nets are a much better team. 

Bogdanovic is ranked fourth by two of the rookie rankers --Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com and Amin Elhassan of ESPN-- and fifth by Bernucca.  No surprise. He's the fourth highest scorer in the class behind Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, and K.J. McDaniels. All are averaging 10 or more.  Bogdanovic is also first in minutes in the class.

Here are the latest rankings. 

Amin Elhassan, ESPN, 4

Like Mirotic, Bogdanovic comes with the advantage of prior high-level pro experience in Spain and Turkey, and has earned his keep in Brooklyn, starting every game for the Nets and averaging more than 30 minutes a night. He's in the lineup because of his ability to space the floor, and although his 3-point shooting has been less than advertised, expect it to level out as he gets more accustomed to NBA-caliber athletes on defense and the farther 3-point line.

Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com, 4

Small sample size, nothing. Making 11 of his last 23 field goal attempts was an important rebuttal after Bogdanovic had three games in a row without making more than two. If it's a sign he is back on a good path, the Nets have a valuable contributor at shooting guard again. If the recovery turns out to be temporary, he could soon be out of the top five, or worse.

Chris Bernucca, SheridanHoops, 5

e took a huge tumble a week ago after a stretch of bad brooklyn nets small logogames but shook it off with three straight double-digit outings, averaging 12.3 points on 16-of-33 shooting. BoBo also found other ways to help, averaging 5.0 rebounds. The Nets appear back on track with two straight wins and are much better when their rookie is contributing.