It’s been a couple of weeks since Joel Embiid was officially ruled out for the remainder of the season with a torn left meniscus. While Embiid was by far the best rookie this season, he may not win the award due to how limited his minutes were this season. With things settled down a bit, the race for the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year is on.
Here are five players who have made a case for themselves to win the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year award, and their numbers ranked up against their peers.
Joel Embiid, C – 31 games, 25.4 minutes per game, 20.2 points (first), 7.8 rebounds (first), 2.1 assists (eighth), 2.5 blocks (first), 0.9 steals (fourth), 46.6 FG% (third), 36.7 3P% (sixth)
Due to consistently poor seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers have been the laughing stock of the league over the past couple of seasons. They were so bad, they even set the record for most losses in a single season. Sam Hinkie came along and did what he could, telling the fans to trust the process while trading assets away in order to stock up on draft picks. Hinkie may no longer be a part of the team, but his legacy remains in the players he drafted, and positioned the team to draft. Many have called guys like Nikola Jokic, Kristaps Porzingis, and Karl-Anthony Towns the best young big men prospects in the league, but Embiid may have more potential than all of them.
Joel Embiid was one of Hinkie’s picks, and he took the League by storm. That is, when he was able to actually get onto the court. After spending his first two seasons out with various injuries, the big man from Cambodia went to work on his opponents. In the 31 games Embiid played in, he led all rookies in points, rebounds, and blocks. Not only did he lead his fellow rookies, but he was also one of the premier interior defenders in the league. Embiid held opponents to just 40.9%. When on the court, Embiid’s man took 12.8 shots per game and made just 5.2 of them.
If Embiid was able to play 36 minutes per game this year, his stats would look something like this: 28.7 points per game, 11.7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3.5 blocks, and 1.2 steals. Those are MVP-type numbers right there.
As a symbol of his importance, the team’s Offensive Rating was 102.4 and it dropped to 99.2 with Joel Embiid off the court. On the defensive end, his rating was 99.1, and it rocketed up to 108.8 with him off the court. That’s good for a net rating of -9.6 with the rookie off the court.
Embiid’s accomplishments for the season include Rookie of the Month for November, December, and January.
If Embiid were to have stayed healthy for the full year, there is no doubt he would have run away with the Rookie of the Year award—or even if he was able to play in 50 total games. However, many think 31 games and just 25 minutes per game isn’t enough playing time to qualify for the award. The question is, do you value the quality of play over quantity? For Embiid, it would be no contest if voters wanted the best overall rookie and didn’t mind how much he played during the season.
Dario Saric, PF – 60 games, 25.1 minutes, 11.6 points (second), 6.2 rebounds (second), 2.1 assists (eighth), 0.27 blocks (19th), 0.6 steals (12th) 40.4 FG% (13th), 31.3 3P% (16th)
Dario Saric was another one of Sam Hinkie’s players and was also drafted in 2014 alongside Joel Embiid. The Philadelphia 76ers traded for the rights to Saric from the Magic in a swap for point guard Elfrid Payton, and a 2017 first round pick. The downside to picking Saric was that the 76ers didn’t quite know when—or if—Saric would come play for them since he played overseas. Well, he did this season, and the rookie has shown he was worth the wait.
Saric’s stats won’t blow anyone away at first glance. Part of this is because he’s only playing about 25 minutes per game. However, he’s also had to share the ball and the court with the likes of Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, and Nerlens Noel. Now that Embiid is done for the season, and Nerlens Noel was traded to the Dallas Mavericks at the trade deadline, Dario Saric has been a sight to behold. Over his past 10 games, Saric is averaging 30.2 minutes, 19.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and has brought his field goal percentage up to 46.5 percent.
If the ROY was awarded after the All-Star Break, Saric would be the frontrunner for the award, with the only competition being his teammate. If voters are more interested in recency bias and who was able to play for a full season, Saric probably has the best chance of winning ROY.
Side note: boy do the 76ers have a bright future with Embiid, Saric, two possible top 10 picks, and Ben Simmons.
Malcolm Brogdon, SG – 59 games, 25.9 minutes, 9.9 points (third), 2.7 rebounds (14th), 4.1 assists (first), 0.11 blocks (35th), 1.1 steals (first), 44.6 FG% (fifth), 42.4 3P% (second)
Here’s a stat: no second round pick has ever won ROY since 1958 when Woody Sauldsberry—who ended up shooting 34.9 percent for his career and having the worst win shares of all-time at -7.9—won it after being drafted 60th overall in the eighth round. Malcolm Brogdon is trying to prove his case to become the second this season. He would be the oldest to do so if he does win it. Brogdon has arguably been the most consistent rookie in the 2016 class. If we were talking rookies just drafted in this class, he would be the ROY at this point in time.
After falling into the laps of the Milwaukee Bucks at the 36th pick in the draft, he has shown what his experience could do for the team. In his senior season at Virginia, Brogdon averaged 18.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, shot 39.1 percent from three, and was named a First Team AP All-American. This has translated to the league right away for the Brogdon and the Bucks.
While Brogdon isn’t the first, second, third, or fourth option on his team, he has found a solid role for himself in his rookie season. Playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker, Khris Middleton, and Greg Monroe means there aren’t a ton of shots for others, but he has made due.
He is currently one of the top 15 three point shooters in the league. Per SportVu, the rookie is shooting 44.3 percent off of catch and shoot threes, which is better than the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, Ryan Anderson, fellow rookie Buddy Hield, CJ McCollum, and Kevin Durant, to name a few.
The Virginia alum may not be the most flashy rookie in his class, but he has definitely been one of the most consistent. When he’s on the court, the Bucks have an ORTG of 109.4 and a DRTG of 105.6. With him off the court, the offense drops to 105.4 and the defense rises to 108.4.
If Brogdon wanted to cement himself as the oldest rookie to win ROY (tied with Elgin Baylor and David Robinson), he would need to start bumping up those stats a bit more. However, the addition of Khris Middleton puts a cap on how much Brogdon is used. If the voters were going to vote based off of overall consistency throughout the season, Malcolm Brogdon would have to be at the top of the list. It would be hard to vote against someone who’s third in scoring per game, first in assists, first in steals, fourth in field goal percentage, and first in three-point percentage.
Buddy Hield, SG – 61 games, 20.8 minutes, 8.9 points (sixth), 2.9 rebounds (10th), 1.3 assists (17th), 0.11 blocks (35th), 0.36 steals (31st), 40.1 FG% (14th), 37.3 3P% (fifth)
It’s been an interesting ride for Buddy Hield over the first six months of his NBA career. He came into the League as a First Team AP All-American in his senior season at Oklahoma after putting up averages of 25 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2 assists while shooting 45.7 percent from three. He was drafted sixth overall by the New Orleans Pelicans, despite being one of the older guys in the draft. However, Hield then was the centerpiece of the trade that saved DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings. Hield was sent with Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a 2017 1st round draft pick, and a 2017 2nd round draft pick for Cousins and Omri Casspi the night of the All-Star Game.
After destroying the college competition, Hield has struggled to hold his own thus far in the NBA. In his 57 games with the Pelicans, he only saw about 20 minutes per game and struggled shooting the ball by notching just 39.2 percent from the field. In his short time with the Kings, though, he’s been playing about seven more minutes per game and has put up much better numbers.
The man Vivek Ranadive said was the next Steph Curry has averaged 13.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 1 steal in his first few games in Sacramento, but more importantly, his shooting has gone way up to 51.3 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from beyond the arc. As mentioned above, Brogdon is shooting better than Hield off of catch and shoot threes, but Hield is no slouch in that category either. For the season, the old rookie is shooting 42.1 percent on 2.9 attempts per game.
There aren’t a ton of options on the Kings currently so Hield should see his time slowly increase as the season goes along which would also increase his usage. It would certainly help his case if he could dish out more assists, but there aren’t many guys on his new team that can help him out there.
Look for Hield to continue his climb up the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year leaderboard as the season comes to a close.
Yogi Ferrell, PG – 25 games, 25.1 minutes, 9.7 points (fourth), 2.4 rebounds (19th), 3.7 assists (second), 0.16 blocks (28th), 0.8 steals (eighth), 41.1% (11th), 36.6% (seventh)
One of the best stories in the NBA this season, Yogi Ferrell was an undrafted senior out of Indiana University. Here is what Ferrell has been up to since joining the league: signed by the Brooklyn Nets, waived by the Nets, signed a guaranteed contract with the Nets, assigned to the D-League, recalled from D-League, assigned to the D-league, recalled again, waived by the Nets, signed a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks, and eventually signed a multi-year contract with the Mavs. This is all after being named Third Team AP All-American in his last year at IU.
Ferrell’s time in Brooklyn wasn’t the most productive for him as he only played in 10 games and averaged about 15 minutes per game. On a team as bad as the Nets, it’s hard to come in and play point guard with little time to prove yourself, and Ferrell struggled to do just that. He only shot 36.7 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from three.
Ferrell put on a show after joining the Mavericks, though. In just his fourth game with the team, he put up 32 points on 9-11 shooting from downtown. His minutes with the team have jumped up to 32 minutes per game, thanks to the Mavericks waiving Deron Williams and J.J. Barea being injured. He’s been fairly productive in his minutes, averaging 12.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.2 steals. His shooting has also increased to 41.8 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from three, on almost two more attempts per game than when he was with Brooklyn. His assist percentage has also shot up from 16.9 percent to 25.5 percent. Who knew playing on a team with Dirk Nowitzki and Harrison Barnes was better than Brook Lopez and a bunch of church league players (sorry, Caris LeVert)?
Yogi Ferrell is a long shot for winning the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year race because of the number of games he has played in—even though he will have played in more games than Embiid—but if he continues the production he has shown in his time with the Mavericks, he is going to find himself in the top five for the award. That is no small accomplishment after not being on an NBA team for half of the season.
Notable names who didn’t make the cut: Brandon Ingram, Jaylen Brown, Jamal Murray, Marquese Chriss, and Willy Hernangomez.
With about 20 games left for each team remaining, things will start to heat up as the season draws closer and closer to an end. With Embiid’s injury, the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year race is anyone’s for the taking.
