For the majority of the season it’s been a one-man race for the Rookie of the Year. Andrew Wiggins has led the charge for his Minnesota Timberwolves and he’s proved all season why he was the number one pick in the 2014 draft. Marcus Smart has started to come into his own since the trade that saw Rajon Rondo move from the C’s to the Dallas Mavericks.
Fittingly, both players have been named rookies of the month. Wiggins in the Western Conference and Smart in the Eastern Conference respectively.
The following from an NBA press release.
The Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Andrew Wiggins today were named the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played in February.
Smart ranked third among East rookies in scoring (9.8 ppg), assists (4.3 apg) and steals (1.64 spg) for the month. He also was fourth in rebounding (4.5 rpg) and averaged a conference-rookie-high 32.6 minutes in 11 games for the Celtics, whose 7-4 record was tied for fourth best in the East. The 6-4, 220-pound point guard set single-game career highs in rebounds (10), assists (nine) and steals (five) during February. Smart scored in double figures in six of his final seven games of the month.
Wiggins won the West award for the fourth consecutive month and helped the Timberwolves to a 5-6 record, their best mark in a full calendar month this season. The 6-8, 199-pound forward led all rookies in scoring (16.8 ppg) and minutes (38.7 mpg), and he shot 45.7 percent from the field and averaged 4.8 rebounds. On Feb. 23, Wiggins scored 30 points in a 113-102 loss to the Houston Rockets, his third 30-point game of the season, matching the Minnesota rookie record set by Isaiah Rider in 1993-94.
