Mirotic Making NBA Rookie of the Year Race About More Than Just Wiggins

March 24th, 2015 by Kelly Scaletta Leave a reply »

As we headed into the All-Star break, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves was going to win the Rookie of the Year. But the Chicago Bulls' Nikola Mirotic is making this a far closer—and more unconventional—race than we’ve ever had before.

We can distill the conversation down to one simple question: Is the award intended for the rookie who accomplishes the most or the one who plays the best? On the surface, it might not seem that there is no distinction here, but there is.

The reason they seem similar is that on most occasions they have the same answer. The players taken at the front of the draft tend to be the best rookies. The most promising prospects are drafted to bad teams, so they play more minutes.

Because they are better players, playing more minutes, they do more.



As a result, the fewest minutes ever averaged by a Rookie of the Year winner is 29.1 by Mike Miller in 2000-01. The only other winner to come in under 30 is Tom Heinsohn in 1956-57 with 29.9. So it might seem insane to toss out the idea of seriously considering a ...

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