Who’s Going To Stop Andrew Wiggins From Winning Rookie Of The Year?

The players within the 2014 rookie class are starting to become members of each of their teams’ respective rotations and look like they have finally gotten their legs under them. These rookies are getting better each and every week and because of their production in games, their skill set’s are starting to translate to the speed of the NBA.

Rookies like the Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic has had a great week. While he managed to start and crack the rotation, he’s also become a go-to player and one of the dark horses in our Rookie of the Year award race.

In addition the rookie that a lot of people are impressed with is the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins. The athletic 6’8″ small forward is starting to become a very fluid offensive player. He’s had multiple 20-point games during the week and if there ever a reason to watch Minnesota Timberwolves basketball his game is more than enough of a reason to.

With that being said let’s begin our rankings.

Next: Honorable Mention

Friendship Heights ft. Chance the Rapper (Honorable Mention)

Jerami Grant – Philadelphia 76ers/SF

In the limited amounts of playing time that Jerami Grant has gotten, he’s actually been playing well. Against the Phoenix Suns he might have only scored two points, but he also had four rebounds and an assist. While against the Cleveland Cavaliers he had a great game. Grant scored seven points on 3-for-3 shooting, had one rebound, two assists, one steal and two blocks in 19 minutes.

Travis Wear – New York Knicks/SF

The New York Knicks might be in a bad place with their team but one of the bright spots on their roster is their rookie small forward, Travis Wear. During the week Wear has had a very productive week. Against the Detroit Pistons he finished with nine points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Against the Milwaukee Bucks he had a stat line of five points, one rebound, two assists, and one block.

Next: 10. Joe Harris

10. Joe Harris– Cleveland Cavaliers/SG

Last Week: NR

The week has been pretty frantic for Joe Harris. He only played 11 minutes in a 109-90 loss to the Dallas Mavericks and finished with only one steal, and shot 0-for-3 from the floor and got held scoreless.

Then Harris had a monster explosion against the Philadelphia 76ers. Harris scored a career-high 16 points but also shot wonderfully on the night, going 6-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-8 from the three-point line. Harris had one rebound, as well as a career-high four assists.

In his last game of the week Harris scored three points, had a rebound, and two steals in 16 minutes against the Houston Rockets.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling as a team without their all-star forward, LeBron James. Due to the fact that James is out of the lineup for another week or so Harris has been taking advantage of his playing time. Moving forward if he can keep playing well then he might earn himself a spot within the regular rotation.

Next: 9. Marcus Smart

9. Marcus Smart – Boston Celtics/PG

Last Week: No. 10

The Boston Celtics are in a bit of a dilemma when it comes to figuring out who they want to start at the point guard position. In one hand the Celtics have a proven veteran in Evan Turner who can play well as the primary ball handler. In the other hand they have a rookie point guard in Marcus Smart, who’s the future of the team. My money’s all in with Smart.

Smart’s best game of the week came against the Dallas Mavericks where he faced off against the former Celtics point guard, Rajon Rondo. Smart finished with eight points, seven assists and two steals. Later on in the week he also had a good game against the Charlotte Hornets where he finished with nine points, one rebound, four assists and one steal.

Furthermore Smart also had a good game against the Brooklyn Nets. He had eight points while shooting 3-for-5 from the floor, and 2-for-4 from the three point line. He also had two rebounds and three assists.

During the week Smart has been playing really well at the position racking up 15 assists and only have one turnover in four games.

Next: 8. Dante Exum

8. Dante Exum – Utah Jazz/PG

Last Week: No. 9

Over the week Dante Exum has made some strides in his game.

Against the Atlanta Hawks he had one of the best games of his career, scoring 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the floor and 3-for-7 shooting from the three-point line. In addition Exum also had two rebounds, two assists and three steals.

After his game against the Hawks, Exum did what most rookies do in this stage of their career, he took a step back. In 23 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves he scored three points while shooting a putrid 1-for-7 from the floor.

However Exum did have a groundbreaking moment of his career this week he started for the first time in the league. In his first star while playing against the Indiana Pacers Exum scored 13 points.

Against the Chicago Bulls in the last game of the week Exum finished with two points and three assists.

Next: 7. Nerlens Noel

7. Nerlens Noel – Philadelphia 76ers/PF

Last Week: No. 5

Simply put, Nerlens Noel is terrible when it comes to anything on the offensive side of the basketball. On the week he shot 33 percent or less in almost all of the games he played in. Two of his worst shooting performances of the week were going 3-for-12 against the Los Angeles Clippers, as well as going 3-for-12 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That was the bad news, the good news is Noel’s game was never predicated on his offense, it’s built on his defense.

Noel defensively had a pretty good week. In all of his games he didn’t have a poor rebounding performance, finishing with at least five rebounds in all of his games. In addition in eery game he played in he had at least a block. However for as good as Noel is defensively, it was a bit alarming to see the Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown not put Noel late in the game against the Cavaliers on the last possession of the game to guard Kevin Love.

Nevertheless, the Sixers got the win and Brown still looks like a genius for the decision.

Next: 6. Zach LaVine

6. Zach LaVine – Minnesota Timberwolves/PG

Last Week: No. 4

After having a fantastic week playing the point guard position rookie Zach LaVine has significantly cooled off. Against the Sacramento Kings he finished with six points, two rebounds, three assists, and four steals, while against the Utah Jazz he finished with eight points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.

The good about LaVine is that on the week he’s been shooting pretty well. In three of the four games he’s played in this week he managed to shoot at least 50 percent from the floor going 8-for-15 from the floor.

Also the fact that he’s become a pick pocket on the court shouldn’t get overlooked. LaVine has five steals in two of his four games this week. The bad is that he had 10 turnovers in four games.

Finally LaVine had two lack luster games while playing against the Denver Nuggets finishing with five points on 2-for-9 shooting, one rebound and one assist, as well as having a bad game against the Phoenix Suns, only scoring four points.

Next: 5. K.J. McDaniels

5. K.J. McDaniels – Philadelphia 76ers/SG

Last Week: No. 2

The beginning of the week has not been kind to K.J. McDaniels. The 6’6″ shooting guard was in the middle of a shooting slump the week after he had one of his best weeks shooting from the field. However, because of his play in his last two games, he started to pick it up.

Against the Milwaukee Bucks McDaniels finished with a stat line of 14 points, six rebounds, three steals and one block., while against the Cleveland Cavaliers he finished with a great stat line of 12 points, three rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. What’s great to see is that he shot 5-for-8 from the floor, and 2-for-3 from the three-point line.

The Sixers are 5-28 and all looks like it’s bad for their team. On a team full of young and inexperienced NBA players, McDaniels is one of the players that they look to for consistency even when he’s not scoring a ton. Thankfully later on in the week McDaniels played better.

Next: 4. Jusuf Nurkic

4. Jusuf Nurkic – Denver Nuggets/C

Last Week: No. 3

Want to know the reason Timofey Mozgov got traded? Look no further than Jusuf Nurkic. Nurkic has come a long way in his rookie season. First he was the man who got his playing time rescinded thanks to JaVale McGee. Then he got delegated to the bench and got the bench splitters. Now he’s a member of the rotation and he’s showing why he deserves to belong there. With Mozgov gone, moving forward he’ll be competing for a starting position.

Against the Chicago Bulls, the rookie finished with a double double with 10 points, and 10 rebounds. He also had one assist and three blocks in his 21 minutes of playing time. Later on in the week he played against the Memphis Grizzlies and had his best game as a professional. Nurkic finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and five blocks.

More importantly the Nuggets got the win and Nurkic played so hard that even Grizzlies center Marc Gasol started getting upset with Nurkic. On the week in four games Nurkic has 30 rebounds and 14 blocks.

Next: 3. Nikola Mirotic

3. Nikola Mirotic – Chicago Bulls/PF

Last Week: No. 6

Nikola Mirotic started off the week very slow but he picked it up after his first game. In his first game of the week, against the Denver Nuggets he finished only with three points in 11 minutes of playing time.

After the Nuggets game he didn’t look back. When Mirotic played the Celtics he had an awful shooting night going 2-for-10 from the field, and 1-for-6 from the three-point line, but he finished with 10 points. In addition he also chipped in with eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

The best game of the week for Mirotic came against the Houston Rockets, who many are hailing as a team who can get to the 2015 NBA Finals. Mirotic had 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor, eight rebounds, one assists, and two blocks. He also looks more and more like one of the best decisions to not bring Carmelo Anthony to the Bulls.

Next: 2. Elfrid Payton

2. Elfrid Payton – Orlando Magic/PG

Last Week: No. 7

Elfrid Payton is playing marvelous this week and is continuing on last week when he had his best week as a professional basketball player.

In his best game of the week Payton once again narrowly missed on a triple-double. Payton fried the Brooklyn Nets but the Orlando Magic would end up losing the game by two points. Payton finished with 16 points, which matched his career high, 10 assists, and nine rebounds, which also matched a career high.

For good measure he also shot 6-for-13 from the field, had three steals and added in a block.

Payton then continued to play well when he played against the Charlotte Hornets. Against the Hornets he finished with seven points, three rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Payton in the month is playing well and keeps getting better. Because of his awesome play in the month of January he’s nearly averaging a triple double.

Next: 1. Andrew Wiggins

1. Andrew Wiggins – Minnesota Timberwolves/SF

Last Week: No. 1

It’s a thing of beauty watching the way that Andrew Wiggins has played during his last few games. The 19-year-old forward is starting to develop into a go-to scorer and the Timberwolves have gotten a blessing in disguise.

The fact that Wiggins offense is already catching up to his defense this quickly is excellent for the Timberwolves. Wiggins had a few big games including dropping 27 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and four steals against the Sacramento Kings. Or his masterful performance against the Phoenix Suns where he scored 25 points and shot 10-for-16 from the floor.

Furthermore he had a great game once again against the Utah Jazz where he finished with 20 points, four rebounds, one steal, two assists and one block. Wiggins is shooting pretty well from the field at least half, or more than half of his shot attempts. Don’t look now, but in the month of January he’s averaging close to 25 points per game and shooting at least 50 percent.

Next: Utah Jazz: Should Trevor Booker Get More Minutes?