The Philadelphia 76ers are excited to finally have big man Nerlens Noel on the floor for his “rookie” season after missing all of last year recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered at Kentucky. Noel has gotten the 76ers’ fans excited with his play in Summer League and preseason action, and looks ready to get back out on the court and compete for the Rookie of the Year award.
During preseason action in four games he averaged 8.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. Those numbers aren’t bad at all for his first ever NBA action, and he looked 100 percent healthy and ready for the season to get underway.
Noel was an absolute monster on the defensive end of the court during his season with the Wildcats, but didn’t display much of an offensive game. Take a look at his stats from his one season at Kentucky:
Provided by Sports-Reference.com/CBB: View Original Table
Generated 10/28/2014.
Averaging 4.4 blocks per game is insane, even at the college level. He has the above average athleticism and the length to continue that type of defensive dominance in the NBA, but he still needs to bulk up before he is able to defend centers like Dwight Howard.
Offensively, there are quite a few concerns heading into the season about how much of a threat he will be. He didn’t have much range, and wasn’t consistent with his post game either. Having Michael Carter-Williams will help this season, and his athleticism will allow him to get some easy layups off of put backs and lobs.
There are plenty of ways that he can improve over the next few seasons, but he has the raw talent to succeed immediately. Philadelphia isn’t going to rely on him to score 15 points per game, but they’d love for him to grab around 10 rebounds and block the 2.5 shots per game that he did in preseason work. Scoring around 11-12 points per game would be a perfect average for him.
As for the Rookie of the Year award, Noel is going to have to compete with players like Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. That is going to be very difficult to say the least, and makes it very unlikely that he is able to come away from the season with the award.
Even if he doesn’t end up winning the Rookie of the Year award, he will finish in the top five. Those two names are the only two that are in better positions to succeed, and they are the only two that have superior talent to Noel as well. The 76ers are going to be playing Noel quite a bit this year assuming he stays healthy, and he is going to have a large role right off the bat.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
Having the experience of watching the NBA game all of last season will come in handy for Noel this season as well. He knows what to expect when he does step out on the court, and he has learned from an NBA coaching staff for an entire year as well. It’s hard to predict that he’ll beat out either Wiggins or Parker, but he does have that advantage over them.
So to answer the question of whether or not he is the next Rookie of the Year, the answer is no. Does he have the talent to win if he wasn’t going against Parker and Wiggins? Absolutely. While he won’t end up winning the award, he will show that he is one of the best rookies playing this season.