Seems like this is the problem every year, but has been exploited a bit more over the last two years. Top NBA rookies are not playing for winning teams, which makes it a bit more difficult to fully say who is the best among the group.
Last year’s Rookie of the Year was Michael Carter-Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers. While MCW’s number were tremendous, especially compared to his college stats, the Sixers lost a record-tying 26-straight games and had the second-worst record in the league. Before that was Damian Lillard taking home the gold, and while Portland increased its wins from the previous year from 28 to 33, the Trail Blazers still finished well below .500.
This is a trend that has been going on for a while. Top rookies come in as the saviors of a franchise, but with the focus being more on freshmen rather than juniors or seniors, it takes a while for the new NBA players to adapt and lead them to victory. The last Rookie of the Year winner to make the playoffs was Derrick Rose with the Chicago Bulls during the 2008-09 season. The last time a ROY winner led their team to the playoffs and had a winning record was Amare Stoudemire for the 2002-03 Phoenix Suns.
As you can see, winning and team success is not a big factor for this award, as it is for an individual player. However, the NBA Rookie Rankings are not meant to reward those that just have great numbers. Team success is often indicative of how a player performs. Sometimes a player can have great numbers but the team struggles, there are factors that translate into this. Though the NBA Rookie Rankings looks at the player, it also looks at team success and how these players are helping their teams. Just something to keep in mind the rest of the year.
Anyways, it’s time to get into it for this week.
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