NBA Halloween: Playing trick-or-treat with each team’s early season trend

Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic is the Rookie of the Year favorite: Treat

Again, two weeks is a small sample size, but if the season ended today, Rookie of the Year would come down to three candidates: Luka Doncic, Deandre Ayton and Trae Young. Factoring in team success at this point is moot, but over the course of a full season, the Dallas Mavericks‘ superior record will more than likely give him the edge over Ayton and Young.

All three are going to put up insane numbers. Ayton is an absolute double-double monster and underrated passer, for all the gripes about his defense. Trae Young shares a similar flaw, but his lights out shooting when he enters heat check mode, plus his impressively advanced passing and anticipation, will keep him in the running.

However, Doncic seems to be the one generating the most buzz, showcasing himself as the Mavs’ best offensive weapon by averaging 20.4 points (first among rookies and in Dallas), 6.4 rebounds (third among rookies and second in Dallas) and 4.0 assists per game (second among rookies and third in Dallas). There’s a long way to go, but because of the hype, the Mavs’ likely advantage in the win-loss column and Doncic’s well-balanced numbers, he’s probably still the ROY favorite.