Victor Wembanyama is currently absent from the NBA rookie class for this season. Paolo Banchero isn’t there. Kyrie Irving, Blake Griffin, Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Karl-Anthony Towns, Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, and Damian Lillard are also absent.
The choices for rookie of the year were all made unanimously, or almost so. Long before the votes were cast, everyone knew who would win that season’s prize. No mystery existed.
Good luck figuring out what would happen if the voting for this season were to take place today.
There isn’t a rookie that stands out as the class leader this year. Not a single rookie is on track to average 15 points and participate in enough games to earn a spot on the league rankings; that last occurred in 2016–17. Additionally, Miami’s Kel el Ware, who has started four games this season—all within the last week or so—is currently the favorite to earn rookie of the year, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
According to Ware, it indicates that I’m performing well on the court.
He’s not incorrect, but it also shows that none of the freshmen in this class have taken the lead, particularly after the former Oregon Ducks forward was passed over by the NBA for the Rising Stars event during All-Star weekend.
A guard from the Trail Blazers has been added to the NBA Rising Stars pool.
As of Monday evening, the following were the top contenders for rookie of the year, as determined by BetMGM: Top of the list is Ware (+200), followed by Stephon Castle (+275) of San Antonio and Jaylen Wells (both +350) of Memphis, who are tied for third place.
Zach Edey (+1400), a center for the Grizzlies, comes in fifth. Following that, everyone is now at least 40-1.
With back-to-back rookies of the year, the Spurs would have accomplished something that has only been accomplished once in the previous 50 years if Castle prevails. In 2015 and 2016, Andrew Wiggins and Towns triumphed on behalf of Minnesota.
Paul remarked of Castle, his Spurs teammate, “He really has a chance to be special.”
As the season progresses, Ware’s growth is evident. It wasn’t until January 1st that the Indiana center scored ten points in a game for the Heat. Despite his three straight 20-point performances for Miami last week, which propelled him to the top of the BetMGM rookie board, he was left off of the initial roster for the Rising Stars games during All-Star weekend in San Francisco (and possibly the All-Star Game itself, in which the winning Rising Stars team will play).
For Ware, it all occurred in a flash. He didn’t even appear to be a serious contender for rookie of the year a few weeks ago, much less the front-runner.
According to Heat teammate Tyler Herro, “he’s been ready since he came here, believe it or not.” He was simply too talkative about how he wanted to be in the rotation and how he felt he could contribute when he wasn’t. He constantly seemed to be able to assist. And now that he’s finally getting his chance, I believe that everyone is beginning to realize his potential.
Wells, Sarr, Castle, Edey, Bub Carrington of Washington, Tristan da Silva of Orlando, Dalton Knecht of the Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia’s Jared McCain, New Orleans’ Yves Missi, and Atlanta’s Zaccharie Risacher, the top pick in the previous year’s draft, were among the ten rookies selected by the NBA for the Rising Stars games. Given that McCain is out for the remainder of the season due to an injury, Ware or another rookie may be selected in his place.
When it comes time to cast your ballot in April, there may be a true rookie of the year contest, at the very least. In the past few decades, there have been very few of those, with most winners receiving 90% or more of the first-place votes during that time.
A rare exception occurred in 2022, when Scottie Barnes of Toronto defeated Evan Mobley with 48 first-place votes to Mobley’s 43. The last tight contest was for the 2002 award, when Amar e Stoudemire received 59 first-place votes, or about 50% of the total. Over the past 20 years, every other winner has received at least 60% of the first-place votes. Caron Butler received 13 and Yao Ming received 45 that year.
In this class, no one is presently in a dominant position. That may add a lot more attention to award season.
— AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds
