Rookie of the Year (ROY)
Jamie’s pick: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
One of my bold predictions for the 2019-20 NBA season was that Ja Morant was going to win ROY over Zion Williamson. Now, after watching Zion in the preseason, I’m beginning to have second thoughts about that pick already but I’m going to stick with it for now because my reasoning still stands.
Zion will be sharing the court with Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday, Lonzo Ball, J.J. Redick, and others. These are all guys that will need their touches and shots and as a result, Zion will not have as many opportunities to put up numbers as Ja projects to in Memphis.
With Mike Conley now on the Jazz, the keys to the Grizzlies’ offense have been handed to Morant, who will be “the guy” from day one. Yes, he will have Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jonas Valenciunas to share the sugar with but he will have the ultimate green light and will certainly play a lot of minutes in his first season which means he’s going to put up some big numbers.
And at the end of the day, the ROY award is almost always about stats.
I guess there’s always the possibility that Zion is an all-star from the get-go and helps the Pelicans reach the playoffs and in that scenario, I may have to change this pick but I’m sticking with it for the time being!
Other guys who will be in the running and what it will take for them to win ROY:
- Zion Williamson – For the reasons I just said.
- R.J. Barrett – Puts up huge numbers as a primary scorer and facilitator for the Knicks.
- Darius Garland – Surprises everyone and has a kind of Damian Lillard-type rookie season.