NBA Rookie of the Year race: The favorites and other possible candidates
By Nate Friesen
Breaking down the NBA’s Rookie of the Year race, identifying the favorites and a few emerging candidates for the award
A little more than 10 games into the 2019-20 NBA season, the rookie class has looked pretty solid, however, no one has yet to take a huge lead in the rookie of the year race. With Zion Williamson likely out until at least December with a knee injury and Ja Morant and RJ Barrett having a couple of streaky starts to the season, this race is wide open.
If the season ended today the likely winner of the award would be the aforementioned No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Ja Morant. However, fortunately for us, the NBA season doesn’t end tomorrow and there are still 70-ish games remaining for any of the other rookies to take the honor from Morant.
I’ve taken who I consider to be the top 5 rookies of the season so far and divided them into two categories: Current favorites and other legitimate candidates to break down how the Rookie of the Year race is looking a few weeks into the season.