Evan Mobley has been the leader for NBA Rookie of the Year pretty much the entire year. Now, it’s not so clear cut that he will be the winner. Check out our top 3 rankings as we head in to the last week of the season. This will be one of the closest votes between the top three in the recent years.
3. Cade Cunningham DET
Cunningham had a slow start to the season missing games and not performing well when he was in the lineup. As of late, it has been a different Cunningham. In his last 10 games, he has six games with 22 points or more and six games with seven or more assists, including a game with 34 points. The thing that hurts Cunningham is he has only played in 62 games as of now and is currently injured on one of the worst teams in the league. Still, he is averaging 17.3, 5.5, and 5.5 on the year which is the best of this group.
2. Evan Mobley CLE
Mobley has dropped to second on the Rookie of the Year award race. He has been great all year and the Cavaliers were third or fourth in the Eastern Conference most of the season. Now, the Cavaliers have fallen to seventh and the play-in game. Unfortunately, we are at the time where the voting is about to take place and Mobley hasn’t played since March 28th. Additionally, in his last five games he has played in, he hasn’t scored more than 13 points in a game. Mobley’s averages have dropped to less than 15 points per game and 25% from three, but he is still averaging 1.6 blocks and 8.3 rebounds per game.
1. Scottie Barnes TOR
Barnes is coming on strong at the right time. He started the season off a little inconsistent, mostly due to the minutes he was being given. Recently, he has scored 15 or more points five times in his last 10 games, including a game with 31 points and 17 rebounds. The Raptors also passed the Cavaliers in the East and are now sixth. Barnes has made a great case to be Rookie of the Year as he is averaging more points than Mobley on a better team.
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cade_Cunningham_(51914218632).jpg
