How The NBA Rookie of the Year has changed

By: Deren Cicitta

With the NBA season wrapping up, award season has officially begun. One award that is very much open for discussion is this years Rookie of the Year. The three main candidates will most likely be Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley or Scottie Barnes. All three are deserving of the award, but the idea of the award I believe has changed.

Many of these young players now come into the league and immediately impact winning more so than ever before. Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley have helped lead their teams into playoff position. They are not just small pieces of their teams, but are vitally important to their teams playoff success.

The ROY award in the past just went to the player with the best stats, but now you need to have the stats and be a key part in your teams success.

Take Cunningham as an example, numbers wise he checks all the boxes for what you would want in a ROY averaging 17 ppg, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. But the Pistons have one of the worst records in the league.

Being able to be a main player as a rookie while helping with team success is now a factor in ROY voting. Just look at previous winners.

LaMelo Ball won over Anthony Edwards last season despite missing 21 games. Each had seasons worthy of ROY but Ball had his team in the play-in tournament, while Edwards and the Timberwolves had one of the worst records.

Other players that in most years would also be a favorite for ROY are Franz Wagner, Josh Giddey and Jalen Green. But all there teams are going to have the worst records in the NBA.

With the impact these rookies are having immediately needs to be taken into account when selecting the rookie of the year. Barnes and Mobley have done that this year. Which is why in my opinion they are the two favorites to win ROY.