Following Viral Highlight, Morant Now Heavy Favorite To Win Rookie Of The Year

A Rookie of the Year campaign is a compilation of achievements, performances and highlight moments. For Ja Morant, he’s been building the resume since his first game in the NBA and after Friday’s epic highlight, he’s now the clear-cut favorite to win the Rookie of the Year. With the odds being refreshed on Saturday, let’s take a look at who is in the running for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award:

JA MORANT
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR ODDS: -200

Morant had already been the frontrunner for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award but Friday’s highlight is the type of play that’s going to help separate him from the crowd. Morant, who is averaging 18.4 points per game, literally lept over Kevin Love for a dunk in the Memphis Grizzlies loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Oddly enough, he actually missed the dunk but the play was so jaw-dropping on its own that it still became a viral story.

On the year, Morant is also averaging 6.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals. His play has been the most electric, which is why he’s in the driver’s seat right now.

KENDRICK NUNN
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR ODDS: +500

One of the fastest risers in terms of the Rookie of the Year Award odds is the Miami Heat’s Kendrick Nunn. The undrafted rookie wasn’t even on the board when the odds came up. Now he’s second in line behind Morant.

Nunn is averaging 16.4 points per game along with 3.6 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 threes. He mostly contributes points and threes, which is not the same across-the-board contributions of Morant, but Nunn has arguably had the bigger impact on his team. The Heat are currently the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and have been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this season; the Grizzlies are the third-worst team in the Western Conference.

Nunn has climbed from off the board to +1500 to now +500. His odds will continue to shorten if he keeps this up.

ZION WILLIAMSON
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR ODDS: +700

Williamson, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, opened as the favorite to win this award. However, as we approach the end of the calendar year, he still hasn’t even played a game. The latest we’ve heard is that he’s still “a ways away”.

The good news for Williamson is that nobody has really run away with this award. If he comes back early in the new year and puts together three good quality months, maybe he still has a shot. However, he’s already missed 30 games and the Pelicans seem to be in no rush to bring him back. On top of that, there will probably be some serious load management, which means he won’t play back-to-backs and other situations.

At this point, it becomes hard to bet on him because the voters will have a really tough time considering him for the award if he only plays half of a season.

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