Morant Favored, Williamson Not Far Behind For NBA’s ROY

The NBA Rookie of the Year race is spicier for one very obvious reason: Zion Williamson is back. Memphis Grizzlies freshman Ja Morant has been the front runner for this award all season long and it looked like he’d cruise to it with No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson out. However, Zion is back and he’s been playing well. Can he do enough to pull this award away from Morant?

ZION’S ENTRANCE

The arrival of Zion Williamson onto the big NBA stage was front-page news when it happened. The fact that Zion played extremely well in his first NBA regular-season game significantly boosted his national profile. He’s averaging 19.8 points per game to go along with 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and a 22.61 PER. That’s obviously given the New Orleans Pelicans a big boost and put him on the map for the ROY discussion.

JA MORANT, MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
ODDS: -300

The Ja Morant hype has been warranted. Not only is Morant averaging 17.4 points and 7.0 assists, which shows how much he is getting his teammates involved in the Memphis Grizzlies’ offense, he is helping the team win. The Grizzlies were expected to be a very bad team this season and certainly not a playoff team. Yet, at 26-26, the Grizzlies would be in the playoffs as the No. 8 and final playoff seed in the Western Conference if the postseason started today.

Morant’s ability to improve his teammates has had a thoroughly positive effect on Memphis, and no one who follows the NBA closely can ignore this. It is really very simple: if the Grizzlies make the playoffs, there is absolutely no way Morant won’t win the Rookie of the Year Award. Zion Williamson could make a push for second-place votes, but it wouldn’t be enough. This is Morant’s award to lose by far.

ZION WILLIAMSON, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
ODDS: +400

The injury to Zion has prevented him from accumulating the full season-long workload of a player who is in the best position to be Rookie of the Year. Morant’s ability to play a full season up to this point is a basic, undeniable reason he is the overwhelming favorite. Had Zion played a full season, it would probably be a different story, but we don’t live in that hypothetical world. Morant is the favorite. Nevertheless, Zion is posting better numbers but the challenge is that the Pelicans are on the outside of the playoffs looking in. They’ve won two in a row, though, and are just 4.5 back of the Grizzlies. If he can propel his team into the playoffs, he’ll win the award.

KENDRICK NUNN, MIAMI HEAT
ODDS: +700

This has been the surprise of the Rookie Of The Year race. Nunn averages 15.8 points and his Miami Heat are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings, which no one predicted. The truth is Nunn is part of a trio of Heat rookies that have been fantastic with Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson.

The issue with Nunn is while he’s a fantastic scorer, his peripheral numbers don’t look great. He adds just 3.5 assists per game and 2.8 rebounds, although he does hit 2.0 threes per game. He’s a stellar rookie but he’s a distant third in this race – far more than the odds suggest.

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