NBA Awards Watch: The wizardry of Mike Budenholzer

Rookie of the Year

1. Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves – The full season numbers (14.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 42.3% shooting) don’t necessarily jump off the page for this season’s number one overall pick, but he has cemented himself as the best player in this class in the last handful of games. Wiggins is averaging 21.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game over Minnesota’s last ten games, and his efficiency has ticked up considerably as well, making 49.4% of his shot attempts. The 19-year-old is already a high-end contributor on the defensive end as well, and if he continues at anything near this pace for the rest of the season, the Rookie of the Year race is effectively over.
2. Nikola Mirotic, Chicago Bulls – Mirotic is going through a mini-slump that has cost him some playing time over the past week, but his season-long numbers are still quite good. The rookie forward is shooting 36.3% from three on the year, and on a per-minute basis, he’s been utterly fantastic. Mirotic will always be hampered by the exceedingly deep Chicago frontcourt, but basically every team in the league would love to be able to deploy him on a nightly basis.
3. Jusuf Nurkic, Denver Nuggets – Much like Wiggins, Nurkic is showing vast improvement, and in his case, that is coinciding with additional playing time. The Nuggets shipped Timofey Mozgov to the Cavaliers earlier in the month, and Nurkic’s court time has jumped to 22 minutes per game in January. His numbers have been nothing but solid, as he leads rookies in PER (19.68) while averaging 17.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per 36 minutes. Nurkic probably won’t make a serious run at the crown unless he is playing starter-level minutes, but the opportunity is now clearly in front of him.

Next: Most Valuable Player