NBA Awards Watch: The two-way greatness of Kawhi Leonard
By Brad Rowland
Rookie of the Year
- Karl-Anthony Towns, PF/C Minnesota Timberwolves – If Towns was given a full-time workload, it is entirely possible that he would earn an All-Star bid in the Western Conference. That is how good the rookie from Kentucky has been. He leads all rookies in PER by a comfortable margin, and his per-game averages of 16.2 points and 9.4 rebounds are strong in their own right. When factoring in that limited workload (28.9 minutes per game), the numbers jump off the page to an even higher degree, and Towns already acts as impactful defensive player at an age and position where that is borderline unthinkable. Let’s just agree that the Wolves nailed the number one overall pick.
- Kristaps Porzingis, PF/C New York Knicks – The hype is probably out of control for the now 20-year-old, but Porzingis has, indeed, been quite good. He is averaging 13.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game for the Knicks, and Porzingis has been far more advanced than anyone could have dreamed on both ends. It would be nice to see him improve on a 51.6% true shooting, but we are nitpicking at this point, and Porzingis would be a deserving ROY in a year that didn’t feature Towns.
- Jahlil Okafor, C Philadelphia 76ers – Okafor’s defensive issues are real, and that makes him a clear third on this list. Still, it would be wrong to ignore his polish offensively, and Okafor’s numbers (17.3 points, 7.9 rebounds per game) are terribly impressive even in the fast-paced world of Philadelphia. The off-court stuff will follow him around until it doesn’t, but if Okafor continues to play at this rate while cleaning up his defense and a few other problems on the floor, Philly will have a nice player moving forward.
Next: Most Valuable Player