2021 NBA awards: Final picks for MVP, Rookie of the Year and every other award
Rookie of the Year
3. Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings
2. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
1. LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
First things first: Anthony Edwards has played 21 more games than LaMelo Ball. That would already matter in a normal 82-game season, so it certainly matters in a shorter, 72-game campaign where that kind of gap is more glaring.
With that being said, because of the nature of this injury-riddled, COVID-shortened season, it’s not an automatic disqualifier like it’d be for an award like MVP. The reason? Despite missing significant time, LaMelo Ball has been head-and-shoulders above the competition when he’s been on the court.
Averaging 15.7 points, 6.1 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, Ball ranks second among all rookies in scoring, first in assists, second in rebounds and first in steals. He’s been more efficient than Ant-Man (43.6 percent to 41.7 percent from the field, 35.2 percent to 32.9 percent from 3-point range), he’s been the NBA’s most exciting rookie by far, and, unlike Edwards, he’s actively contributing to a playoff-caliber Charlotte Hornets team.
That’s not to dismiss Anthony Edwards’ ROY case or suggest he’ll be underserving if he wins the award. Ant-Man’s rookie season got off to a rough start, but context matters: Karl-Anthony Towns missed all but four games until mid-February, and rookies trying to shoulder that kind of scoring load without NBA-caliber talent around them typically struggle. Edwards was no different, and once he actually had some real players around to ease his burden, the results shone through pretty clearly.
Since the start of March, Edwards has been on an absolute tear, putting up 23.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from long range. The 3-point efficiency could use an uptick (especially when he’s been taking 8.2 of them per game), but he’s been a catalyst for the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ 16-21 record over that span — a stark contrast from their league-worst 7-28 mark heading into March.
There’s precedence for the clear best rookie not winning Rookie of the Year because they simply missed too many games, as Joel Embiid and Zion Williamson have shown in recent years. But those were outliers compared to this; Embiid only played 31 of 82 games as a rook, and Williamson appeared in just 24 of his team’s 72 contests. Ball still got to 51 games, and as ESPN’s Zach Lowe pointed out, he ranks far more favorably in Player Efficiency Rating (first), Value Over Replacement Player (second) and win shares (ninth) among rotational rookies than Edwards (12th, 26th and 29th). In my book, the difference in production, impact on a winning team and pure excitement is enough to make up for the disparity in games played.
Rounding out the top three is Tyrese Haliburton, who inserted himself into the conversation briefly when Ball went down. His knee injury took him out of the running, but his 13.0 points, 5.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game on superb .472/.409/.857 shooting splits are more than worthy of this third-place spot, especially given his terrific defense, impeccable instincts and penchant for making winning plays for the Sacramento Kings.
Shout out to Cole Anthony, Saddiq Bey, Isaac Okoro, Immanuel Quickley and Jae’Sean Tate on their impressive rookie seasons as well.