NBA Rookie of the Year 2017 - Predictions
Predictions for the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year Award
Lonzo Ball - PG - Los Angeles Lakers
Honestly, a huge part of me thinks that Ball is mostly hype and that I'm being suckered like much of the rest of the world, and then summer league happened. I put very little stock in summer league since there are very few stars playing and the squads are nothing near the competition that these guys will face come the regular season, but my did Lonzo Ball show up to play. The MVP of summer league led his Laker team to the Summer League championship finals (he sat out due to a calf injury) thanks to the Summer League's first ever triple-double.
Ball certainly has become the front-runner for the 2017 Rookie of the Year award and I wouldn't be surprised if he nabbed it, but I don't think he is the runaway favorite like most seem to. He has the right opportunity in LA since he will be the primary ball handler for the Lakers after they dealt PG D'Angelo Russell to Brooklyn, but the lack of talent around him could make defenses key in more on Ball.
I expect Ball to put up pretty solid stats this season due to a hefty minute count and not a lot of talent around him. If I had to bet my life on this year's winner, I would pick Ball, but I'm not 100% certain that he's the right call.
Ben Simmons - SF - Philadelphia 76ers
Simmons is by far the biggest reason I'm not completely sold on Lonzo Ball winning the 2017 Rookie of the Year award. Having not played at all last year, Simmons is eligible for the award this year and projects to be one of the best all around players in this year's rookie class. Simmons is difficult to project due to the fact that he played in no Summer League games this year so the last meaningful basketball he played was in the Summer League last year.
Despite his absence, Simmons will be a force on both sides of the ball for this 76ers team that looks poised to make the playoffs for the first time in a long time. The biggest weakness for Simmons' proponents is the fact that he has more talent around him than Ball that will cannibalize his stats this year. Joel Embiid will be the focal point of the offense, taking away opportunities from Simmons. There's also fellow rookie Markelle Fultz to take up ball handling duty.
With all that being said, Simmons still has the potential to steal this award away from Lonzo Ball. I definitely see this as a two horse race with Ball slightly favored, but Simmons is the type of talent that could compete with Ball for the crown.
Dennis Smith Jr. - PG - Dallas Mavericks
Dennis Smith Jr. might be the biggest wildcard on this list as he simply tore up the summer league seemingly out of nowhere. Picked at number nine by the Dallas Mavericks put a chip on Smith's shoulder as he believed he should have been drafted higher. The chip on his shoulder certainly helped as he crushed the summer league before eventually falling to the Lonzo Ball-led Lakers in the summer league playoffs.
Smith certainly has the skills to take this years award, but my biggest concern is opportunity. The Mavericks look to bounce back from a historically bad season for Dallas and whether coach Rick Carlisle will open the reigns for Smith is yet to be seen. The Mavericks also have all-rookie second team guard Yogi Ferrell who looks poised to take minutes away from Dennis Smith Jr. which hurts his stock.
Dennis Smith Jr. is one of those guys that, in my eyes, could either tear up the league and average 15-20 points a game, or just completely fall flat. I think the former is the more likely scenario, but I have my doubts about Smith's chances of winning the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year award due to his team situation.
Markelle Fultz - PG - Philadelphia 76ers
You didn't honestly think that this article could end without mentioning the first overall pick of the 2017 draft did you? Fultz has the skills and potential to win this award over his own teammate Ben Simmons, but Simmons is one of the biggest drivers for me as to why Fultz will not win the award this year. Fultz is a big guard with a seven-foot wingspan, which will serve him well when playing against tough point guards in the NBA.
As I mentioned earlier with Ben Simmons, the biggest knock against Fultz is his opportunity. Philadelphia has more mouths to feed than either the Lakers or the Mavericks, which will make it difficult for Fultz to separate himself from the rest of the pack. Fultz will also have to share ball-handling duties with Simmons, which should keep his numbers below what he might be capable of elsewhere.
While I believe Fultz is the real deal in terms of NBA talent, I think he needs some time to develop and grow into the game. His opportunities in Philly will be slimmer than those in LA or Dallas and he has to compete against another guy on his own team in Ben Simmons for the award. For these reasons, I think Fultz finishes in the top five, but outside the top three for the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year award.
Every single one of these guys has the potential to take the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year award race by storm. In the end I think it becomes a two-horse race between Lonzo Ball and Ben Simmons. Ball due to the opportunity, and Simmons due to the fact that he is just so extremely talented. 2017 is shaping up to be the most exciting Rookie of the Year race in recent memory and I for one hope it does not disappoint.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Tell me down in the comments who your pick for 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year is. If you liked this article, please follow @brandonp to get all of my posts directly to your feed!
It's gotta be Fultz! Didn't he say he was taking Phili to the playoffs? I do remember the 6ers going like 0-18 a few years ago..can he really turn the team around? Im gonna say times are changing in the land of Philidelphia!
Fultz will be playing third fiddle to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. There are just too many mouths to feed on 76ers squad in my opinion. They definitely will compete for a playoff spot, but I think they would be doing that regardless of if they had Fultz or not.
Word. He's definitely not gonna get as many touches on the ball as some of the other profile players that will be in the race, but sometimes you never know what can happen. I think he's just one of those players that's need one chance and can stick from there. We'll see though. Can't wait for the season to start already.
Although I am not a big fan of his father, I believe Lonzo ball is going to achieve great things this year. So great that Lebron will join him next year! Great post @brandonp. Love reading some #Steemsports in the morning. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you @dylanjacobson! I think LeBron was heading to the Lakers regardless of Lonzo or not, but a playmaking point guard should take the ball handling load off of LeBron as he ages.
Great post! I may be a biased Lakers fan, but I gotta say, my money is definitely on Lonzo Ball taking the award. His ability to create for his teammates is unmatched in this rookie class. This kid can also score the ball too. Looking forward to watching him this year.
As I mentioned in the post, he easily has the best situation to win the award, but it'll be tough going up against West point guards every night. He will have his breakout nights, but he will also have some rough nights against CP3, Westbrook, and the like.
Most definitely true
This is a nice post on sport. Nice one dude
Thank you @stevearticlepro
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Damn dude, you picked my top three in the exact order I would have put them, and basically gave my exact rationale as well. That's nuts! At #4...because of the Sixers logjam, I think it's possible that De'Aaron in SAC could have better stats than Fultz, and thus look better on paper.
After his horrendous first summer league game, I was ready to laugh at the Lakers. And mostly because of his loudmouth dad and gross-looking jumper, I didn't really want to root for Lonzo. But goodness, the guy knows how to pass a basketball. You can always tell good from great by looking at the placement and timing of the pass. Simply connecting on a pass vs hitting someone perfectly in stride, delivering it to the shooting pocket when teammates are spotted up so they don't have to reach for it...he does those, and makes his teammates want to pass more because of it. Sharing is contagious. Totally agree about it being a small sample size, worse competition, etc -- but it looks promising. And if it looks promising for a full season, hello next summer's free agents (read: Paul George - I'm not buying the Lebron stuff).
Simmons could be great. Or he could be average. Or he could have chronic Sixeritis and only make it half the season before another injury. But I love that I don't have a clue what to expect out of Philly this year, that's half the fun.
I think Dennis Smith Jr. has a ceiling of Damian Lillard (another chip-on-shoulder fella), and a floor of Austin Rivers (who I begrudgingly accept as a vastly improved player from when he came into the league). In either case, I'm happy for the Mavs to have grabbed a legit player to offset the soon departure of Dirk.
took denis smith jr when he was a +400
This article is dead on. I personally think it will be Smith because he will be given the most opportunity with the least amount of surrounding talent, but all of the guys you mentioned should be very solid.