As we move into the second half of the NBA season, one of the biggest questions confounding the League is who is going to take home the Rookie of the Year Award when everything is all said and done?
Prior to the start of the 2019-20 campaign, it seemed the unanimous favorite was Duke’s Zion Williamson who went number one overall in the Draft to the New Orleans Pelicans.
And up to this point, Williamson is having a Rookie of the Year type of season.
With 31 points in a 138-117 New Orleans win over the Portland Trailblazers, Williamson became the first rookie with 30-5-5 in fewer than 30 minutes. Not only that, Williamson notched his first 30-point game faster than any No. 1 pick since Allen Iverson did it in his debut in 1996.
“I mean, he’s only gonna get better,” Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball said of Williamson. “He’s 19. Came in midseason. I feel like he’s still not in the shape he can be in. It’s kinda scary thinking about what he can do in the future, but we’ll take 31 every night.”
However, for as good as Williamson has been this season, Ja Morant has always been a step ahead of him, which has continued to sway the Rookie of the Year odds in the direction of the Memphis point guard.
Even with the added pressure of Williams doing his best to shorten the gap within his own ROY odds, Morant recorded his first triple-double last week in a 106-99 win against the Wizards nothing a 27-10-10 performance. 10 of those 27 total points came solely in the fourth quarter which could also be said for seven of this total 10 rebounds.
Essentially speaking, Morant has been an absolute monster in the fourth quarter and continues to be as the season transcends into do-or-die time for plenty of teams out there. This includes the Grizzlies who sit on the bubble with the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Needless to say though at this point, what truly separates Morant from Williamson and what could continue to give him the edge is Memphis’ ability to count on him in crunch time as the Rookie has proven time and time again this season that he can put the team on his shoulders and win games almost by himself.