Coming into the season, Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and R.J. Barrett were the overwhelming picks to be the Rookie of the Year this year. I didn’t see anyone pick any other rookie as a possible winner. I’m picked Barrett this preseason as he looked pretty damn good.
Since the start of the season, there have been a handful of other rookies that have shot up the leaderboard. Miami guard Tyler Herro, Memphis small forward Brandon Clarke and Golden State power forward Eric Paschall have thrown their name in the running. Things could change once Zion Williamson debuts, but as of early December, he has yet to appear in the regular season.
Can second-round pick Paschall win the Rookie of the Year?
Eric Paschall was selected 41st overall out of Villanova. He won a national championship and was an underrated prospect in the draft. Most teams viewed him as a good player on a very good team. Villanova have had some great teams in recent memory, but haven’t produced an All-Star in a long time.
As of December 4th, Paschall is averaging 17.3 points per game, which is second among all rookies (Ja Morant 18.3) and Paschall is a stat-filling power forward. He can help you in about every facet of the game, but he isn’t an elite passer.
Paschall has been helped by injuries as he’s getting every opportunity to score and doesn’t have to share the offense with either Steph Curry or Klay Thompson.
Although it’s great that Paschall is really making all the other teams regret passing on him, the odds of him winning the ROY award is quite slim. The Warriors currently have the worst record in the NBA at 4-18 and this alone may be the reason he loses the award. Even though Paschall has been great, the overall record is too hard to ignore. This class is too stacked and if Williamson has a forgettable season, the ROY award could come down to a razor-thin margin.
The ROY award is hard to handicap at the moment just because we haven’t seen Zion yet. It would be a bit crazy if Zion does play at a high level after missing the first two months. Missing so much time may lose him some votes and it could be enough to jumble some first-place votes around for an underdog to win.
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.