Week 10 NBA Rookie of the Year race: Bucks' Brogdon continues to impress
Paste BN Sports’ top three candidates for the 2016-17 NBA Rookie of the Year award (through Saturday, Jan. 7).
Also receiving votes: Philadelphia 76ers' Dario Saric, Toronto Raptors' Pascal Siakam
► Power rankings: Celtics, Pacers climbing East standings
► MVP race: Jimmy Butler enters top five
3. Buddy Hield, New Orleans Pelicans
Hield put together the second 20-point performance of his career in Monday's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which he followed with a 15-point, seven-rebound outing in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, as his role in the Pelicans' offense continues to grow. On the season, the No. 6 overall pick is averaging 9.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and leads all rookies in three-pointers made (1.6 per game) and ranks fifth in three-point percentage (37.6%).
2. Malcolm Brogdon, Milwaukee Bucks
Taken with the 36th overall pick after playing four years at Virginia, Brogdon has been proven to be the steal of the draft, and it hasn't even been close. The 24-year-old has strung together five straight double-digit scoring games (including his first career triple-double) and is averaging 12.0 points, 6.8 assists and 5.6 rebounds during that span. On the season, he's averaging 8.9 points on 45.4% shooting, 3.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds, carving a niche for himself in Milwaukee.
“You talk about someone who wants to be good,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said of Brogdon recently, via Paste BN Sports' Jeff Zillgitt. “He works at his craft. You look at his basketball IQ. We trust him as a rookie offensive and defensively. He’s taken the challenge to play at a high level and we’re holding him accountable to that.”
1. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
As Embiid gradually sees more and more minutes, he gradually scores more and more points. The 7-footer has dropped 20-plus in five straight games as he continues his campaign — both on the court and on social media — to become the first rookie since Blake Griffin (2011) and just the third since Yao Ming (2003) to be selected to the All-Star Game. With his widespread popularity and 19.4-point, 7.3-rebound, 2.4-block averages on the season, he just might do it.
List of voters: Paste BN Sports' Jeff Zillgitt, Sam Amick, Kevin Spain, AJ Neuharth-Keusch and Michael Singer; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal's Ronald Tillery; Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis; Indianapolis Star's Nate Taylor; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Charles Gardner; The (Bergen) Record's Steve Popper; HoopsHype.com's Jorge Sierra and Raul Barrigon; Paste BN Sports Weekly's Howard Megdal.