NBA Rookie of the Year 2015 Likely Andrew Wiggins?
Coming off stellar showings in the NBA of late, Canadian forward Andrew Wiggins is fast becoming the obvious pick for the Rookie of the Year award and a promising threat to the biggest and brightest stars of the league.
"It may have taken him a little longer than some expected, but Andrew Wiggins has separated himself from the rest of the 2014 class as the front-runner for NBA Rookie of the Year," declared The Bleacher Report as early as Jan. 18.
He is a class of his own, without a rival for the 2015 newcomer award, observers believe.
"He's so far ahead of his peers that it's not even about beating them for the award anymore. Barring a meteoric rise from a competitor or an epic collapse from Wiggins, he has Rookie of the Year locked up," The Bleacher Report added.
After bludgeoning the Denver Nuggets with 31 points in a 113-105 game, he was up to a 15.2-points-per-game average--only one of two who managed double digits, including the injured Jabari Parker (a distant 12.3).
The gap has only been increasing, said the report. KJ McDaniels, Zach LaVine, Nerlens Noel, Nikola Mirotic, Bojan Bogdanovic, Elfrid Payton, Jususf Nurkic and Marcus Smart are also among the Rookie Scoring Leaderboard.
NBA.com's Top 10 also had Wiggins at No. 1 as of Jan. 28, with 46.6 percent shooting, 19.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The other four players making up its first five are Noel, Payton, Mirotic and McDaniels.
"The splits are clear evidence that he's finding his NBA legs," said The Bleacher Report. "Each month starting in November, his averages for points, rebounds and assists have gone up, as has his field-goal percentage."
In his most recent game on Saturday versus the eventual winner Cleveland Cavaliers--and of course Kevin Love--Wiggins once again broke his record, producing 33 points, 23 of which in the first half, said SB Nation.
Although the scoreboard indicated a 106-90 loss, according to the report, Wiggins was very good in all departments and even managed a trick on LeBron James, who himself had 36 points an five assists.
The 19-year-old rookie, noted CBC Sports, scored from three shots outside the field and went 14-for-25 from within in 43 minutes. It also noted that James and Wiggins have performed evenly in their two meetings this season.
The Bleacher Report, in another report, said that the game at Target Center was basically a "revenge game," and Wiggins' explosion, profound.
"The reality of who 'won' and 'lost' this trade won't be known until years down the line, when our judgments are aided by facts, not speculation of how the future will play out," said SB Nation. "But right now, Wiggins looks like a star..."
And who knows what he can do beyond his first year?