Rookie of the Year.

[AbeVigodaLive]

This guy likes somebody else more than Wiggins.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nerlens-noel-the-other-rookie-of-the-year/



[note: while we all agree wiggins is winning the award... noel's recent defensive performances are making some of the recent trades for him we saw on this board seem more than a bit implausible.]

[thedoper]

Imagine if New Orleans would have kept him. They'd be like the Sampson/Olajuwan Rockets.

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

Can Nerlens and Embiid play together? I guess they will move Embiid to PF since Noel doesn't have any range to his game. I would really like to get a guy like Noel for our C. A big that makes the team defense much better.

[mrhockey89]

Weren't there character concerns that red flagged him for many teams? Such as his circle of friends being a terrible influence?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Chad Ford's newest opinion is that Mirotic is the ROY. So, those of you that like Ford... Meh.

This award has been Wiggins' since January. Mirotic is a nice player, but those who take the same view as Ford are living in the moment and not looking at the entire year.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Chad Ford's newest opinion is that Mirotic is the ROY. So, those of you that like Ford... Meh.

This award has been Wiggins' since January. Mirotic is a nice player, but those who take the same view as Ford are living in the moment and not looking at the entire year.

I definitely disagree with Ford on this one. Mirotic is shooting like 40% from the field on the year. Just another person with their head up their ass when it comes to picking an award based on how a team plays and not the player's real impact on the team. The Bulls would be virtually in the same spot with or without him. Rookies aren't big contributors to a team's ability to win so it is stupid to pick an award like this based on how good his team is. Swap Wiggins and Mirotic and Mirotic doesn't even get a whiff of the award.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Chad Ford's newest opinion is that Mirotic is the ROY. So, those of you that like Ford... Meh.

This award has been Wiggins' since January. Mirotic is a nice player, but those who take the same view as Ford are living in the moment and not looking at the entire year.

I think there are a couple things at play here.

1) They have to keep it topical. Saying it's Wiggins' award for 3 months gets old and boring for writers.
2) We're in a more analytical age. So people analyze this stuff quite a bit. Wiggins' case is from the old school... decent gross stats that show flaws under the glare of advanced analysis. "He's posting numbers on a super crappy team... Mirotic wasn't given that opportunity with a playoff bound team, why hold better teammates against Mirotic?"

I get it. Mirotic would be posting a string of 20/10 games if he was playing in Minnesota. But he's not. So in the end it comes down to "what ifs" and you don't give out awards on "what if" scenarios.

[kekgeek]

Ford will just go back and change his opinion 5 years later

[Monster]

Ford will just go back and change his opinion 5 years later

Yep and whatever he changes it to will still be at least slightly dumb.