NBA Rookie of the Year Odds; Zion Williamson vs Ja Morant

It pains me to say this, but LeBron James will not be playing NBA basketball at the end of this decade. Even a player as great as LBJ falls prey to Father Time. No king rules forever. When James does eventually hang up his sneakers it will be up to the rest of the league to fill the gargantuan-sized hole left behind. It’s easy to think that the league will get worse when a player of LeBron’s magnitude retires, but history tells us that just isn’t true.

There has never been a time since the 1970s where there hasn’t been a top 10 player of all time playing in the League. From Bird, Magic, Jordan, Duncan, Kobe to LeBron, there’s always been that superstar, that face of the league to polarise fans and stir conversation.

The NBA always seems to get new waves of stars to entice us. It’s very rare that a draft class doesn’t include at least one All-Star caliber player, and luckily for us, this year’s crop is looking no different.

As things stand we have a very close race for the Rookie of the Year. Zion Williamson and Ja Morant have both been stellar on the court, but which one will take home the coveted crown? 

Ja Morant

The 2nd pick in last year’s draft has really caught people by surprise this season. With Memphis having lost Mike Conley Jr the Grizzlies were looking for a point guard that could run the show. They have found that in Ja Morant.

In his first season, he is averaging 17.6 points and 7 assists per game on a great 49.3% from the floor. This is exactly what you want from your young point guard; good decision-making on the floor. Usually, young players are rash, always wanting to go 100 miles per hour, and that can lead to a lot of mistakes and ill-advised shots.

Not Morant. He is as calm as you’d like and it’s leading to wins on the floor. Right now Memphis is the 8th seed in the West and if Morant can guide his team to the Playoffs in his 1st season that will do wonders for his Rookie of the Year case.

He does need to improve his 3-point shooting if he is to take the next step as he is only taking 2.3 attempts per game and hitting just above 35% of them. Modern-day NBA point guards have to be able to hit the 3 to keep defenses honest and open up opportunities for their teammates, but there is plenty of time for Morant to improve.

He looks like a lock to average 20 and 10 for the next few seasons and I reckon he’ll earn himself an All-Star nod before his rookie contract runs out.

Zion Williamson

I have to admit something; so far I have been wrong about Zion Williamson. We all knew he had amazing talent from his high-school mixtapes and his one season at Duke, but I thought he was too one-dimensional. I didn’t see a good jump-shot for a 6’ 8” power forward. I thought he would struggle against bigger NBA bodies.

Then he went down with a knee injury before the season started and I thought that his body wouldn’t stand up to the immense physical pressure of an 82 game regular season. In my mind, he was simply too heavy given how high he was jumping.  

Boy, has he proven me wrong.

In the 16 games he has played for the Pelicans he is dominating the NBA the way no 19 year old should be able to dominate. He is averaging a whopping 24.2 points and 6.9 rebounds on an astounding 58.8% from the floor.

I have no doubt that he is currently the strongest player in the league and like I’ve said above, he’s only 19. He just moves people out the way and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. He also is incredibly quick off two feet. Any offensive rebound opportunity that comes his way, he seizes. His motor is also incredible which you love to see. He is relentless on the low-block and on the glass.

He is reminding everyone of Charles Barkley with his combination of size, strength and determination. If he had been healthy at the beginning of the season then this Rookie of the Year race wouldn’t be close, but given he missed more than half of the season that raises some doubts. If he can just keep his knees and ankles healthy going forward we might have something special on our hands.

Decision

This is tough, but given he’s currently leading his team to a Playoff spot and that Zion missed the majority of the season I have to give this season’s ROTY award to Ja Morant.