Memphis Grizzlies’ guard Ja Morant was a dominant Rookie of the Year candidate until top draft pick Zion Williamson arrived on the scene after missing 44 games due to injury. But while Williamson has put up ridiculous numbers since his NBA debut, Morant continued his brilliant play until the NBA season was suspended.
Some say that Williamson’s quality of play was enough for him to win Rookie of the Year honors even though no player has won the award after missing half of the season. Others say Morant’s consistency throughout the year was more than enough to merit the award and his team’s success was the icing on the cake. For this article, we will make an argument on why Ja Morant should be the NBA’s 2020 Rookie of the Year. Read on:
Ja Morant was picked second overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. He was a lightly recruited player out of high school but made an immediate impact at Murray State where he earned All-Conference First Team honors in the Ohio Valley Conference as a freshman. In his second season with the Racers, Morant had a breakout year as he was named as the OVC Conference Player of the Year while leafing the nation in assists. He became the only season in the history of the NCAA to average at least 20 points and 10 assists during a single season.
After his first 19 games, Morant was putting up numbers that only the greatest of the greats were able to produce. He joined Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Shaquille O’Neal as the only NBA rookies to average 23.6 points per game while shooting 58.9% from the floor through 19 games. When the season was suspended, Morant’s numbers had dropped to 17.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 6.9 assists on 49.1% field goal shooting. Sure, the numbers had gone down, but the Grizzlies were starting to win.
When the season started, no one believed that Memphis was a playoff team. They had just ended the Grit and Grind era when they traded Mike Conley and they were coming off a season where they were just 33-49. Memphis was 32-33 and in 8th place in the tough Western Conference when the season was suspended. Don’t forget they were 12-21 after losing to the Denver Nuggets on December 29, 2019. The reason why the Grizzlies surged? Ja Morant.
Morant was named Rookie of the Month from November to January, becoming the first player in Grizzlies’ history to win back to back monthly rookie honors and the first to win three in a row.
Memphis went 11-4 in January while posting four 20-point games and four double-doubles during the month. Memphis averaged 28.6 assists per game in January and was on pace to set a franchise record with their league-leading 27.6 assists per game.
Zion Williamson was the #1 overall pick of the 2019 NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans after a phenomenal freshman season at Duke where he was ACC Rookie of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year, and Sporting News College Player of the Year. But Williamson tore his meniscus during a preseason game. He made his NBA debut on January 22, 2020, and scored 22 points during a memorable debut against the San Antonio Spurs.
Williamson played nine games in February 2020 and he averaged 25.7 points on .563 shooting from the field. He ranked 13th in the league in scoring during that period and had the highest field goal percentage in the Top 13. Zion also pulled down 6.2 rebounds per game, including 3.2 offensive rebounds during the month as he took home Rookie of the Month honors for February 2020, finally unseating Morant from the throne.
With Zion’s arrival, the Pelicans surged in the team standings. New Orleans opened the season with six losses in their first seven games. They went on a franchise-worst 13-game losing streak in December but won 19 out of their next 30 games to get back in the mix. Brandon Ingram’s development to an All-Star is one of the reasons but there is no denying that New Orleans has played with so much intensity since Zion joined them.
When the season was paused, the Pelicans had moved within 3.5 games of the Grizzlies for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. At the time of stoppage, Memphis had tapered off a bit with six losses in their last 10 outings. Meanwhile, the Pelicans won their last two games before the pause and were 5-5 in their last 10 assignments.
On a per-game basis, it’s hard to deny Williamson the award. He put up 13 straight games with at least 20 points which broke Carmelo Anthony’s record of nine for a teenager in the NBA. He was closing in on becoming the only player in NBA history other than Giannis Antetokounmpo to average at least 24 points per game while playing less than 31 minutes per game. Zion was putting up 23.6 points per game in 29.6 minutes of floor action.
When it comes to the 2020 Rookie of the Year award, Ja Morant was the odds on favorite to win the trophy. Before the betting lines were taken down, Morant was a -400 favorite at SportsBetting while Williamson came back as the +250 underdog. In a poll of 70 eligible voters conducted by ESPN earlier this month, Morant was the unanimous choice, taking all 70 first-place votes.
Zion Williamson has been as good as advertised for the Pelicans. But Ja Morant has been equally impressive for the Grizzlies. I think both teams won with their draft picks and I think both players will be superstars in no time. Not only do both have the ability to put up statistical numbers, but they also have the leadership ability to lead their teams to success.
If Williamson didn’t miss the first 44 games of the season and played as many games as Ja Morant did, this could be a very different race. I think Ja Morant deserves to win the 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year award over Zion Williamson because his body of work covered a larger period. The fact that the Grizzlies are in playoff position only makes Morant’s freshman year even impressive considering that Memphis doesn’t have an established star on their roster.
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