Top 5 NBA Rookie of the Year Candidates for 2017
The upcoming rookie class has been headlined by Philadelphia 76ers’ rookie Ben Simmons, but who else could insert their name into the NBA Rookie of the Year conversation?
Rookie of the Year may be the most reasonable award to predict prior to the season’s actual beginning. With team scenarios beginning to unravel and a somewhat solid understanding of their immediate niche of the team, it’s always an entertaining endeavor to debate which rookies could have the most impressive showing during the upcoming campaign.
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Despite the 2016 NBA Draft class being largely considered a down year by most standards, there are still a number of highly intriguing prospects. Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram, and Jamal Murray are all talents that could far surpass some of our predetermined expectations, while other rookies scattered throughout the class have still shown ample upside from a developmental perspective.
The lottery was filled with surprises, from the Phoenix Suns nabbing the two best big men in the draft with Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender, to the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings shaking up the draft board as a whole with the selections of Thon Maker and Georgios Papagiannis respectively.
There will certainly be some surprises looming, and attempting to predict the future outcomes of unforeseen events is one of the most entertaining aspects of following sports in general. The following is a breakdown of the top five candidates for Rookie of the Year in 2017.
Next: Honorable Mentions