The race for the NBA Rookie of the Year award seems to be down to two guys — the Philadelphia 76ers' Ben Simmons and the Utah Jazz's Donovan Mitchell.
When Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was asked about the race before the Mavs' game against the Jazz on Thursday night, he made his thoughts very clear on who should win the award.
Rick Carlisle: “Mitchell has gotta be up there for Rookie if the Year, doesn’t he?”
Reporter: “Him and Simmons.”
Carlisle: “Yeah, but Simmons isn’t really a rookie.”— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) March 22, 2018
Simmons was drafted in 2016 but broke his foot during the final training camp scrimmage. The injury shelved him for the entire 2016-17 season and since he didn't play any games, he is still considered a rookie this year.
Some have made an argument against Simmons not being deserving of the award since he's already had a year of being around NBA players, coaches, and whatnot. However, rules are rules.
For Simmons this year he has played 69 games this year. He is averaging 16.1 points, 7.9 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game. Coming into the league, the knock on him was his jump shot his elite passing ability has been more than enough to cover up his weakness.
This year, Simmons hasn't improved his jump shot, but he gets all of his teammates involved with his flashy passes.
For Mitchell, he wasn't even discussed as a possible Rookie of the Year candidate before the season started, but he has been a revelation for the Jazz this year. Mitchell is more a pure scorer averaging 20 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.
Both of these guys are deserving of the recognition and it will be interesting to see if more voters agree with Carlisle's train of thought.
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