NBA Rookie Of The Year Watch: Mar. 19
Another week of basketball has gone by and not much has changed in terms of the race for the league's Rookie of the Year award.
The top candidates seem to remain the same so here’s a deep dive in on how they performed this week as the season is nearing its end.
Evan Mobley, C, CLE
This was a huge week for Mobley as he continues to look like the top candidate for the award. During three games this week, Mobley managed to shine with two amazing performances.
Both of those games ended in overtime victories for the Cleveland Cavaliers as Mobley dropped 30 points on the Clippers and followed that up with 27 points and 11 rebounds against the Nuggets just four days later.
This allowed Mobley’s season totals to rise to 15.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game on a Cavaliers team that continues to contend for a playoff spot.
Cade Cunningham, G, DET
Following a hot start to March, Cunningham did not touch the floor during the Pistons' two games this week.
Cunningham missed games against both the Heat and Magic due to a non-COVID illness and the Pistons went 1-1 during that span.
The one win for the Pistons ended a four-game losing streak. During March, Cunningham has scored 20 points or more in all seven games he has suited up for.
Scottie Barnes, F, TOR
Like Mobley, Barnes is coming off a strong week of his own during the three games he played this week.
Barnes scored over the 20 point mark in two of those games which both happened to come against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In the second of those two games, Barnes managed to go off for 31 points and 17 rebounds in an overtime loss for his Raptors.
The Raptors were able to come away with the victory in the other two games.
Franz Wagner, F, ORL
While the week started slow for him, Wagner managed to pick things up towards the end of the week. The best game for Wagner came against the Pistons where he scored 26 points in a double-digit loss.
Wagner and the Magic lost all three of their games this week and were on the opposite end of two 50-point nights coming from Kyrie Irving and Saddiq Bey.
Wagner averages 15.4 points per game this season.
Logan Bourandas is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.
