When we look at who could win the Rookie of the Year award in the NBA, there are many ways that we should consider things.
Of course, a player has to be talented and put up enough numbers to win the award. They also might have to win a couple of games here and there and at least perform well against their counterparts, especially this season with how good the rookie class is expected to be.
With guys like Cameron Boozer out of Duke, AJ Dybantsa out of BYU, Darryn Peterson out of Kansas, and Caleb Wilson out of the University of North Carolina, there are a slew of options who could win the award, something we don't typically say.
That's without factoring in that we should expect another rookie to play very well and put himself in those conversations.
The one difference with Boozer compared to the other three players I listed above is the simple fact that he'll probably have many more opportunities to put up the type of numbers that those guys can't.
Dybantsa is on a Washington Wizards team that's expected to be better, and Peterson is playing for a Utah Jazz squad that has some scorers, so outside of Boozer and Wilson, those two guys probably don't have the easiest path to win the award because of their lack of touches, unless their teams do what's needed and give them the basketball.
“Eric Koreen: Boozer is smart and polished. I also think the Grizzlies forward has a clear path to putting up numbers. Dybantsa and Peterson could be in semi-competitive situations in which they are blocked a little by veterans. Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey and Norman Powell could limit Wilson’s scoring. The Grizzlies will be all about Boozer,” he wrote.
I don't think it's crazy to say that Wilson could even be blocked by a guy like Norman Powell, but I hope that isn't the case from the Bulls' perspective.
Regarding the Memphis Grizzlies, Boozer really doesn't have another player on his roster that he has to worry about sharing touches with. Of course, I don't want to say a rookie is going to lead his team in usage or touches, but it probably won't be far off.
