Feature Presentation: 2015-16 BDL Non-Lottery Rookie of the Year
We at Ball Don’t Lie enjoy healthy debate about basketball and its strange cast of characters, from Oscar Robertson’s “get off my lawn” diatribe on Stephen Curry to D’Angelo Russell’s sting operation on a self-dubbed dude named Swaggy P and his Australian hip hop artist fiancé. (Yup, those things happened.) It’s NBA with a twist here at the BDL, so we wanted to stir the pot and shake up the league’s annual awards.
BDL NON-LOTTERY ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Since it began in 1985, the lottery has produced all but one Rookie of the Year — Mark Jackson, because No. 1 overall pick David Robinson didn’t enter the NBA for another two years, when he then won Rookie of the Year. And that lottery produced two more future Hall of Famers (Scottie Pippe and Reggie Miller).
Half the Rookies of the Year since 1985 are No. 1 overall picks, and this year is sure to produce another, possibly unanimously, in Karl-Anthony Towns. So, breaking news, I guess: Good players go in the lottery.
The real challenge comes in finding gems late in the draft, and even they don’t usually blossom until after a few years spent on the end of an NBA bench. The rarest of birds is the immediate impact non-lottery pick, so we wanted to recognize the guy who soared above the other underappreciated first-year entries.
AND THE WINNER IS: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets.
The man they call Big Honey is not the kid from his passport photo anymore.
I don’t know how else to say it, other than Nikola Jokic is no joke.
Passed over by every other team and drafted 41st overall two Junes ago, Jokic finished out the 2014-15 season in Europe, where he captured Adriatic League MVP honors, and then joined the Nuggets this year.
Bucking a trend that’s seen 70 percent of the 30 foreign-born players drafted in the past three years not even wear an NBA uniform, let alone play significant minutes, Jokic took advantage of early-season injuries to incumbent centers Jusuf Nurkic and Joffrey Lauvergne, won the starting job by New Year’s and never looked back. He’s averaged 16.5 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks per 36 minutes, and it’s a wonder he’s only played 21.5 minutes a night, given his on/off rating of plus-9.3.
And the 6-foot-10 Serbian isn’t just a good stats/bad team guy either; he’s a legit talent. He’s knocked down a third of his 82 3-point attempts, demonstrating serious stretch five potential, and ranks among the league leaders in field goal percentage (50.8), offensive and defensive rebounding percentage (11.3 and 24.7, respectively) and win shares per 48 minutes (.182). In other words: Nice find, Tim Connelly.
If the 2014 draft were recast, Jokic might be a top-five pick in what turned out not to be such a deep draft, after all. And while the depth of the 2015 draft is far more encouraging, Jokic probably deserves the NBA’s Second Team All-Rookie center spot behind Towns and ahead of third overall pick Jahlil Okafor.
AND THE NOMINEES WERE …
| 2015-16 BDL NON-LOTTERY ROOKIE OF THE YEAR RESULTS | |||||
| PLAYER | TEAM | 1ST (5 PTS) | 2ND (3 PTS) | 3RD (1 PT) | Total |
| Nikola Jokic | Denver | 3 | — | — | 15 |
| Josh Richardson | Miami | 1 | 1 | — | 8 |
| Larry Nance Jr. | L.A. Lakers | — | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Bobby Portis | Chicago | — | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| T.J. McConnell | Philadelphia | — | 1 | — | 3 |
| Norman Powell | Toronto | — | — | 1 | 1 |
AND NOW A WORD FROM THE ACADEMY …
We understand some of the fun comes with picking apart the voting panel and publicly shaming their misfires, so we’ll do our best to explain ourselves before you folks let us have it in the comment section.
Josh Richardson, Miami Heat
KELLY DWYER: A little bit of competence, coming out of nowhere.
ERIC FREEMAN: Second-round picks are almost never asked to contribute to playoff teams, but Richardson emerged as an exciting, athletic wing who will be a key player for Miami in any series against a younger, spry squad. He has earned the trust of Spoelstra and the vets sooner than anyone expected.
Larry Nance Jr., Los Angeles Lakers
DAN DEVINE: Athletic finishers who rebound, help create turnovers on defense, consistently play with energy and intensity, and don’t take a ton off the table are awfully nice to have. Nance won’t be a superstar, but if he can get past the knee problems that plagued him at times this season and continue to develop his jumper to the point where he’s a passable pick-and-pop threat, he could become a very solid contributor, which is basically found money with the 27th pick in the draft.
KELLY DWYER: Gets the nod over fellow lineage-type Jerian Grant because of, well, dunks.
BEN ROHRBACH: He survived Mamba’s wrath. Twice. That’s gotta count for something.
Bobby Portis
KELLY DWYER: Can’t guard a placemat, constantly chasing his own tail, still so fun to watch.
BEN ROHRBACH: Dude’s so intense, even his high-fives are frightening.
T.J. McConnell
DAN DEVINE: He went from undrafted to top-15 (or thereabouts) in the rookie class in points, minutes, rebounds and field-goal percentage, trails only Emmanuel Mudiay in assists per game, and leads all rookies in assists per 48 minutes, assist-to-turnover ratio and steals. The Sixers are terrible regardless, but they’ve been more than four points per 100 possessions better with McConnell on the court than when he’s out of the lineup; this speaks to just how dire Philly’s guard situation is, but it also speaks to how, even on a garbage team, trying really hard can help make things a little better.
Norman Powell
ERIC FREEMAN: The loss of DeMarre Carroll could have derailed Toronto’s season, but Powell slid into the starting lineup as a capable role player without much fanfare or worry. His stats don’t jump out as especially notable, but sometimes a presence is more valuable than the numbers suggest.
CUE THE AUDIENCE REACTION …
2015-16 BDL AWARDS
IN THEATERS NOW: Bench of the Year • Coach(ing Change) of the Year • Defensive Unit of the Year • (Non-Lottery) Rookie of the Year
COMING SOON: Executive (Decision) of the Year • (2nd) Most Valuable Player • Most (Random) Improved Player • Comeback Player of the Year • All-Potential Team • All-Defensive* Team • All-BDL Team
WE REALLY, REALLY LIKE YOU
First and foremost, we’d like to thank Yahoo Sports Photos and Multimedia Manager Amber Matsumoto for her tireless work on graphics. None of this would’ve been possible without her. And special thanks to Basketball Reference and NBA.com/stats for statistics, Nenad Miljenovic and Reddit for the passport photo, the NBA for that ludicrous Vine, Graphiq for the stat box and ProProfs Poll Maker for the poll.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
