Even though Detroit Pistons head coach Dwane Casey recently called Cade Cunningham the NBA Rookie of the Year, it was Evan Mobley that mostly earned that honor from a panel of NBA.com writers.
With one month left in the NBA season, the conversation surrounding the awards races is heating up. From Most Valuable Player to Defensive Player of the Year, there are seemingly plenty of candidates to choose from and that is certainly the case for the top rookie player.
The five-person panel weighed in on four of the major awards races — MVP, ROY, DPOY, Coach of the Year — and was nearly unanimous in selecting Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers as Rookie of the Year at this point of the season.
| Writer | Player |
| Steve Aschburner | Evan Mobley |
| Mark Medina | Evan Mobley |
| Shaun Powell | Cade Cunningham |
| John Schuhmann | Evan Mobley |
| Michael C. Wright | Evan Mobley |
Mobley and Cunningham are among several first-year players that have impressed this season in a rookie class that, as a whole, appears to be one of the best in recent memory. However, there are a couple of other candidates for the award.
In addition to Mobley and Cunningham, there can also be a case made for Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes and Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner. Jalen Green has also emerged and is playing at a high level as of late for the Houston Rockets.
The Rookie of the Year voting this year will be perhaps the most competitive it has been since Malcolm Brogdon won in 2017 after receiving 64 first-place votes. The final results this year will likely be even closer with the eventual winner garnering fewer votes than Brogdon.
Certainly, the Rookie of the Year voting will be a fun race to watch as will the All-Rookie first team and All-Rookie second team voting. The conversation will only intensify as the season draws to a close and it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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