Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was voted the unanimous 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year in a straw poll of 70 eligible voters conducted by ESPN over the past few days.
Morant was the only rookie to appear on all 70 ballots from local beat writers around the NBA to national and international reporters. The poll used the same voting format as the NBA where a first-place vote earns five points, a second-place vote is worth three points and a third-place vote is one point.
The Grizzlies rookie appears to have a strong chance to become just the fourth player over the last 30 years to be unanimously voted the Rookie of the Year, joining Karl-Anthony Towns, Damian Lillard and Blake Griffin.
The Rookie of the Year Poll Results:
- Ja Morant
- Zion Williamson
- Kendrick Nunn
- Brandon Clarke
- Eric Paschall
Of course, the conversation among the voters this year will likely be if Williamson will have a large enough body of work to compete with Morant in the race.
Williamson had appeared in just 19 games prior to the NBA shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Had the season completed as scheduled, Williamson would have only appeared in 37 games if he appeared in each of the Pelicans’ remaining 18 games.
Since the regular season will likely not finish as scheduled, Williamson will fall well short of Morant in games played and will not have a chance to win the award, despite his electric play thus far this season.
In any case, Morant is unofficially the Rookie of the Year at this point.
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