Embiid: Saric is rookie of the year
But debate rages on
Philadelphia’s Dario Saric was giving an on-court interview after the best scoring game of his young NBA career, only to be interrupted by a teammate.
Joel Embiid had something to say.
“He’s the rookie of the year,” Embiid emphatically said on CSN Philly after the 76ers beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. “That’s the guy.”
If only the debate could be solved that easily. Rookie of the year is already one of the most-debated of this season’s NBA awards, in large part because Embiid’s numbers are
unquestionably the best in the class.
That is, except in one category.
The oft-injured Philadelphia big man will become the first rookie in six seasons to average more than 20 points, the fourth in the last two decades to do so while grabbing seven rebounds and the only one ever with those numbers while logging just 25 minutes per game. Yet his rookie of the year chances are, at best, murky because Embiid played in just 31 games before being shut down.
So is playing only one-third of the year enough to win rookie of the year?
“I think it is,” Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said.
Not everyone, of course, would necessarily concur.
“I don’t know what the standard is,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “But I think the last man standing should get it, more than anything else.”