Brogdon breaking rookie mold
24-year-old vying for first-year honors
He does not fit the profile of an NBA rookie of the year candidate.
He was a second-round pick, a five-year player at the University of Virginia. He’s 24 years old, considered ancient for a rookie in this one-and-done era.
But the numbers tell a different story.
Milwaukee Bucks point guard Malcolm Brogdon indeed is a very serious candidate for the league’s rookie of the year honor.
He leads all rookies in win shares (2.9), a statistic that calculates the number of wins a player produces for his team. He is shooting 42.8% from three-point range, leading all rookies and ranking seventh in the league. And he averages 10.0 points and 4.1 assists, modest numbers but good enough to rank third in scoring and first in
assists among rookies.
Philadelphia center Joel Embiid was considered the likely runaway winner for the award. But the 76ers recently shut him down for the rest of the season with a torn meniscus in his left knee and he played just 31 games this season.
The fewest games played by a rookie of the year winner was 50 by the New York Knicks’ Patrick Ewing during the 1985-’86 season. Vince Carter also played only 50 games but that was during the lockout-shortened 1998-’99 season.
A minimum requirement of playing half the season (41 games) seems reasonable and is a standard Embiid could not meet, but a great debate has started among the national media about Embiid’s worthiness.
He also played restricted minutes while he was active as the 76ers sought to protect him after he missed the previous two seasons with a right foot injury. Embiid is considered a rookie even though he was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft, taken one spot after the Bucks chose Jabari Parker.
“I think Embiid is a very special, talented player,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “If he was playing he probably would have run away with it, because he is a dominant player.
“This isn’t up to me; the writers get to vote. It will be interesting. I think there’s a lot of great basketball talk around the water cooler or in the barber shop about rookie of the year, the MVP race.
“It just shows the state of the game is in a good place.”
A panel of writers and broadcasters that regularly cover the league will choose the rookie of the year and other award winners at the end of the regular season.
The Bucks have had only one rookie of the year in their history, and it came in their second season of existence when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won it in 1969-’70 after being selected No. 1 overall in the NBA draft.
Brogdon moved into the starting lineup last week and has excelled as both a starter and a reserve. He scored 17 points and played a season-high 42 minutes while helping limit Toronto all-star DeMar DeRozan to 11 points in the Bucks’ 101-94 victory over the Raptors on Saturday night.
On Monday the Bucks played in Philadelphia in a game that featured two of the leading rookie of the year candidates: Brogdon and 76ers forward Dario Saric. Both played well, with Brogdon finishing with 13 points and five rebounds and Saric contributing 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
The 22-year-old Croatian isn’t a typical rookie of the year choice, either. He was taken 12th overall in the 2014 draft by Orlando but immediately traded to the 76ers. He stayed in Europe for two seasons before joining Philadelphia this season.
He is averaging 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 31.1% from three-point distance in 63 games, including 18 starts.
Brogdon’s candidacy could get a boost if he can help lead the Bucks into the playoffs, but he said he is not focusing on individual awards.
“I don’t actually care,” Brogdon said. “I don’t worry about it. All I care about is making the playoffs.
“If I keep my focus right and not let that distract me, things might work out in my favor.”
Brogdon, the 36th overall pick in the 2016 draft, is not flashy but has made a major impact for the Bucks. Earlier in the season, he asked Kidd if he could guard Kawhi Leonard when the Bucks played San Antonio.
He took a defensive turn against LeBron
James and even dunked over Cleveland’s 13-time all-star in an early season game in Milwaukee.
Brogdon, nicknamed “The President” and “Humble Moses” for his cerebral and even-keel approach to the game, posted a triple-double in a Bucks victory over the Chicago Bulls on New Year’s Eve.
“He is always under control,” Kidd said. “We saw that in Virginia. He competes on both sides of the ball. He’s not scared.
“As you get to know him, you understand his toughness. He’s a winner.”
Brogdon stayed for a fifth year at Virginia after an injury forced him to take a redshirt season. The decision paid off as he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year and the league’s defensive player of the year in 2016.
“Staying in school doesn’t always hurt you,” Kidd said. “It gives you an opportunity to grow.
“He still has to learn about the game, but you can stay four years and still have an impact. It doesn’t mean your (NBA) career is going to be short.
“When you’re 19 or 20 it just takes a little bit longer for you to learn the NBA game.”
Brogdon’s success will not stop the trend of NBA teams taking college freshmen at the top of the draft — the Bucks selected then-19-year-old Thon Maker with the 10th overall pick last June.
But it could mean fouryear players will get a closer look from NBA scouts.
The NBA 2016 rookie class has been judged as underwhelming.
Top overall pick Ben Simmons of the 76ers has not played at all after fracturing a bone in his right foot. No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram of the Los Angeles Lakers is shooting 30% from three-point range and 37% overall. Buddy Hield, picked sixth by New Orleans, struggled a bit with the Pelicans and was traded at the deadline to Sacramento.
It has opened up an opportunity for Brogdon and he is taking full advantage.