Making a case for Alex Abrines as Rookie of the Year.
Joel Embiid is officially out for the rest of the season. He was a mortal lock to win Rookie Of the Year a week ago, but with only 31 games under his belt, it seems wrong to give ROY to a guy who played less than half the season. That leaves the Rookie of the Year crown up for grabs. And there’s only one man worth crowning. DA GAWD. Alex Abrines.
Before we unofficially crown Abrines, let’s look at the rest of the contenders.
It’s been a pretty poor season for rookies. Number one overall pick Ben Simmons won’t suit up for a single game. Number two overall pick Brandon Ingram has been pretty disappointing in Los Angeles, averaging just 8.3 points in 28 minutes per game. Number three overall pick Jaylen Brown averages less points than Domantas Sabonis. Number four overall pick Dragan Bender averages the same amount of points as Semaj Christon. And number five overall pick Kris Dunn shoots 58% from the free throw line, thus disqualifying him from the conversation.
Man, the 2016 draft wasn’t good.
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People keep telling me Dario Saric is the front runner, but they had to trade Ersan Ilyasova and Nerlens Noel, and Embiid had to get hurt just for him to be mentioned. I don’t trust people. And the Sixers still aren’t good. Malcolm Brogdon is playing pretty well, but Milwaukee isn’t a playoff team. And I’m sure there are some other good rookies, but we’re not looking for good. We’re looking for great.
So let’s look at Abrines. He’s the only rookie that is undefeated as a starter. That right there should be enough to crown him. When Abrines starts, the Oklahoma City Thunder win. 100% of the time, it works every time.
Abrines is shooting 38% from three, which is better than the next Steph Curry. His three point shooting is made more important than the three point shooting of any other player in the league based on the fact that, besides Abrines and the newly acquired Doug McDermott, OKC’s best shooter is probably Steven Adams. Seriously, this team has no shooters. Abrines is a God send. That’s why he’s DA GAWD.
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Here’s the most important thing when it comes to Abrines’ Rookie of the Year campaign: he’s making Russell Westbrook better.
You read that right. Abrines makes Westbrook better, not the other way around. With Abrines on the floor, teams can’t triple team Russ up top. You think teams care if they leave Kyle Singler open? Of course they don’t. Teams know they can score 2 points the entire game, let Kyle Singler take 100 wide open threes, and they’d still win 2-0. Let Abrines take 100 wide open threes, and they’d lose 300-2.
Westbrook has more room to operate with Alex Abrines on the floor. He gets to the paint easier, and he gets easier assists. Westbrook would have like five triple-doubles if he wasn’t passing to Abrines on a nightly basis.
Not convinced yet? Well, you’re dumb. But keep reading.
Ever seen a 6’6” guy from Spain end the life of a 6’9” Canadian on a basketball court? Of course you haven’t. Until now:
Tristan Thompson had to give up his entire $15 million dollar salary and Khloe Kardashian in order to be able to play basketball again after that dunk.
Watch LeBron James in the video. He’s supposed to come over and help Thompson – you really think his assignment is to stick with Andre Roberson in the corner? – but he sees that it’s Abrines coming down the lane and is like, “better not roam too far from the guy who shoots 23% from this corner.”
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Need more convincing? Fine.
*He made Russell Westbrook smile during a game:
*He has his own signature pose/celebration:
https://twitter.com/alexabrines/status/823754186768711681
*He has his own origin story.
*He finished the alley-oop that a certain someone used to routinely screw up last year:
*He replaced Joel Embiid in the Rising Stars game, thus he should replace Joel Embiid as Rookie of the Year.