Luka Doncic for ROTY Reasons:
Best player on the team with the best record
The Mavericks have 31 wins on the season. The other rookies contending for the award play for teams below Dallas in the standings. Trae Young’s Hawks have 29 wins. The Cavaliers featuring Collin Sexton have 19. Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges are on the Suns with 19. Kevin Knox and the Knicks have just 15 wins.
Luka magic
He became a force in the NBA from opening night. NBA All-Stars were praising him and coaches admitted their game plan centered on stopping Doncic.
Leads rookies in scoring
Luka Doncic leads both the Dallas Mavericks and all rookies in scoring. When looking at this season. it is a runaway win for Doncic. He is averaging 21.2 points per game. Trae Young is second at 19.1 points a night. Collin Sexton (16.7), Deandre Ayton (16.3), and Marvin Bagley III (14.7) finish out the top five in terms of rookie scoring.
Historic rookie year
only eight rookies under 20 years old have ever averaged over 20 points per game. Doncic’s 32.2 minutes are lowest in that group by a full two minutes. None of those eight players could match Luka’s combination of playmaking, 3-point shooting, and rebounding ability.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic just produced the greatest rookie season for a player under 20 in NBA history.
Better stats than Young in every category except assists
Starting with traditional stats, Luka has the per game advantage in points, rebounds, steals, blocks, field goal percentage, 3-pointers made, turnovers, and effective goal percentage. Young leads in assists and free throw percentage.
Clutch Shots
Has hit more clutch shots and game winners at the buzzer that other players probably wouldn’t be able to make especially like the game tying shot against Portland.
Reasons why Trae Young should win ROTY
Second Half Stats
Young was one of the NBA’s best the second half of the 2018-2019 NBA season, dropping 24.8 points while dishing out 9.2 assists per game. Those numbers led the Hawks to go into the final game of the season second in the NBA after the All-Star break in points per game (119.3 points), three-pointers made (349) and three-pointers made per game (15.2).
Distribution
Young was able to balance his responsibilities of scoring and distributing the ball beautifully to get the most out of not only himself but his team as well. His 8.1 assists and 19.1 points per game are clear indicators that he is a great point guard and can handle to pressures of the position. He scores when he is needed to, and makes the right decision with extra passes when he is needed to.
Young not only has 29 double-doubles this season, but has seven 30-point, 10 assist games. Doncic has not recorded any of the later.
Games Played
Trae Young Played in almost every game this season while Luka played in 72
Proved why he was the best shooter in the 2018 draft class
Throughout the season, however, Young was able to prove over and over again why he is the best shooter in the 2018 class. While streaky, we saw flashes of his great range and ability to stay calm in tense situations.
Brian Sweet 
Leave a comment