Could Chet Holmgren edge Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year? | No Cap Room
Yahoo Sports NBA writers Jake Fischer and Dan Devine look at midseason awards and which rookie is leading the race for the Wilt Chamberlain trophy.
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Video Transcript
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JAKE FISCHER: Our mutual Rookie of the Year choice, Chet Holmgren, who I'm going to say I'm very concerned, I guess is the word, that the league is going to force feed a Victor, Chet co-Rookie of the Year outcome just because they've done it in the past with Jason Kidd and Grant Hill, to my recollection. I think Chet deserves the recognition for doing what he's doing on a winning team.
That's not to say what Victor is doing is less impressive because the pieces around him are not Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and what have you. But I just think it is remarkable that Chet has just been dropped into a burgeoning contender in the West and has been not only just their second-best player, but a legitimate all-star candidate in this year, who's putting up numbers in line with Hall of Fame enshrinement if he can keep it up for the next decade-plus. So that's my Chet Holmgren rant.
DAN DEVINE: Yeah, it's a good one. I firmly agree with it. But I was listening to somebody where the discussion was, well, yeah, but what if you put Victor in Oklahoma City? And it's like, yeah, OK. But we-- that's not what is reality. Wembanyama has been ludicrous, and I think this absolutely could just wind up being him winning going away, even with how great Chet has been. By season's end--
JAKE FISCHER: For sure.
DAN DEVINE: The trend line is leaping off the page for Victor since they started-- they moved him to center on December 7-- December 8, rather. And since that time, it's 21 points, 11 rebounds, just under 4 blocks, and 3 and 1/2 assists per game. If this sort of continues the trend that it's been going the last 15, 20 games, whatever it has, with him at center and the way that they play, the numbers might just be like beyond reproach to a degree that he winds up winning, even though the Thunder are the superior team and Chet has been playing a gigantic role on a really good team all year.
But I think that's like-- I don't think you can understate the value of that. Yes, doing what Victor Wembanyama is doing without the surrounding talent is really hard, but so is needing to play 30 minutes a night on a team that thinks it can win a championship and actually elevating that team to that level. Not making mistakes, not being somebody that has to get yanked off the floor because you can't hold up on defense, or you're going to get bodied too often, you're not going to make the shots that are created for you, you're not going to generate shots for others.
Chet Holmgren has been doing all of that and then some. The fact that there's such a good argument for both guys is a pretty impressive thing, given how much was expected of both of them coming in. That they've been able to not only meet but exceed those expectations is kind of crazy.