As expected, Andrew Wiggins won the Rookie of the Year award, followed by Chicago’s Nikola Mirotic. It wasn’t really a close vote, with Wiggins getting 110 first place votes to Mirotic’s 14, and winning the overall race 604 points to 335. From the NBA’s press release:
Wiggins, 20, received 110 of 130 first-place votes and 604 total points from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The Chicago Bulls’ Nikola Mirotic finished second with 335 points (14 first-place votes), and Nerlens Noel of the Philadelphia 76ers was third with 141 points (three first-place votes). Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.
Wiggins averaged 16.9 points, the second-best mark by a rookie in Minnesota history, behind Christian Laettner’s 18.2 points in 1992-93. He appeared in all 82 games and ranked fourth in the NBA with a rookie-leading 36.2 minutes, the highest average ever by a Timberwolves rookie. The 6-8 Wiggins led or tied for the Minnesota lead in scoring a team-high 25 times and reached the 20-point mark in 31 games. He finished ninth in the NBA in free throws made (354) and sixth in free throws attempted (466), good for 76.0 percent. Wiggins also averaged 4.6 rebounds and 1.05 steals, both top-10 marks among rookies.
Marcus Smart made the list… finishing 5th with 1 second place vote and 3 third place votes.
Cedric Maxwell gave Smart the second place vote. Mike Gorman was one of the third place votes. The other third place votes came from Bob Fitzgerald of CSN Bay Area and Steve Albert of Fox Sports Arizona.
Congrats to Wiggins on the win, and Smart on the recognition.
You can see full voting results here.
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