Ronald Andries Feature Story

Trend Story ,Sports

Donovan Mitchell Or Ben Simmons for ROY

By Ronald Andries(11)

Shooting Guard Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz and Power Forward Ben Simmons from the Philadelphia 76ers have wowed fans and players in the 2017-2018 NBA season and has put on a show going into the playoffs. Both have been mentioned in the Rookie of the Year topic and are trying to prove who deserves it more, but who really deserves the award? Ben Simmons is to be considered not a rookie by many people due to the fact it is is second year in the league.He was injured his whole rookie season and only played in the preseason, because of this incident Ben has been ruled a rookie by the NBA .”He shouldn’t be a rookie because he got a year of NBA training while he was injured unlike the 2017-2018 rookie class,” said fellow NBA fan Justin Alexander.

Rookie status? What for?

Why does he deserve to be a rookie though? Blake Griffen was drafted in 2009 by the L.A. Clippers. He was injured throughout the whole 2009-2010 NBA season. He returned the next season as still a rookie and won the Rookie of the Year award .This is exactly what is happening to Ben Simmons and could be considered unfair if he wasn’t allowed a chance at the reward like Blake Griffen was.According to Bleacher Report and ESPN, Ben Simmons is leading the race with better overall stats with 16.4 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game and 7.3 assists per game while his rival Donovan Mitchell, who is currently 2nd, has 19.6 points per game, 3.5 assists and rebounds per game.

Why is Donovan having competition?

The reason why Mitchell is in the race even with his stats significantly lower than Simmons is because he’s brought a 10th seed team into a 5th seed, and into the playoffs.”Ben Simmons is the first pick in the 2016 draft playing with the 3rd pick in the 2014 draft and the first pick of the 2017 draft compared to Donovan Mitchell who’s second best player is a 27th pick in the 2013 draft. Of course he’s gonna have better overall stats because he has better players around him,” said David Phillp, a local Utah Jazz fan. In addition Donovan Mitchell plays the guard position, while Ben Simmons plays the forward and guard position, which gives him an advantage over Mitchell. Ben Simmons’ height (6,10) and play style has given him comparisons to LeBron James, both forwards who can play the point-guard positions,” said Alexander. While Mitchell’s ability to make plays, speed, and to come in clutch for his team has given him many comparisons to Dwyane Wade. When asked about who should win the award around Cypress Creek High School, 15 out 25 people believed that Ben Simmons should be the 2018 Rookie of the Year.

As the playoffs are currently going on, both players have advanced to the second round with Mitchell and the Jazz beating OKC 4-2 and Simmons and the 76ers beating the Miami Heat 4-1.The Jazz have tied up their series in the 2nd round with the number-1 seed Houston Rockets 1-1 while the 76ers are down in their series against the the number-2 seed Boston Celtics 0-2.The Rookie of the Year award won’t be announced until the NBA awards that will be held in Los Angeles on June 25th.Until then both players will play their best to prove which one of them should be called the 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year.