The NBA announced the Rookie of the Year winner along with the top-six finishers in voting on Saturday and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey was notably left off the list.
Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes ended up winning the award by 15 voting points. The top six went as followed:
- Barnes at 378 points
- Evan Mobley at 363 points
- Cade Cunningham at 153 points
- Jalen Green at three points
- Franz Wagner at two points
- Herb Jones at one point
The fact that Giddey didn’t make the list is pretty ridiculous. Even with him missing the final third of the season due to a hip injury, Giddey’s two-thirds of play were dominant enough that he warranted a top-six finish. Giddey won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month every month that he played in and four of the five times overall this season.
If it’s an availability issue as Giddey missed 28 games, it’s unfair to measure him against someone like Jones in terms of games played due to uneven minutes distributions. Despite playing 24 more games, Jones played just 68 total more minutes than Giddey this season
Giddey averaged 12.5 points, 7.8 rebound and 6.4 assists in 54 games this season. Giddey secured four triple doubles, which is tied for the seventh most amount for a rookie in league history.
The 15-point difference between the NBA Rookie of the Year winner (Scottie Barnes) and the second-place finisher (Evan Mobley) is the smallest margin since the current voting format began 19 years ago.
More ➡️ https://t.co/dC7zbvLY5q
Full voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LWhlYARDcX
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 23, 2022
