Soko also selects his winners of the Sixth Man and Most Improved Player awards
Thursday 23 April 2020 11:30, UK
Ovie Soko says Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has made a real impact and done enough to win the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year award.
You know I'm picking my boy Ja Morant to win Rookie of the Year! Kendrick Nunn of the Miami Heat deserves a shout-out too. Like Morant, he has won three Rookie of the Month awards this season but two things make Morant the better choice.
The first is production: Morant's numbers are higher than those of Nunn. Second is the difference in roles the two guys play on their respective teams. That Memphis Grizzlies team is Ja Morant's team - there's no doubt about it.
I would have loved to see the rest of the season play out to see how Zion Williamson would come into play for the Rookie award. That would have been a nice little incentive to drive both guys at the end of the season. With Zion's production and the Pelicans' remaining schedule, you have to think he would have forced his way into the discussion.
Either way, I would give the award to Morant. He has played the whole season and made an impact. He has done enough to win it. What Morant has done is an ideal outcome for any general manager. When you're drafting a high pick, you're looking for a player who will come in and change the team. Fighting for the playoffs in the first year, wow, that's something the Grizzlies will have loved to see. A leader has been born in Memphis.
I want to see Morant take another step forward next season. I want to see him shoot the ball better. That doesn't mean he has to become a dead-eye three-point shooter. Because of his ability to handle the ball and his quickness and decision-making, he just needs to be able to get to his sweet spots on the court and shoot pull-ups.
Dwyane Wade made a career out of shooting mid-range twos. So did Rip Hamilton. Morant needs to be able to make shots just to keep defenses honest.
I want to see Morant take another step because a lot of people will argue Zion would have been Rookie of the Year if he had played the whole season and potentially write Morant off.
I think the competition between the two will help Morant's growth. It will spur him on. I'm keen to see how it impacts Zion too. Historically, players of Zion's hype and ability have come in, done work and grabbed the Rookie of the Year award.
I can't wait to see how that plays out next year. It will be great for the game.
The Most Improved Player award can only be between Miami's Bam Adebayo and New Orleans' Brandon Ingram. Both players have had special seasons and it has been good to see Ingram up his production after leaving the Lakers for the Pelicans but, for me, Bam has made a bigger impact.
Adebayo has upped his production too, but he has also expanded his game. We've seen him make a real leap forward this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo reached a point a couple of years into his NBA career where things started to click for him and he started to realise how much ability he had. I'm definitely not saying Bam is going be like Giannis. What I'm saying is he is at that same career point where he understands he has a lot of ability and has been able to take some big strides forward. His hard work is really paying off now.
What has impressed me most about Bam this year? He has started to show much more versatility. He's now able to put the ball on the floor and do it comfortably. He is showing more moves, more footwork, it's not just pick-and-rolls and dunks.
If you look at his game, I can see him eventually growing into a player like Serge Ibaka. Ibaka came into the league as a shot-blocker and an energy guy who played hard every possession. We have seen his game develop over the years and now he knocks down three-pointers and helps close down the paint while still making those energy plays.
Ceiling-wise, I think in Bam you're looking at someone who will prove to be better than Ibaka.
If you go purely on numbers, you could give this award to Clippers sixth man Lou Williams again. But he has been up and down this year. I'm going to go for someone I think has made a surprise impact from the sixth man spot: Dennis Schroder of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
I love his attitude to the game this year. His maturity and ability to play as well as he has off the bench has given the younger players around him the confidence to be able to produce enough for the team to win.
Schroder's sixth man role has been the Thunder's second most important piece behind the leadership Chris Paul brings as the starting point guard. His willingness in playing that sixth man role helps build the right culture. Along with Paul and the play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Schroder is one of the main reasons the Thunder are comfortably a playoff team in the competitive West.
When Schroder was playing for the Atlanta Hawks, you would never have thought he would be willing to embrace the role he has in Oklahoma City. It's almost like he has been taken under Paul's wing.
Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander and Schroder have something in common. They all ended up in OKC as part of big trades. Schroder ended up there when the Thunder shipped out Carmelo Anthony. Paul and SGA as part of last summer's Russell Westbrook and Paul George trades.
Whether that made them feel a bit hard done by or not, I think it gave them the motivation to come together and make it work. The three of them on court together at the end of games has been absolutely terrific.
I would really love to see Schroder get that sixth man award. He has done it the right way and I think he deserves it.
