Ah, it's the night we've all been waiting for. It's NBA Awards Night! And the Rookie of the Year will finally be named, as it comes down to Milwaukee Bucks' guard Malcolm Brogdon and Sixers rookies Dario Saric and Joel Embiid.
Honestly, it feels like forever ago the debate between Saric and Embiid was going down, and it's absolutely ridiculous that the fans and media have to wait over a week after the Finals just to find out who the award-winners of the regular season are going to be.
But, I digress. Below, you will find many Sixers writers from Sports Talk Philly giving their opinions on who they think Rookie of the Year will be. The results are unsurprisingly different, but a disclaimer: Not one picked Brogdon.
So without further ado, here is a Sixerdelphia Roundtable discussion on who should be Rookie of the Year:
Brandon Apter: @bapter23
Pick: Dario Saric
You gotta go with Dario on this one. While Embiid put up phenomenal numbers through 31 games, Saric gradually improved to lead his team in the second half, averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting over 43 percent.
In the second half, Dario led all rookies in scoring, was 2nd in boards. He was 2nd in scoring all year among rookies, 3rd in rebounding and had 10 double doubles, eight more than Brogdon.
John Wetzel: @John___Wetzel
Pick: Joel Embiid
I love Dario, but I think it's very rare you see a rookie perform at the level Embiid did last season. If you're voting for the best rookie, it's Embiid. But the fact that "year" is in the title of the award will sway a lot of voters….like Brandon.
Dante Nelson: @DanteWrites
Pick: Dario Saric
I think Embiid should win ROY but it seems like it's going to be Saric. Embiid far and beyond was the best rookie but those games (or lack thereof) will play a role, whether fair or not. A player winning ROY not from Philly would be horrific.
Jesse Larch: @JesseLarch
Pick: Dario Saric
Dario will win it because so many writers and prominent sports media figures are hung up on Embiid's number of games and Saric bested Brogdon in everything but assists. You can entertain the Embiid argument about games played but there's no justifiable argument to say Brogdon played better than Saric. Brett Brown was right. The Rookie of the Year comes through Philly.
Tom Long: @tomlong36
Pick: Dario Saric
As much as Philadelphia desperately wants Embiid to win the ROY Award, I just cannot agree. Saric proved to be a more complete package throughout the entire season when compared to Embiid – who played just 31 games. It would be an insult to Saric, Malcom Brogdon and any other rookie that played a more complete season.
Tim Kelly: @TimKellySports
Pick: Joel Embiid
Joel Embiid only playing 31 games was less than ideal, but he played at an All-Star clip during the time he did. Dario and Brogdon had nice seasons, but the idea that either of them were as close to as effective as Embiid is silly. Embiid should win.
Josh Liddick: @JoshLiddickTalk
Pick: Dario Saric
As much as I'd like to say that Joel Embiid will win ROY this season, I just can't forsee it happening unless the voters go completely narrow sighted and look at how Embiid literally dominated the league in the first couple months. Saric picked up the slack after Embiid went down with the season-ending injury, Nerlens Noel was traded to Dallas, and Ersan Ilyasova was shipped to Atlanta, thus making Dario starter. From that point forward, Saric took the league by storm with a streak of 10+ points per game in 22 straight games.
At the end of the day, the league could very well go ahead and pick Brogdon solely on how he contributed on a playoff game, but unfortunately for Malcolm, it's a regular season award, and I feel that out of the three, Dario Saric had the best season as whole, playing in all but ONE game this season. Pretty impressive.
And finally, why don't we once again be reminded of who Joel Embiid's pick is for ROY:
Joel Embiid casts his vote for Rookie of the Year pic.twitter.com/KrocYxW72q
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) March 13, 2017
