1 – Emmanuel Mudiay
Odds: 4/1
Drafted: 7th by the Denver Nuggets
| FGM | FGA | FG% | 3FGM | 3FGA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blk | TO | Pts | |
| Summer | 20 | 52 | 0.39 | 2 | 14 | 0.14 | 6 | 12 | 0.5 | 14 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 48 |
| Preseason | 27 | 73 | 0.34 | 6 | 16 | 0.40 | 15 | 20 | 0.692 | 15 | 27 | 5 | 2 | 24 | 75 |
| Total | 47 | 125 | 8 | 30 | 21 | 32 | 29 | 50 | 10 | 3 | 44 | 123 | |||
| Average | 5.2 | 13.9 | 37.6% | 0.9 | 3.3 | 26.7% | 2.33 | 3.6 | 65.6% | 3.2 | 5.6 | 1 | 0.3 | 4.9 | 14 |
Once Ty Lawson was traded to Houston it became clear that Emmanuel Mudiay received the keys to the franchise moving forward. There are similarities to his game and that of Michael Carter-Williams. Mudiay will likely stuff the stat sheet while offering subpar percentages from the field, free throw line and from outside.
During his rookie of the year campaign, Carter-Williams averaged 16, 6 and 4 while only shooting 40% from the field and 26% from the three point line. Mudiay has the benefit of having a few more savvy veterans alongside him than Carter-Williams did during his rookie year in Philadelphia which should keep his poor shooting in check.
The worry for Mudiay would be the turnovers, after averaging 4.9 per game during Summer League and Pre Season, he will need to bring that in well under 4 if he really wants to be in consideration for Rookie of the Year. Having said that, I believe he will be given heavy minutes and can provide a fairly wide range of statistics which is why he is my pick for Rookie of the Year.
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