In a season where rookies all over the NBA played impactful basketball, the Nuggets had notable performances from point guard Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Jokic.
Their coach, Michael Malone, feels they have done enough to both be on the all-rookie first team.
“I think so,” Malone said. “If you look at the numbers and dig really deep into numbers, Nikola Jokic could make a case for rookie of the year. Now, (Minnesota’s) Karl-Anthony Towns will get that, and deservedly so; he’s had an amazing season. But so has Nikola Jokic, and the thing about Nikola is he’s doing it in 20 minutes a night. That’s what people have to look at.
“When you look at Nikola’s numbers and he’s in the top five to seven of every category it seems. He’s doing it in 20 minutes a night, which is much less than all of the other guys. So that has to be taken into account.”
Jokic is second among rookies, only to Towns, in player efficiency rating.
“And then Emmanuel, for him to play the amount of minutes he’s playing — and we’ve asked him to do too much this year, in defense of Emmanuel — playing as many minutes as we have, putting him out there in these challenging situations night in and night out has been unfair to him at times, but it’s only going to speed up his progress,” Malone said. “So it will be worth it in the big picture.
“But the fact that he’s led the NBA (rookies) in assists per game this whole season, and his 3-point shooting has gotten markedly better. So, I think they are both first-team rookie players.”
Footnotes
Nuggets forward Darrell Arthur (personal matter) did not play. Former Nuggets guard Andre Miller started for the Spurs, who did not play many of their regulars in the contest.
Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
