Luka Doncic vs Trae Young vs Deandre Ayton: Ranking the 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year Finalists based on team and individual accomplishments
![The 2018 NBA Draft class [Source: Sky Sports]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/09/ed1c9-16304564121145-800.jpg?w=500)
The 2018 NBA Draft class was arguably one of the best in recent years. Almost the entire first round are on active rosters and three of the top five have already achieved significant milestones in their young career. Even the second round has just three players who never ended up playing an NBA game and the rest continue their journey in pro basketball. This was indeed a very deep class and it was headlined by Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic and Trae Young. The three were the finalists for the 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year award and Doncic was the eventual winner.
In a Twitter poll conducted by Yahoo! Sports before the season the awards were announced, Luka Doncic got 80.9% of the votes when asked who should win the ROTY award. 949 people voted and Trae Young came second with 15.7% with Ayton coming third with 3.4% votes.
In this article we rank these three players judging them over the last three years and how they fared in individual and team accomplishments.
#1 Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic is easily the most accomplished amongst the three players. He is a two-time All-Star and has two first-team All-NBA selections in three years. Luka Doncic was a starter in both his All-Star appearances and his All-NBA selections qualified him for a $200+ million extension with the team. Doncic is a generational talent who many would agree is destined for MVPs and championships in the future. He has already broken records in the NBA and is now the fastest player to 5000 points, beating LeBron James' old record.
As far as team accomplishments go, he is the only one who led his team to the playoffs twice with an inferior supporting cast. When Luka Doncic was in his rookie year, he was 19 and Dirk Nowitzki was still the man-in-charge even though he was old and on his last leg. They had a record of 33-49 after finishing 14th in the Western Conference.
Nowiztki retired that year and Doncic got the keys to the offense in his sophomore year. He led the team to a 43-32 record and finished 7th in the Western Conference. The Mavericks got knocked out by the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George-led LA Clippers in 6 games but not before Doncic made them sweat. He hit one of the most clutch shots in NBA playoff history and tied the series at 2-2.
In his third season, Doncic was an MVP favorite before the season began. He eventually led the Mavericks to a 42-30 record and the 5th seed. He met the LA Clippers once again in the NBA playoffs and lost in 7 games. The Mavericks held a 2-0 then 3-2 lead but couldn't close it out. However, he is the golden boy and many believe he will be the face of the league once the LeBron James and Stephen Curry days are over.
#2 Trae Young
Although Trae Young is listed second in this ranking, he does make a strong case for the first spot. He doesn't have Doncic's All-NBA appearances but he led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals in his first-ever playoff run. Young and the Atlanta Hawks never had home-court advantage in any series but that never fazed them. They knocked out the 1st-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the second round after forcing Game 7.
Trae Young was phenomenal in the playoffs as he led him team night after night. He averaged 29 points, 10.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game against Philadelhia and 28.8 points, 9.5 assists and 1.3 steals for the entire postseason.
Trae Young's first two seasons with the team weren't great in terms of their records. The Atlanta Hawks were 29-53 (12th) and 20-47 (14th) in his first two years chronologically. Young was an All-Star in his second season but has no All-NBA selections yet.
Trae Young's playoff performances have made him a superstar. In his first-ever playoff game, he sunk the game-winning floater against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden with a crowd filled with people cussing at him. Young embraced the villain role and enjoyed silencing crowds. He scored higher on the road than he did at home in the 2021 NBA playoffs.
#3 Deandre Ayton
Deandre Ayton is third on this ranking but is the only one who has been to the NBA Finals. However, there is not much else to say in terms of accomplishments for the Bahamian big man.
Don't get us wrong, he was phenomenal in the playoffs and the Suns loss in the Finals was certainly not his fault. He averaged 15.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game on an absurd 80% shooting from the field against the LA Lakers in the first round. Ayton went on to average 15.8 points and 11.8 rebounds for the entire postseason on 65% shooting. He is tied (with Charles Barkley) for the Suns record of most 25+ point and 15+ rebound games on 70%+ shooting with 4.
Nonetheless, he was mainly fed perfect looks by Chris Paul and Devin Booker. It was hardly a case where the Suns would feed him the ball in the post and watch him get to work against a defender like Shaquille O'Neal or Giannis Antetokounmpo. Ayton's true rise didn't begin until Paul showed up in Phoenix. For his first two seasons, the Suns had records of 19-63 (15th) and 34-30 (10th) chronologically.
The truth is Deandre Ayton has never been asked to lead a team despite going 1st overall in the draft over Doncic and Young. Devin Booker has always been the star in Phoenix and after Paul's addition, Ayton's role was reduced further. His numbers fell in his third year compared to his sophomore year and he has never made an All-Star, All-NBA or All-Defensive appearance.
Also Read: Who is Luka Doncic's girlfriend, Anamaria Goltes?