NBA 2019-20: Rookie of the Year Power Rankings Week 6
After being selected with the first pick of the 2019 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans, Zion Williamson was expected to ease to the 2020 Rookie of the Year Award. Williamson had been so impressive during his year at Duke that he was widely labeled as the best teenager to emerge since LeBron James.
However, the 19-year-old got injured in the weeks building up to the season. And his ongoing absence has provided several other rookies around the league the opportunity to compete for the ROTY Award.
As we enter Week 6 of the season, plenty of rookies have shown flashes of promise. But out of those, only a few have been able to influence games almost on a nightly basis.
Here, we take a look at the current front-runners to be named 2020 Rookie of the Year.
#5 Kendrick Nunn - Miami Heat
Kendrick Nunn's minutes have been up and down over the past few weeks, but the Chicago native is still making a big impact on a Miami Heat team that continues to defy expectations.
Nunn's standout game of the week came as he dropped 21 points on the Chicago Bulls in just 26 minutes. He also recorded 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting during Miami's latest win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Over his 16 appearances this season, Nunn is now averaging 16.9 points per game, which puts him second in the NBA among rookie scorers. He is also averaging 2.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists, and the 24-year-old is well in contention to become one of the oldest ROTY winners in NBA history.