Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Andrew Wiggins has accomplished a lot in his short time in the NBA. Wednesday, the league announced that Wiggins was again named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month.
It’s the third straight month Wiggins has won the award. He’s the first to accomplish that trifecta since 2012-13.
.@22wiggins 1stRookie of the Month 3 times in a row since Damian Lillard – add .@GorguiDieng last March&April & #Twolves corner the market
— Jeff Münneke (@MinnesotaMunn) February 5, 2015
But does that make the Wolves’ 19-year-old rookie the favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award?
According to 1500 ESPN writer Derek Wetmore, Wiggins has built such a commanding lead on some of the other rookies that he seems like a heavy favorite at least.
“On the simplest level, Wiggins stands above his peers. There’s more to basketball than this, but Wiggins plays more minutes and scores more points than other rookies. That shows Flip Saunders trusts the rookie and it also is a commentary about the state of the Timberwolves through the first three-plus months of the season. With injuries to Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin, Saunders committed to the rebuild, shipped out Corey Brewer in a trade and Wiggins became the focal point on offense and defense.”
Wiggins hasn’t disappointed. He scored a career-high 33 points when Cleveland came to Minnesota last week and put together an impressive string of 22 consecutive games with 10 or more points.
.@22wiggins had his double-digit scoring streak snapped at 22 last night, 2nd longest in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/VymsTW5kl2
— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) February 5, 2015
During the month of January, Wiggins led all qualifying rookies in scoring with 19.8 points and scored 20 or more points nine times in 17 starts during the month. He led the Wolves on eight occasions.
Andrew Wiggins (@MNTimberwolves) is averaging over 19 PPG in Jan. with at least 20 points in 8 of 15 games pic.twitter.com/s7l3b99rLD
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 29, 2015
In naming Wiggins the heavy favorite, Wetmore highlights a few other rookies, who might have an outside chance – including Bulls forward Nikola Mirotich or Magic point guard Elfrid Payton.
