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Charlotte Hornets: Ranking the past 10 ROTY winners

By Jason Huber

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 02: LaMelo Ball #2 of the Charlotte Hornets brings the ball up court against the Miami Heat during their game at Spectrum Center on May 02, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 02: LaMelo Ball #2 of the Charlotte Hornets brings the ball up court against the Miami Heat during their game at Spectrum Center on May 02, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /
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Dec 31, 2019;. Luka Doncic. Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2019;. Luka Doncic. Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports /

Charlotte Hornets: Ranking the last 10 ROTYs – The Best

Damian Lillard (2013), Karl-Anthony Towns (2016), Ben Simmons (2018), Luka Doncic (2019)

I was really hoping to put at least one of these guys in tier 2 to even out the three tiers before LaMelo Ball but all four of these players had really, really good rookie seasons.

I’ll start with Ben Simmons since he’s been getting a lot of negative attention lately. Even though his offensive play has been pretty bad the last 2-3 years, his rookie season is still one of the better ones we’ve seen in quite some time.

Dec. 25, 2017 Ben Simmons. Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Dec. 25, 2017 Ben Simmons. Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images /

Simmons averaged 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.2 assists on 54 percent shooting. He averaged almost a triple-double on an incredible shooting percentage his first year in the league. That’s very hard to do.

Even though he’s never really improved offensively since then, that season can’t be ignored.

December 31, 2017. Karl Anthony-Towns. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
December 31, 2017. Karl Anthony-Towns. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images /

Damian Lillard took the league by storm as a rookie, averaging 19 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists on 42 percent shooting. He had 5.8 win-shares and was the fourth player ever at the time to be named the Rookie of the Year by a unanimous vote.

Karl-Anthony Towns then dominated his rookie season with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2016 and became the fifth rookie to win unanimously. Towns averaged 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds on 54 percent shooting, which was one of the best rookie seasons for a big man since Tim Duncan in 1998.

December 28, 2012. Damian Lillard. JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images.
December 28, 2012. Damian Lillard. JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images. /

And finally, Luka Doncic.

Doncic has been incredible since he stepped on the floor as a rookie and he’s still just 22-years-old. Doncic averaged 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists as a rookie and looked like a seasoned veteran.

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