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#3 Tyrese Haliburton | Sacramento Kings
Tyrese Haliburton finished third in the NBA Rookie of the Year award voting for the 2020-21 NBA season. Rightfully, he was often considered for the award in recognition of his work with the Sacramento Kings.
He played in 58 games for the Kings and mostly came off the bench (he started only 20 times). However, Haliburton gave the team a solid contribution off the bench, controlling the ball well and shooting with great efficiency for a rookie.
He finished up averaging 13 points (third-best among rookies), three rebounds and 5.3 assists per game (second-best among rookies) in his first NBA campaign. Moreover, Haliburton made 47.2% of his field goals, 40.9% of his threes (296 attempts) and a solid 85.7% from the free-throw line.
Among rookies, he was in the Top 5 in the total points, assists, three-pointers and steals categories.
#2 Anthony Edwards | Minnesota Timberwolves
The first pick of the 2020 NBA Draft, Minnesota Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards had to take some games to get used to the NBA. But he eventually became a starter for the team and turned into an extremely athletic scorer.
Edwards should've won the NBA Rookie of the Year award in the eyes of many, but it was probably right for him to be considered second-best for the award. Regardless, that does not take anything away from his rookie campaign.
Edwards led all the NBA rookies in points per game with 19.3. He was in the Top 10 in points per game, rebounds per game and assists per game. Edwards also led rookies in total points and was in the Top 10 in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. The 20-year-old was also second in three-pointers made, although he shot only 32.9% from three-point range.
Overall, he made 41.7% of his shots and 77.6% of his free throws. He had 72 appearances and 55 starts in the NBA season.
In his 55 starts, his numbers evolved positively across the board. He averaged 21.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game with 43/33/77 shooting splits in 34 minutes per night.
#1 LaMelo Ball | Charlotte Hornets
LaMelo Ball rightfully earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors as his presence was definitely positively impactful for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2020-21 NBA campaign.
If he did not suffer a wrist injury midway through the season, Charlotte probably wouldn't have needed the Play-In tournament to enter the postseason (which they ultimately failed to do).
Still, Ball's campaign was great for an NBA rookie. He averaged 15.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and a rookie-high 6.1 assists per game during the 2020-21 campaign. Ball was fun to watch whenever he was on the court and he also found the efficiency that many thought he did not have prior to his NBA debut.
He made a respectable 43.6% of his field goals as a rookie, 35% of his threes and 75.8% of his free throws. With a year of experience and tremendous energy on the court, Ball could evolve fantastically as an NBA athlete and find a new gear in his development as a player during the 2021-22 season.
Also Read: 5 NBA players with the highest points per game (PPG) in their rookie season since 2000
