Why Didn’t Embiid Or Saric Win Rookie Of The Year Award?

In 31 games Joel Embiid had 20.2 Points Per Game, 7.8 Rebounds Per Game and 2.45 Blocks Per Game while Dario Saric, who played 81 games, was second among NBA Rookies in Points Per Game (12.8), third in Rebounds per Game (6.3), and third in Minutes Played Per Game (26.3).  But it was Milwaukee Bucks Guard Malcolm Brogdon who won the 2016-17 NBA Rookie of the Year Award and not one of the Sixers stand out Rookies.  Brodgon never won a Rookie of the Month award this past season and he scored the fewest number of Points Per Game for a NBA ROTY Award winner in league history.  So how could neither Sixers' Rookie standout not win the award?

ESPN NBA Insider Amin Elhassan joined Rich Quinones on Friday and gave a national perspective on why neither Sixers' Rookie won the 2016-17 Award:

"Saric vs Brogdon are a wash - Saric averaged more points, but Brodgon played more meaningful basketball on a winning team and lead rookies in Assists. That’s hard, because some people will say I like Saric, some will say I like Brogdon in that situation. When you talk about Emiid, he played 31 games so...what if he would have averaged 30 points and 30 rebounds and the Sixers were undefeated in those games? Is he now the MVP because he was so much better than everyone else? Is that the logic you use? No, at some point you have to use the bare minimum of showing up that you do. Does it suck at he got hurt? Of course it does. I’m sorry but you can’t give the dude an A for showing up for a third of the season, even if you were sick for the rest of it. He was hurt; and that’s why Emiid didn’t win Rookie of the Year. Then when you get to Saric, I think if you are a levelheaded human being you can at least see the argument why some people would like Brogdon over Saric. I’m not saying it’s clear-cut but it’s like Westbrook vs Harden. I’m not saying Harden doesn’t deserve MVP but you could see the argument."

Checkout what Elhassan had to say about Anti-Sixers Conspiracy Theories, the Aftermath of the Phil Jackson-Knicks divorce, the future for Paul George and the Pacers, and how NBA teams can build to challenge the Warriors