3 reasons Raps’ Scottie Barnes deserved ROY over Cavs’ Evan Mobley

On Saturday, the NBA announced the winner of the Rookie of the Year award. The consensus top 3 for the award in no particular order was Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors, Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons. All 3 had reasons to be given the award, but only one could be given it. Scottie Barnes was given the award, but the race was very close, as Evan Mobley wasn’t too far behind in votes.

As the league demonstrated from the voting results, Barnes finished with 378 points, while Mobley finished 363 points. Cunningham finished off with 153 points, so it was basically a two-man race between Mobley and Barnes.

Many people, not only in Cleveland, think that Mobley was snubbed of the award.

There is some reason to that statement, as Mobley was one of the best defensive rookies the NBA has seen in a while, and his counting numbers weren’t too bad either. Mobley finished the year off with 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.7 blocks per night, playing 69 games this season. Barnes’ stats were very similar, averaging 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per night for Toronto, playing in 74 games this season. The stats are very similar, and both Mobley and Barnes were very good, both deserving the award.

However, there can only be one winner (unless the season is 1999-2000, where Elton Brand and Steve Francis both won the award), and Barnes did deserve the award. I will list off a few reasons on why he deserved the award from here, with three especially in mind.

#1: Playmaking

You may be thinking, “there is only a 1.0 assist difference between Barnes and Mobley, so the playmaking abilities can’t be much different.” Well, if you thought this, you are wrong.

Scottie Barnes has shown flashes of being a very good playmaker, as in 15 games, he has had 6 or more assists, while Mobley has only had 3 of those games. Also, Barnes’ season-high in assists was 10 assists against the Denver Nuggets, where he played as the primary ball handler, since All-Star Fred VanVleet missed that game.

Also, according to NBA.com’s tracking data, Barnes averaged 7.1 potential assists per night, while Mobley averaged 5.3. Also, Barnes averaged 49.8 passes per night, while Mobley averaged 41.6. You may think that since Barnes had more passes, he would’ve had more turnovers. Nope. Barnes averaged 1.8 turnovers, while Mobley averaged 1.9. Barnes had a higher assist ratio, assist percentage, and assist-to-turnover ratio.

The counting stats are there, but also the eye test, too. Whenever you watch Toronto’s games, you can see the vision Scottie Barnes has. It may not be today, or even next year, but someday I believe that Barnes will be a high-level facilitator.

Mobley is a quality passing big himself for a young player, but Barnes is just at a different level in that regard, with him being able to function as a primary playmaker at times, also, and that’s significant in showing his versatility.

#2: Overall offensive impact

Statistically speaking, offensively, both are very similar. Both averaged around the same points per night, and both shot very similarly. Barnes shot 49.2% from the field and 30.1 from the 3-point line, while Mobley shot 50.8% from the field and 25.0% from the 3-point line. However, advanced statistics love Barnes more than Mobley, as Barnes had a 110.2 offensive rating, while Mobley’s was a 108.5.

Without Mobley on the floor, statistically, the Cavs were a better offensive team. Cleveland’s offensive rating with Mobley was 108.5, again, while without him it was 109.9. With Barnes, Toronto’s offensive rating was 110.2, and without him was better at 111.2, but one can’t discount his playmaking and offensive skill set.

Though it was marginal, Barnes also had a bit higher net rating, as his rating was a 1.9, while Mobley’s was a 1.7 for this season. But, Mobley had a higher usage percentage than Barnes, so that means Mobley was used more often in the offense, but Barnes was better overall in the offense. Also, Barnes statistically was a better offensive rebounder, as his offensive rebound percent was a 6.8, compared to Mobley’s 6.3.

All roads are leading to Barnes being the better offensive player.

#3: Overall defensive impact

Now, I will admit. Mobley has been the better defensive player, and I will give credit where credit is due. However, as the season ended, Mobley dropped off a bit on the defensive end. To end the season, Mobley had a 107.3 defensive rating. This rating is impressive, even for a normal NBA player. For a rookie, this statistic is great, frankly.

Nonetheless, in March, Mobley had a defensive rating of 115.0, while Barnes’ in March was 111.4. To start off the year, Mobley looked like he would be one of the best defensive players in Cleveland basketball history.

However, to end off the year, he still was spectacular on the defensive end, but lesser than he was at the beginning of the year. Not having Jarrett Allen for most of the season’s closing stretch didn’t help for Mobley and others, though.

Anyhow, in conclusion, I still believe this race was up in the air for most of the season, but looking at the advanced statistics, it looks like Scottie Barnes was the more superior rookie compared to Evan Mobley.

Hopefully both Mobley and Barnes will have long and successful careers ahead of them, and it would seem they could have their share of postseason battles, too.