After the NBA draft last June, the newest additions to the league began training and are now in competition for the Rookie of the Year Award. As of midseason, some early names in the mix of potentially receiving the award include Luka Doncic, Deandre Ayton, and Trae Young. All three players have earned starting positions on their teams fairly quickly. Doncic and Young continue to play more guard roles while Ayton is having an impact down in the post. With still an entire half of the NBA season to go, each of these three players has a chance to be granted such a prestigious award like this one.

Trae Young was a freshman sensation last year at Oklahoma, putting up a considerably high shooting percentage. His style of play consists of being a floor general for his team, providing great assists for the players around him. This year he is working the ball around for the Atlanta Hawks, being on of these three first-round draft picks last year. Over the last two weeks, he has been averaging 15.9 points along with 7.6 assists. After being introduced to the NBA, Young has definitely become more selective with his shots, which has led to this recent success. The only downside to his game is the lack of ability to play lockdown defense. Although having little experience in the league so far, Trae Young is serving a leadership role for his team like a veteran.

Having an NBA-quality body and athleticism since his high school days, it is no surprise that Deandre Ayton is playing a big role early on for his team. It’s no secret that the Phoenix Suns have struggled in competition the past few years; however, Ayton allows for a light at the end of the tunnel. The young star is almost averaging a double double with 16.2 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game. Since his arrival, Ayton is very open to criticism and reflects on each game to spot points of improvement. He continued to show relation to All-Star Karl Anthony-Towns when he first entered the league. The two have a very similar style of play, being dominant on the boards and hustling for their team. If Ayton could develop more of an outside shot overtime, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him amongst the best in a few years.

An early favorite to win Rookie of the Year, Luka Doncic has been playing with great enthusiasm and power for the Dallas Mavericks so far this season. The nineteen-year-old has had previous years of experience, playing professional basketball in Slovenia since he was sixteen. Doncic started his season in good team chemistry with second-year teammate Dennis Smith Jr. The two young players have done most of the scoring for this Mavericks this year so far, showing that he already is one of the best in the league. Doncic has recently been averaging 22.8 points per game and 6.9 rebounds rebounds per game. An outstanding 40 percent accuracy from three point range has been a cause to this high scoring. Doncic has also come up clutch in many games, already with a couple of game-winning shots under his belt. There are even talks about the first year playing in the runnings for All-Star selection this year.