Zion Williamson was the top pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and is expected to become the face of the league, but his fellow rookies don’t think he will have the greatest NBA career out of this year’s class.
In the league’s annual survey of rookies, players answered the question “which member of the 2019 class would have the best career in the NBA?” Surprisingly, Williamson got just 5% of the votes. His former Blue Devils teammate, Cam Reddish, who went to the Atlanta hawks with the No. 10 pick overall, won the survey with 19% of the votes.
Which rookie will have the best career?
Cam Reddish (19%)
Ja Morant (16%)
De'Andre Hunter (11%)
R.J. Barrett (5%)
Jaxson Hayes (5%)
Coby White (5%)
Zion Williamson (5%) pic.twitter.com/GtyHYTRtt9— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 19, 2019
Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies is right behind Reddish with 16% of the votes while Atlanta Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter is in the third place with 11%. Williamson was tied with New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett, Coby White of the Chicago Bulls, and Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans teammate, Jaxson Hayes.
It’s also interesting that this is the sixth consecutive year that a former Duke Blue Devil has won this survey. Jabari Parker (2014), Jahlil Okafor (2015), Brandon Ingram (2016), Jayson Tatum (2017), and Wendell Carter Jr. (2018) all won it before Reddish.
Williamson did win the Rookie of the Year survey as his colleagues gave him 35% of the votes, which is more than Ja Morant, who received 27%. However, the rookies have made just one correct prediction since the Rookie of the Year survey began, and it was in 2007 when Kevin Durant won the prestigious award.
Who will be Rookie of the Year?
Zion Williamson (35%)
Ja Morant (27%)
R.J. Barrett (5%)
Cam Reddish (5%) pic.twitter.com/STVOQhMNfs— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 19, 2019
The rookies also chose Williamson as the most athletic by a wide margin, giving him 87% of the votes, comparing to only 8% for the Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke.
Denver Nuggets center BolBol was labeled as the steal of this year’s draft; Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat was selected as the best shooter, Philadelphia 76ers forward Matisse Thybulle is the best defender, and Morant was voted as the best playmaker. For the third consecutive year, the rookie class picked LeBron James as its favorite player.
