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NBA Draft: Too-Early NBA Rookie of the Year Power Rankings

By Cody Williams

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Brandon Ingram (Duke) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number two overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Brandon Ingram (Duke) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number two overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Wade Baldwin IV (Vanderbilt) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number seventeen overall pick to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Wade Baldwin IV (Vanderbilt) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number seventeen overall pick to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Wade Baldwin, PG — No. 17 Pick, Memphis Grizzlies

Another potential surprise in these rankings for most people, I think Wade Baldwin is going to be put in a position where he’s not going to have a choice but to put up numbers in his rookie season with the Memphis Grizzlies. Subsequently, I think that the Vanderbilt product is going to be in a position where he has a very high chance of being the dark horse to win NBA Rookie of the Year.

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The first big factor in the candidacy of Baldwin to potentially win ROTY for the 2016-17 season is the fact that I’m of the belief that Mike Conley is gone as an unrestricted free agent. I think that Conley is at the point where most NBA fans are at this point in coming to the realization that this version of the Grizzlies needs to come to a close and that it’s time that a player of his talents moves on. Subsequently, that opens the door in a major way for Baldwin in the backcourt.

Make no mistake, I don’t think Baldwin is the most talented player in this draft class and there’s a good chance he wouldn’t make my top-10 in that regard. That being said, he’s going to be in a better position than most players entering the league and I think that makes all the difference in making him a wholly viable candidate to win NBA Rookie of the Year.

Next: No. 1 Buddy Hield

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