Rookie watch: Philadelphia 76ers' Jahlil Okafor (L) and Denver Nuggets' Emmanuel Mudiay. (Photo : Getty Images)
The recent NBA General Manager Survey revealed that most of the league's current GM's think Philadelphia 76ers third overall pick Jahlil Okafor will be this season's Rookie of the Year awardee ahead of 2015's top two overall selections Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves and D'Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers.
CBS Local reported that 44.8 percent of general managers chose Okafor for the top freshman individual award while 34.5 percent went to Towns and 13.8 percent to Denver Nuggets point guard and seventh overall pick Emmanuel Mudiay.
What is surprising is that the Lakers' supposed-to-be heir to the Kobe-Bryant throne Russell was not even in the top three considerations.
So far, Okafor is looking good and getting huge numbers albeit three losing efforts for the Sixers to start the season, averaging 20.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 0.7 blocks per game while shooting 51 percent from the field in 33.7 minutes a night.
However, a recent SB Nation article noted that the Nuggets' Mudiay could be one of the biggest threats to the former Duke Blue Devil capturing the award.
The write-up suggested that since Denver is rebuilding and had traded their top point guard during the offseason, the chances and ball touches for the 19-year-old Congolese will be overwhelming during his rookie season.
Mudiay has also so far displayed maturity when it comes to decision-making, passing, and shot selection, things that he may have developed during his one-season stay with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China prior to the draft.
If Okafor will not keep himself healthy and dominant with the ball, then expect Mudiay to overtake him as the season's best rookie in the end.
