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Utah Jazz: Does Donovan Mitchell now have the edge in ROY race?

John Keeffer|
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 16: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the USA team poses for a portrait prior to the Mountain Dew Kickstart Rising Stars Game during All-Star Friday Night as part of 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend at the STAPLES Center on February 16, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Michael J. LeBrecht II/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 16: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the USA team poses for a portrait prior to the Mountain Dew Kickstart Rising Stars Game during All-Star Friday Night as part of 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend at the STAPLES Center on February 16, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Michael J. LeBrecht II/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Utah Jazz Donovan Mitchell
CHARLOTTE, NC – JANUARY 12: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz warms up ahead of their game against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on January 12, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

The Jazz need to make the playoffs

This really should have been my main point, so thanks if you’ve stuck it out this long.

If the Jazz are able to make the playoffs, in a more difficult Western Conference, and Donovan Mitchell is their leading scorer, he should win Rookie of the year.

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This is an unorthodox year for the Rookie of the Year race. Typically the players competing for the honor, are the main players on some of the worst teams in the league. That is not the case this year, as both the Sixers and the Jazz are projected to be in the playoffs.

The Sixers are 30-25, and currently slotted as the seventh seed in the East. This has been a six-year rebuild for the Sixers, and it appears they are finally ready to make the post-season, albeit in a weaker conference. Simmons is a big part of that, and I don’t want to discount what he means to the Sixers franchise.

What Mitchell is doing in the Western Conference though, is just more impressive.

Currently, the Utah Jazz are on an 11-game win streak, which includes victories over playoff teams in the Pistons, Raptors, Warriors, Spurs, Pelicans, Blazers, and the Spurs again. During that stretch, he has averaged 21.3 points, four rebounds and four assists. They are now only 1.5 games out of the eighth seed, but are also just 2.5 games out of the No. 5 seed.

Since the NBA/ABA merger, very rarely has a rookie been the leading scorer on a playoff team. Donovan Mitchell is on pace to do just that, and that should be enough to award him the first Rookie of the Year award for the Jazz since 1981.

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