Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
Magic PF Paolo Banchero Unanimous Rookie of the Year Chances 'Ruined'?
ORLANDO - It hasn't been confirmed yet, but Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero should be the Rookie of the Year.
That could have been confirmed by his play, becoming just the sixth rookie in NBA history to average 20 points, six points and three assists. But it was even more confirmed by Max Croes, who is tracking end-of-season votes on Twitter.
Croes' detective work had 20 votes confirmed for Rookie of the Year ... 19 had Banchero, one (a Utah Jazz beat writer for the Salt Lake Tribune) had Walker Kessler, ending any possibility for a unanimous award win for Banchero.
The beat writer, Andy Larsen, explained his decision to vote for Kessler in a series of tweets.
"Basically... the advanced stats all favor Kessler, and I've always been an analytically-oriented voter," Larsen tweeted. "I think I would have made this vote even if I covered another team."
While only a handful of the 100 votes have been verified, there's a chance that Banchero could still lose the award. But the vote for Kessler has enraged Magic fans online and prompted them to defend the No. 1 overall pick.
In Larsen's longer explanation for the Kessler vote, he claims that he will get "pilloried" for his choice, believing it to be an unpopular pick amongst fans, but he defends his take and justifies it with numbers.
There's only been five unanimous Rookie of the Year choices, not even LeBron James is on the list, so achieving that feat would have been very hard.
Banchero had a chance, and could still receive 99 percent of all first-place votes, but the opportunity to become the sixth unanimous Rookie of the Year is ruined.
You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.
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