Man, looking back at the 2014 NBA Draft is like looking at a time capsule that didn't quite age the way we expected. Everyone was talking about "Maple Jordan." Remember that? The hype around Andrew Wiggins was borderline deafening. When he eventually snagged the rookie of the year nba 2015 honors, it felt like the natural order of things had been restored. But honestly, if you look at the numbers and the context of that season, it was a lot weirder than the history books suggest.
Wiggins won. It wasn't even close in the voting. He grabbed 110 out of 130 first-place votes. But was he actually the best player? Or was he just the healthiest guy left standing in a class that looked like a MASH unit by February?
The Trade That Changed Everything
You can't talk about the rookie of the year nba 2015 race without talking about LeBron James. When LeBron decided to go back home to Cleveland, Andrew Wiggins became the most expensive trade chip in league history. He hadn't even played a Summer League game in a Cavs jersey before he was shipped off to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love.
It was a total "sink or swim" moment.
Most rookies get to hide behind veterans. Not Wiggins. He was dropped onto a Wolves team that was basically a construction site. He had to score because, frankly, who else was going to do it? Kevin Martin was hurt half the time. Ricky Rubio was in and out of the lineup. Wiggins ended up averaging 16.9 points per game. That’s a solid number. In fact, it's a great number for a 19-year-old. But the efficiency? That’s where the "expert" scouts started biting their nails.
He shot 43.7% from the field and a pretty mediocre 31% from three. He wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire with his playmaking either, averaging a measly 2.1 assists. But in the NBA, volume is king for rookies. If you put up 17 points a night and play 82 games—which he did, by the way—you’re going to win the award. Reliability is a skill. In 2015, it was his best skill.
The Rivals Who Disappeared
The 2014 draft was supposed to be legendary. Jabari Parker was the "NBA-ready" kid from Duke. Joel Embiid was the "Hakeem Olajuwon" clone. Aaron Gordon was the high-flyer.
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Then reality hit.
Jabari Parker looked amazing for about twenty games. He was fluid, he could score from the midrange, and he looked like the perfect Robin to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Batman. Then, his ACL gave out. Season over.
Joel Embiid? He didn't even step on the court. His foot issues kept him out for two straight years.
Nerlens Noel was technically a rookie that year because he sat out his first season. He was the only one who really pushed Wiggins toward the end. Noel was a defensive monster for the Sixers, averaging nearly two blocks and two steals. Honestly, if you value defense, you could make a case that Noel was more impactful. But blocks don't sell jerseys like dunks do. Wiggins was the highlight reel. He was the guy jumping over centers and looking like a future All-Star every Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Why the 2015 Race Matters Now
Looking back, the rookie of the year nba 2015 award tells us a lot about how we scout players. We used to look for "The Guy." We wanted the wing player who could score 20 points, regardless of how many shots it took.
Wiggins eventually became a champion with the Warriors, but he had to change his entire identity to do it. He went from being the "Maple Jordan" scoring hope to a lockdown defender and rebounder. It’s funny, right? The things he was criticized for during his rookie year—lack of engagement, not using his athleticism on defense—are the things he eventually mastered a decade later.
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Nikola Jokić was also in this rookie class. Yeah, that Jokić. The guy with the MVP trophies. He was a second-round pick playing in Europe at the time, or just starting to get noticed. Nobody—literally nobody—was voting for him for Rookie of the Year back then. He didn't even make the All-Rookie First Team. That went to Wiggins, Noel, Nikola Mirotić, Elfrid Payton, and Jordan Clarkson.
Think about that for a second. Elfrid Payton made the First Team over Nikola Jokić. The NBA moves fast.
The Statistical Breakdown
If you're a numbers person, the 2014-15 rookie stats are a bit of a trip.
- Andrew Wiggins: 16.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.0 SPG
- Nikola Mirotić: 10.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG (He actually finished second in the voting)
- Nerlens Noel: 9.9 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.9 BPG, 1.8 SPG
Mirotić had a wild stretch in March where he looked like Dirk Nowitzki, but he was older and playing a specific role for a playoff-bound Bulls team. Wiggins was carrying the weight of a franchise. That carries weight with voters. Always has, always will.
The "What If" Game
What if Jabari Parker stays healthy? The Bucks probably don't struggle as much, and the narrative around Wiggins might have been different. Parker was a much more polished offensive player at that stage. He had a footwork game that Wiggins simply didn't possess yet.
What if the Cavs never traded him? Wiggins playing next to LeBron would have been a disaster for his development. He needed the freedom to fail in Minnesota. He needed to take those 15 shots a night and miss 9 of them to learn the rhythm of the league.
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What You Should Take Away
The rookie of the year nba 2015 wasn't a race about who was the best basketball player. It was a race about who survived the grind. Wiggins played all 82 games. He played 36.2 minutes per game—the most of any rookie. He was a workhorse.
When you're looking at rookie seasons today, don't just look at the points. Look at:
- Availability: Is the player actually on the court? (The "Embiid" lesson).
- Role: Are they scoring because they're good, or because someone has to?
- Growth: Did they get better from November to April?
Wiggins did. He averaged 12 points in November and 23 points in April. That upward trajectory is what sealed the deal for the voters.
If you want to understand the modern NBA, you have to study this specific year. It was the bridge between the old "hero ball" style of scouting and the new "positionless, efficient" era we're in now. Wiggins was the last of the old-school "high volume" rookie winners before the league shifted toward prioritizing true shooting percentage and advanced analytics.
To truly understand the value of a rookie season, look beyond the trophy. Check the games played. Check the defensive win shares. Sometimes the guy holding the trophy at the end of the year isn't the best player in the class—they're just the one who showed up every single night.
Study the 2014 draft class as a whole. You'll see perennial All-Stars, role players who vanished, and a certain Serbian center who skipped the awards ceremony entirely to become one of the greatest of all time. It's a reminder that hardware in year one is nice, but the real story is written in year ten.
Next Steps for the Basketball Junkie:
- Audit the 2014 Re-Draft: Go back and look at where players like Zach LaVine (picked 13th) and Nikola Jokić (picked 41st) would go now. It’s a total mess compared to the actual draft order.
- Watch the Wiggins 2015 Highlight Reel: Focus on his second jump. It’s still one of the most insane athletic traits in NBA history and explains why scouts were so obsessed with him.
- Check the All-Rookie Second Team: Names like Langston Galloway and Tyler Johnson show just how wide open the field was that year due to injuries to the top picks.