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Nerlens Noel Is Making A Strong Case For Rookie Of The Year

By Ray Boyd

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With the NBA season coming to a close, all of the season awards are now up for debate. Players are making their final pushes to take home some of the individual hardware handed out by the league.

Nerlens Noel has been making his case all season for the Rookie of the Year award. He has frequented the top-five candidate spots for most of the year, but he has just moved into the top spot on the NBA's Rookie Ladder moving ahead of Andrew Wiggins.

Wiggins has been seen as the clear leader for Rookie of the Year over the last few months as he has finally found an offensive rhythm in Minnesota. Also, the season ending injury to Jabari Parker really opened the door for Wiggins.

Noel has stepped up his game over the last few weeks and a groundswell of support has built up for him to win the award.

The Sixers rookie is sixth in the league in blocks and first among rookies. He is ninth in the league in steals and first among rookies. He is the top rookie rebounder and comes in at six among rookies in scoring.

Noel is also first among rookies in shooting percentage.

If Wiggins winds up winning the award, it will purely be based on scoring. Wiggins averages 15.8 points per game to Noel's 9.5.

Noel has established himself as an actual contributor to the Sixers offense and is one of the league's most imposing rim protectors.

Wiggins represents the safe pick for Rookie of the Year while Noel represents a player who is making an impact across a number of facets of the game on both ends of the floor.

This will be a fun race to watch as the season winds down.

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