Andrew Wiggins in Line to Join Elite NBA Rookies with Impressive Debut Season

Handing Andrew Wiggins the NBA’s Rookie of the Year trophy is merely a formality at this point.

As Vince Carter would say, this race is over.

The 20-year-old Canadian phenom has quickly validated his status as the 2014 draft's No. 1 overall pick, leading this year's crop in scoring at 15.8 points per game. He also owns a 456-point cushion on the draft's second-leading scorer, K.J. McDaniels.

By comparison, Victor Oladipo led all 2013 draftees in scoring by 150 points, with 563 points separating him from the class' fifth-leading scorer (Ben McLemore).

Player	PPG	RPG	APG	FG%	3P%
Andrew Wiggins	15.8	4.3	1.9	43.6	34.7
K.J. McDaniels	8.8	3.6	1.3	39.6	29.1
Nerlens Noel	8.7	7.3	1.7	44.2	N/A
Elfrid Payton	7.7	3.8	5.7	41.1	19.0
Nikola Mirotic	7.6	4.4	1.1	39.9	33.7
Marcus Smart	7.5	3.0	3.5	37.5	33.7
Jusuf Nurkic	7.2	6.7	0.9	44.1	N/A

Since Jan. 1, NBA.com indicates that Wiggins' averages have ticked up to 18.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while his conversion rate sits at 46 percent from the field.

Bleacher Report's Dan Favale beautifully contextualized those numbers by viewing them through a historical lens:

"

For those after more concrete perspective, consider this: If Wiggins' numbers hold, he'll become the third player in NBA history to begin the season under 20 years of age and average at least 15 points, four rebounds, one steal and a usage rate north of 20.

Those other two players are Carmelo Anthony and James.

"

Since Wiggins is on a lofty trajectory, how does his rookie season stack up—statistically—to those of former Rookie of the Year winners who evolved into bona fide superstars?

Digging into the numbers posted by guards and wings who have won the award since 2003, Wiggins evidently holds his own. However, that's not to say he's setting the gold standard for first-year performance.

In some areas, he's ahead of the curve. In others, his production lags slightly behind or falls right in line with the greats who have come before him.

But as is the case with any rookie, it's important to keep the big picture in mind. Wiggins is far from a finished product and is only beginning to scratch the surface of his enormous potential at a tender 20 years old.

"He is already starting to walk the walk of a star, taking lots of shots and looking to assert himself in all three phases of the game—offense, defense and rebounding," ESPN Insider's David Thorpe wrote.

So let's take a look at the basics:

While he ranks last in scoring there, Wiggins has been steadily improving as a scorer—a development that's been fast-tracked as the result of a more aggressive approach. Since the All-Star break, Wiggins is averaging 21 points on 46.5 percent shooting.

That would rank as the highest mark among the names listed above, but the "small sample size" caveat obviously applies.

There's also an easy explanation for why Wiggins is pulling up the rear: Of those 10 players, he owns the lowest usage rate, which estimates the number of team plays used by a player while he's on the floor, according to Basketball-Reference.com:

Fewer possessions mean a smaller volume of shots, which results in a lower scoring output. There's a clear cause and effect here, and it can't be ignored.

But even taking the full kit and kaboodle into account, Wiggins does't lag all that far behind the likes of Chris Paul, Derrick Rose or Brandon Roy.

It's even more impressive considering the former Kansas Jayhawk is taking 39 percent of his shots from the stigmatized mid-range and still knocking down nearly 44 percent of his total looks, per Basketball-Reference.

Compared to his esteemed colleagues, the efficiency with which he's scoring the rock is particularly encouraging:

See that?

As a rookie, Wiggins is knocking down shots at a more consistent clip than a couple of MVPs while stroking threes at one of the strongest rates of any award winner over the past 11 seasons.

For someone who was supposedly flawed because of passive tendencies, Wiggins has shown no fear of shouldering the offensive load.

I mean, what are defenders supposed to do when he creates space like that?

Credit: Reddit

Or how about when he blows by defenders like this?

Credit: Gfycat

It's rare to see a rookie display that much confidence in isolated situations, but Wiggins is helping shoot down tired narratives one step-back jumper and dribble-drive at a time.

And while it's hard to precisely pinpoint where Wiggins stands as a defender at this young stage in his career from a historical standpoint, there's no question he's armed with the quick feet, discipline and length to give opponents fits.

"We want him to be LeBron, Kobe, Pippen," head coach Flip Saunders said, according to MinnPost.com's Britt Robson. "Because they are all two-way players. A lot of those guys were their team’s best offensive player but also their team’s best defensive player. And their tenacity, the team goes through it."

According to 82games.com, Wiggins is holding shooting guards and small forwards to player efficiency ratings below the league average. He's also held two MVP candidates—James Harden and Russell Westbrook—to a combined 13-of-35 shooting from the field, per NBASavant.com. 

Rookie or veteran, few players are capable of disrupting elite offensive flow like that.

So if it wasn't clear already, hardware will inevitably make its way to Wiggins' trophy case. The only question that remains is whether his Rookie of the Year election will be unanimous.

All statistics current as of games completed through March 2 and courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.