Why Ricky Rubio Is a Lock to Win the Rookie of the Year Award

There have been a couple of rookies off to good starts in their NBA careers.

Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, Miami's Norris Cole, Phoenix's Markieff Morris and New York's Iman Shumpert are just a few of the last season's draft class making an early impact.

Yet none of those guys will have a Rookie of the Year Award at the end of the season.

That's because the award is waiting on Ricky Rubio.

Minnesota's young stud for a point guard is a lock to win the award unless he does something to lose it.

There are several reasons why, but the main one is that all eyes are on him.

He's the most exciting player in a pretty good rookie crop and is really the only one you will see on a consistent basis on every highlight show.

Not only that, but Rubio is quickly becoming not only one of the best young point guards in the NBA, but one of the best point guards. Period.

He's an artist with the basketball in his hands and while he's not the greatest shooter at the moment, he likely will be averaging a double-double by season's end.

He makes magic happen when he's on the floor. Rubio isn't only entertaining, but he's effective as well. He not only helps Minnesota out when he has the ball, he's very good at the defensive end of the floor already.

Down the road, if Rubio can keep scoring consistently, he will be the best of this rookie class.

In the short term, though, there's some hardware waiting for him as the NBA's top rookie.