Speaking on the Road Trippin’ podcast, former Milwaukee Bucks and New Jersey Nets star Richard Jefferson talked about the 2024 Rookie of the Year race in great detail. Speaking to Channing Frye, Jefferson spoke about how he thought the Charlotte Hornnets’ Brandon Miller had a better chance of winning the title than Scoot Henderson. Jefferson claimed that Victor Wembanyama will only have a shot if he is worth eight wins and will take the San Antonio Spurs to a 50% record, compared to last season.
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On the other hand, while Jefferson believes Chet Holmgren has the best shot of winning the ROTY, he also compared the likes of Brandon Miller and Scoot, claiming that the latter’s Portland Trail Blazers was going to be “trash.” Jefferson also said that he was comparing two aliens in the form of Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama.
Richard Jefferson thinks Chet Holmgren has the best shot at winning Rookie of the Year
The OKC Thunder’s 2nd overall pick of the 2022 draft, Holmgren missed the entirety of last season. This means that alongside the top picks of this year’s draft, he will also be competing for the rookie of the year.
While Channing Frye thinks Scoot Henderson has a chance considering he might be the star of his team, Jefferson disagreed. He favored Holmgren, and claimed that both he and Victor Wembanyama were aliens capable of having an impact on both ends of the court,
“If you are telling me Victor is not worth 8 games then he is not going to be Rookie of the Year. That is why Chet Holmgren is my pick for Rookie of the Year. I don’t think he (Scoot) is going to win because his team is going to be trash. Two, I think the other two guys that he is competing against for Rookie of the Year, are gnarly. Offensively and defensively, he is going against Chet and Victor, two aliens. They are gonna have 8 blocked shots with 6 3s. Like, s**t we have never seen before coz that’s what they are. He might have a Kyrie-like rookie season but Kyrie wasn’t getting Rookie of the year over Victor and Chet if those guys were to show up and play to their capability. I think Brandon Miller has a better shot than him [Scoot Henderson], they are in such disarray they are going to give him the Kings, and he has got a point guard who is going to feed him.”
As far as Scoot Henderson is concerned, Jefferson claimed that the Hornets’ Brandon Miller had a better chance of winning than him. Jefferson thinks that the Hornets will be built around Miller, while Scoot might need a huge season just to be considered. That, Jefferson believes, is down to the likes of Holmgren and Wemby, two players who he described as aliens.
Chet Holmgren and Victor Wmebanyama are the favorites for the 2024 ROTY
Both Holmgren and Wemby have emerged as the obvious choices for the Rookie title, Wemby even being compared to legends. The Spurs recently played against the OKC Thunder in the preseason, with Holmgren’s team emerging victories.
However, both the players were impressive, with Victor Wembanyama returning with 20 points and 5 rebounds on the night. Chet Holmgren scored 19 and also had 9 rebounds.
While they might have all the attention, there are multiple other stars who also will be optimistic about being in the race. This includes the likes of Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller, most notably.
