Andrew Wiggins this afternoon will become the ninth Minnesota top pro athlete — and first Timberwolves player — to win Rookie of the Year honors in his or her respective league over the past 25 seasons.
Here is a ranking of those nine athletes and how their careers turned out (with Wiggins' ranking based on potential).
(Note: Numerous entities hand out top rookie honors in the NFL, but for our purposes this is a winner of the Associated Press award for either the top offensive or defensive rookie):
1) Adrian Peterson, NFL, 2007: Even with what transpired in the past year, Peterson will retire someday as one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game. Whether he does so in purple remains to be seen, but there's no denying that he built on an amazing rookie season and kept on going.
2) Maya Moore, WNBA, 2011: The Lynx hadn't made the playoffs for six consecutive seasons until Moore joined the team in 2011. Not only did they make it that year, but they also won the WNBA title. By her fourth season, she was the league MVP. It doesn't get much better than that.
3) Randy Moss, NFL, 1998: He burst onto the scene, electrifying a fan base and taking the Vikings to the brink of the Super Bowl as a rookie. He had six great years here, a not-so-great-seventh, and some major accomplishments with New England. You could argue he belongs at the top of this list, but I put him here because there's still a part of me that wonders if he could have been even better. I don't wonder that about Peterson or Moore.
4) Andrew Wiggins, NBA, 2015: This is lofty company, showing what I think of Wiggins' potential. He might not have the gear to become one of the greatest ever at his position like Peterson or Moss, but can I picture a day when he's one of the top 10-15 players in the NBA? Easily, and it's not that far off.
5) Seimone Augustus, WNBA, 2006: She's a five-time All-Star and the MVP of the 2011 finals — a great player, a smooth scorer and a huge part of the success the Lynx have had in recent years.
