Handing out the latest NBL midseason awards

With round nine marking the midway point of the NBL season, we go through each of the major awards and pick out the winners if the season ended today.

Credit: Cam McBride Photography

Rookie of the Year: Sam Waardenburg, Cairns Taipans

There are favourites, there are short-priced favourites, and then there is Sam Waardenburg in the Rookie of the Year race. The Cairns Taipans big man was highly touted coming into the league, and through the first nine rounds of the season he has been exactly as advertised.

Waardenburg showed a unique skillset while at the University of Miami, leading the Hurricanes in both blocks per game and three point percentage in his senior year. Standing at 208 centimetres tall, his shooting and defence made him an intriguing and sought after prospect in the NBL. In the end, the offer of a starting role with the Taipans was enough to tip the scales in their favour.

Halfway through the season, Waardenburg has well and truly justified that starting spot while showing his full range of skills. His 10.5 points per game leads all rookies by a good margin, and he has continued to shoot the ball well, knocking down 38.2% of his triples while taking 3.1 per game. Most impressive, though, has been the way that he has used that shooting threat to expand his game. With defenders closing out hard to the perimeter, he has shown the ability to put the ball on the floor and make plays off the dribble.

Defensively, Waardenburg has flashed a similar level of versatility and value.