Nikola Mirotic Takes 2nd In Rookie Of The Year Voting Behind Andrew Wiggins

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Dressed in a Navy blue tuxedo with shiny black lapels, Andrew Wiggins certainly looked the part while collecting his NBA rookie of the year award Thursday.

He looked even better on the court in his first season in the league.

Wiggins became the first Minnesota Timberwolves player to win the rookie of the year, and he did it in a landslide. He received 110 of 130 first-place votes and had 604 points in the voting. Chicago's Nikola Mirotic finished second with 14 first-place votes and 335 points and Philadelphia's Nerlens Noel was third.

"It means a lot to me," Wiggins said. "I know it means a lot to the organization and there's a whole lot of history. It should bring a lot of hope for the future of the Minnesota Timberwolves. It should give people a different look at things. This is the uprising. We've got a lot of young talent."

After coming to the Timberwolves in the trade that sent Kevin Love to Cleveland, Wiggins averaged 16.9 points and 4.6 rebounds while playing all 82 games.

Wiggins was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cavaliers last summer and has been a heavily hyped prospect since he was a teenager growing up in Toronto. He lived up to that in his first year in the NBA, emerging as the new centerpiece of a franchise that has not made the playoffs for 11 straight years.

Mirotic averaged 10.2 points on 40.5 percent shooting while adding 4.9 rebounds per game.

"He had a terrific year," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He has a very bright future. He's just got to keep working.

"I love the way he approaches things, how he works, who he is. It's only going to get better and better."

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.