There comes a point in every season where we start looking
at the end. Now, I am never excited by the end of a sports season, because that
means that it is over, but there are interesting things that happen at the end
of this 66 game NBA slog. One of these things will be the Rookie of they Year
award. I have a list of the 5 players most likely to win this award. They may
not be everyone’s favorite player, or the ones with the most potential, but
they are the current players most likely to be voted MVP of Rookies when the
season is over.
Kyrie Irving (18.3 ppg, 4.8 apg, 48% fg)
This young man is currently the
frontrunner for Rookie of the Year. He has shown zero ill effects from his toe
injury at Duke, and is running the Cavaliers as well as can be expected. He is
handling the pick and roll on offense much better as the season rolls around,
and he is showing an athleticism that many people forgot he had. Kyrie Irving
is already on his way to being a top 10 point guard in the NBA.
Ricky Rubio (11.5 ppg, 8.4 apg, 2.4 sp)
The Spaniard wizard has taken the
NBA by storm this season. In the midst of “Linsanity” everyone has forgotten
how thrilling Rubio has been to watch this season. He makes passes that remind
people of Jason Kidd or Steve Nash, and he has shown great timing and
anticipation on defense, ranking 2nd in the NBA in steals per game.
Rubio should be a foundational part of the Minnesota Timberwolves for a long
time.
Kemba Walker (13.2 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.9 rpg)
Now, we don’t want any point guard
to be averaging more rebounds than assists for the season, but you have to give
Walker some slack since his team is AWFUL. I did not pick the Bobcats to be the
worst team in the league, but they have since showed that there are only 2-4
players on that entire roster worth keeping. In the meantime, Kemba Walker has
shown some promise as a scoring point guard. He is not a pure passer, but he
can get into the lane, finish in traffic, and is improving at finding the open
player. His stats will only go up as talent (somehow) surrounds him in
Charlotte.
Markieff Morris (8.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 41% 3pfg)
Like everyone else in the world,
Markieff Morris (formerly of the Morris
twins) benefits from playing with Steve Nash. Nash always finds people when
they are open, and all that they have to do is hit the jump shots. Well, Morris
has been doing a really good job of hitting those open jump shots. With range
that stretches out the 3 point line, Morris has the potential to be a Channing
Fry clone with a touch more nastiness. If he can find himself in the post once
in a while, he could really be a difference maker.
Marshon Brooks (14.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.0 apg)
Probably the most gifted scorer in
his class, Marshon Brooks has all the makings of a classic 2-guard. He is a
black hole on offense, he shoots too much, he thinks he can hit every shot, but
when he is hot he is something to watch. All of those issues I just mentioned
do come up, but when you see the young man glide by the defense with his
jillion foot long arms, you see some hope for him. Think of him as Nick Young
with a small afro and the potential for a conscience.
Well, those are my NBA rookie rankings for the time being. I
am sure that experts don’t agree with me, but these are the 5 rookies making
the biggest difference for their teams.
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