Blake Griffin is the obvious front-runner for this year’s Rookie of the Year award, but Tyreke Evans is quietly winning critics over with his play for the Sacremento Kings so far during this preseason.
The Kings, a franchise in need of a spark and a point guard, took Evans with the fourth pick in June’s draft ahead of more traditional playmakers like Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn. Despite many seeing Evans as more of a two-guard than a point, the Kings liked the matchup problems that his size (6’6) creates when paired in the backcourt with 6’7 scorer Kevin Martin and his ability to get to the rim.
As evidenced by his one season at Memphis, Evans is not exactly the best candidate to deftly run an offense without mistakes (3.9 AST/3.6 TO), but the Kings will not be overextending his responsibilities in the offense and will allow him to play to his strengths.
“He just needs to play the way he plays,” Coach Paul Westphal said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “We’re not going to ask him to be the orchestrator of all things for this team. We have a lot of offense initiated that is initiated by many different people. He’s not being asked [to] be the second coming of Bob Cousy. We’re asking him to attack and make the right decisions when the defense adjusts to his attack.”
Evans has impressed through the pre-season, putting up 15.2 points per-game along with 5.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists, but his average of four turnovers a contest is another reminder that he is still an unfinished product with much room to grow his game.
“Turnovers are always going to be an issue,” Westphal said. “I’m sure he’ll have some games where he turns it over more than he and we would like to, but it’s all part of the learning process. You don’t learn without being aggressive, you’re going to make some mistakes.”
Evans has already earned the respect of his veteran teammates and could be a devastating offensive player in the future once he improves his jumper and develops a post-game to take advantage of his 7-foot wingspan.
“I just love playing with that guy,” Martin said to CowbellKingdom.com. “That’s the guy I wanted since day one and I got him. So just being here on the court with him, we’re still learning each other’s games. We work together everyday. It’s just going to get better and better.”
Handicapping the Rookie of the Year Race:
The Contenders (The guys who will make a serious case for the award)
| Blake Griffin | The combination of the Clippers expected improvement, his hustle and expected 15-10 stat line should give him a stranglehold on the award. |
| Tyreke Evans | Will get the appropriate playing time to post big numbers, but the Kings anticipated poor record will most likely hold him back from seriously challenging Griffin. |
| Johnny Flynn | If he can get 30 minutes a night for the Timberwolves – and most likely will – watch out! A line of 15 and 6 on an emerging team will garner him a few looks from voters. |
Good, not Great
| James Harden | Having Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green will take away touches from him on offense, but his presence might be enough keep the Thunder hanging within sniffing distance of the playoffs into March. Expect a line of 13-3-3. |
| Stephen Curry | Despite his prowess in college, Curry has yet to really find his stroke in the preseason. He will certainly have his moments this season, but his inconsistencies and Don Nelson’s erratic substitution patterns will probably keep him from being a serious contender. Then again nothing is certain in Golden State and he might end up logging 35 minutes a night – Nobody knows. |
The Fan Favorites (They won’t be stars, but they will be impact players in their roles and will leave you wishing your team had taken them)
Omri Cassapi
DeJuan Blair
Terrence Williams
Jonas Jerebko
Serge Ibaka
Chase Budinger
Marcus Thornton
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