With some
teams nearing and some teams already past the halfway point (41-game mark) of
the season, I felt it would be best to take stock of the 2012-2013 rookies and
see where they stand. Many people feel Portland’s Damian Lillard has been, by
far, the best of the lot, but a look at the freshmen’s most recent stats
indicate that the Weber State product might not be as far removed from the rest
of the competition as may be advertised.
Some rookies
have remained quietly consistent (Anthony Davis), while others have really
busted out in the last couple of weeks (Andre Drummond and Bradley Beal).
Lillard, by virtue of his overall impact on the Blazers’ performance, might
still have the inside track in the race for the Rookie-of-the-Year plum, but
that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s way ahead of everyone else. On the contrary,
the following numbers actually show that Lillard is no longer the top newcomer
in the Association.
5 - Tyler Zeller (CLE) - 9.0ppg, 8.4rpg,
2.4bpg, .895 FT%, 14.4 EFF
The Tar Heel
is making the most out of Anderson Varejao’s absence. The near-double-double
average and eye-popping blocks-per-game stat are all mouth-watering for
Cleveland fans, and these have cushioned the crunch of another “rebuilding” season
in Ohio. For Fantasy NBA peeps, he might be a really nice pick-up, too!
4 - Bradley Beal (WAS) - 16.2ppg, .545 FG%,
.636 3pt%, 15.4 EFF
One of my
students swears by the Wizards, and Beal has become his second-most-favorite
player (the first one is Jordan Crawford and NOT John Wall – go figure). The
rookie has really come alive of late, and the Wizards have been awfully scary
because of him. Washington has won 5 of its last 7 games.
 |
Bradley Beal is making waves in the East, and seems to
be muddling up the ROY picture a little bit.
(image by Don Ryan/AP) |
3 - Damian Lillard (POR) - 16.4ppg, 3.8rpg,
7.2apg, 15.6 EFF
One of my
students believes Lillard is the runaway ROY. His numbers have dipped a bit
compared to earlier in the season, but this does not diminish his stock one
bit. He’s made Portland relevant again, and perhaps no other stat is as
important as that. It’s a bummer, however, that they’ve lost their last 6
games.
2 - Andre Drummond (DET) - 10.8ppg, 7.8rpg,
2.2bpg, .742 FG%, 18.6 EFF
Detroit has
won 3 of its last 5, and Drummond is a big reason why. Whereas Greg Monroe is
the legit low post threat, Drummond is the high-flying complement who does the
dirty work around the rim like collaring rebounds and blocking shots. And would
you look at that field goal percentage – nearly 75%!!! That means that, for the
past 5 games, the rookie has made about 3 of every 4 shots. Now THAT should
surely turn some heads.
1 - Anthony Davis (NOH) - 12.8ppg, 8.6rpg,
1.2spg, 2.4bpg, .651 FG%, 21.2 EFF
The top
overall pick hasn’t made a lot of noise outside of a couple of highlight reels
every week, but that’s mainly because the Hornets suck (yes, even if they’ve
won 3 of their last 5). Still, Davis, at least in terms of the numbers, is the
bona fide most productive rookie out there every night. His numbers actually
aren’t that far off from the rookie numbers of another top overall pick big man,
Dwight Howard, who normed 12.0ppg, 10.0rpg, 1.7bpg, and shot 67.1% from the
floor in his first NBA season. If I may be so bold, I’d advise the Lakers to actually
ship Dwight to New Orleans in exchange for Davis. Now THAT’s straight up trade
that’ll jettison the biggest crybaby in California in favor of, potentially,
the most dominant force in the 2012 class.
