Friday, November 13, 2009

Top 3+ Rookies of the 09/10 Season

Even though the season has really just begun, there are already a handful of rookies who are making a name for themselves, and should be rostered in most leagues.  As for the #1 and #2 draft picks of this year's NBA draft, their potential is still up in the air.  Blake Griffin is still owned by 73% of Yahoo! fantasy owners, but has yet to play due to a knee injury which will keep him sidelined for at least another few weeks.  Further posts on this subject may have him on the list, but as for now--not!  Hasheem Thabeet, the #2 pick, has a wopping 4 points and 11 rebounds in 7 games this year, on a Memphis Grizzlies team that has more than their fare share of issues (we'll chat about you, Allen Iverson, in a later post)!  Also, Thabeet will be sidelined for some time with a fractured jaw after colliding into teammate Zach Randolph's head.  Now that's a noggin' floggin'.  

Top 3 Fantasy Rookies

1.  Brandon Jennings--Milwaukee Bucks (PG)
Move over Luke Ridnour!  Jennings has been lighting up the stat sheet since game 1, where he nearly triple doubled with 17 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 9 assists.  He has kept that pace up in the absence of Michael Redd and averages a modest 20 points (on 45% shooting), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, nearly 2 3's, and over 1 steal after 6 games.  His points may dip a bit if Redd comes back healthy, but this guy is good to go!  Get him rostered.

2.  Tyreke Evans--Sacramento Kings (PG/SG)
This year's 4th pick of the NBA draft has been a good one thus far, and should continue to produce for some time.  The 6'6 PG, who has moved over to SG in the absence of Kevin Martin, is averaging a healthy 16 points, 4 + rebounds/assists, 1.5 steals, and 7 FT attempts a game.  He capped off last week hitting 16/19 FT attempts against a good Utah team, and followed that up going 10/10 against the Thunder!  Evans' shooting % is a little low at just under 40%, but don't let that stop you from picking him up if you can.

3.  Jonny Flynn--Minnesota Timberwolves (PG/SG)
Flynn is actually ranked higher than both Jennings and Evans on Yahoo! fantasy charts, but gets the #3 rank here possibly due to the impact and minutes he is playing.  Minnesota has another talented young PG in Ramon Sessions, which allows Flynn a little less than 30 min. a game.  Nonetheless, he is averaging 15 points (48.5%), 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, almost 1 three a game, and over a steal in 9 games thus far.   

Honourable Mentions (#4 and more)
  • Stephen Curry--Golden State Warriors (PG/SG) Curry had a few promising starts to the early season, but as Don Nelson does, lineup changes have him coming off the bench where he has been less productive. We'll see how this all plays out, but he should be good for more minutes and a starting role again sometime soon. Right Don???
  • Taj Gibson--Chicago Bulls (SF/PF) With Tyrus Thomas out from his pull-up incident, Gibson has been putting up some decent starter numbers. He capped off a loss to the Raptors going for 18 points, with 5 rebounds, and 2 assists/steals/blocks!
  • Dejuan Blair--San Antonio Spurs (SF/PF) If Tim Duncan ever goes down for an extended period of time, watch out for Blair (and don't think it's a stretch for that to happen)! Although he isn't living up to as much of the hype he created during the preseason, he is still averaging a healthy 7.3 rebounds and almost 7 points per game on 60.5% shooting.
  • Omri Casspi--Sacramento Kings (SF/PF) Here's another guy that's going to benefit from the injury to Kevin Martin. Against Golden State this week, Casspi played 35+ minutes, scoring 12 points (all 3 pointers) with 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Keep your eye on this guy.

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