So yesterday I gave my thoughts on who was going to win the championship (OKC) with a little about LeBron and and a certain MVP award. Today, I want to talk about the rookies. With the exception of the 1996 NBA draft, featuring: Kobe, AI, Ray Allen, Starbury, Marcus Camby, Steve Nash, Jermaine O’Neal, Derek Fisher, Antoine Walker, Lorenzen Wright (R.I.P.) who were and are all stars in their day, this 2012 NBA draft was possibly the most talent filled draft class to date especially in comparison to last years class.
Players like: Anthony Davis, Austin Rivers, Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, Thomas Robinson, Dion Waitors, Bradley Beal, Quincy Miller, Royce White, Jonas Valanciunas and Jeremy Lamb are all possible future stars in the NBA, but at the same time of course there is the massive chance we could have a class full of Kwame Browns and Darko Milicics on our hands.
Also, there is a lot of pressure on Anthony Davis to live up to three things.
- The amazing standard for Rookie of the year set last year by Kyrie Irving.
- His amazing freshman season at Kentucky last year in the NCAA.
- To continue on from his great performance with team USA at the Olympics in London.
This has two outcomes. He fails miserably and becomes an overpaid role player being constantly slated by the media and fans for being a draft bust. A more probable and happier outcome is that he breaks out this season wins rookie of the year and soon becomes the crown jewel of the New Orleans Hornets and leads them to a deep playoff run or maybe a championship. Hopefully it will be the latter. The ‘Uniblocker’ (as he described himself before the draft) has confidence and feels everyone in the league should be wary that he’s just around the corner waiting to swat any shot you throw up away!
My tips for the ROY award are Andre Drummond or Damian Lillard (who has a great you tube series ‘a license to Lillard’) who’ve been really impressive in the summer league but, it’s a tricky thing to predict as there can be draft steals like Isaiah Thomas last year who can emerge out of nowhere as great talents and if there’s one thing a rookie is known for is inconsistency. At the same time where you were picked in the draft or how well you play in your rookie season certainly doesn’t define your career. Kobe Bryant, being the prime example.
Part 3, coming tomorrow.
