Diesel's top 10 Rookies Predictions.

[Diesel]

Who will be the best rookies? I will give my predictions.

1. Nene Halario. Lots of playing time in Denver. The kid is big. If Denver plays: Howard/Halario/Skitsville as their frontcourt, there will be lots of things to watch for. Namely the fast development of Halario. They put themselves in perfect position to go after Duncan or Oneal or Mourning next yr.

2. Dejuan Wagner. Now that Miller has been traded, the pressure is on Juanny.

3. Tskitsville. Again, Lots of playing time in denver. Plus a 7'0 Sf should be fun to watch. I want to see the Tskitsville/Gasol matchup.

4. Caron Butler. This guy will get a lot of playing time, but he has to adjust to not being the focus of the offense which will slow him.

5. Tayshun Prince. Detroit found a jewel. He will take the pressure off stackhouse and I believe will be their starting Sf over White.

6. Amare Stoudamire. A lot of people say Phoenix will take it slow with this kid. My question is Why? He has size, Skill, and is hungry to learn. He may be better than #6, he just have to split some time with Googs.

7. Yao Ming. He will be challenged often. He will get lots of rebounds. He won't get a whole lot of points.

8. Drew Gooden. I would put him higher but what will happen with Swift? They have a lot of talent in Memphis. I'm still waiting for the Swift/Dickerson for Jones trade to go through.

9. Carlos Boozer. Call me crazy but out of all the Dukies that went this yr, I feel that he will do the best because of who he has around him. Juanny, Murry, Miles, Boozer, Big Z. Boozer will also set records for fouling folks but what tha...

10. Milke Dunleavy Jr. Sad to say, I believe all the hype will not come true. Dunleavy Jr. will be a guy who can hit the open shot but he won't be a guy who can put the ball on the floor OR play in the low post. Dunleavy Jr. Will be reminenscent of Big Dog?

[Guest]

What about the Brazilian Ginobili? He looked pretty darn good at world's....?

[Zarathustra]

Well, Ginobili is actually from Argentina, but I think he could be up there, could end up with a lot of playing time, just like Tony Parker last year. Some foreign import will run away with the trophy, but I don't think it will be some young guy like Tsikitisvili, it will be a guy with a couple of years under him in a tough league like the Spanish or the Italian. I have never seen Ming, so can't say a thing about him...

The guy i'm hoping for is Drew Gooden, he is almost from Finland. But will he get PT?

[Hawksfreak]

How can't you add him!!!!!!!!!!!

[Boondocks]

Here's my crack at it,

1. Emanuel "Manu" Ginobili, Steve Smith is getting old and is in the last year of his contract so Manu will get all the playing time he can get plus he's already seasoned overseas so he should be ready to contribute.

2. Dajaun Wagner, he can undoubtedly score whenever he wants to, since the Cavs are heading toward the lottery anyway they'll choose to develop what they've got and not pay attention to playing time.

3. Yao Ming, guards on the China team didn't get him the ballbut his shot percentage was high for most games but on the rockets he'll do alot better.

4. Mehmet Okur, center from Turkey who was the leading scorer and rebounder on the turkish team. With detroit sending away 2 centers with the wiz trade they clearly are planning on playing Okur alot.

5. Marko Jaric, he actually outplayed his new teammate Andre Miller in a head to head matchup. I would rate him higher but I don't know how much playing time he'll get on the clips. Another seasoned player from Europe.

6. Marcus Haislip, Bucks may have actually gotten the sleeper from the draft. He was drafted as a PF and he has an amazing 42" vertical leap. However in the summer league he displayed a very solid 3pointer as well so he could actually play the 3 as well. He'll defintely get alot of pt on the 4 and 3.

7. "Skeeta" Tskitishvili, he can do it all but lacks competition experience. Amazing talent who should come around after the allstar break and make a run for ROY.

8. Maybyner "Nene" Hilario, another Nugget, just like Diesel said it's important to the Nuggets franchise that he'll develop as quickly as possible so playing untill he fouls out should be common.

9. Jason "Jay" Williams, eventhough I like Jamal more J will undoubtedly get alot of run within the bulls and he'll get to show whether he's hyped up or the real deal.

10. Amare Stoudemire, can you say "raw"? As a jr he outplayed seniors Chandler and Curry so he should be able to have solid games.

Dan Dickau? I don't think he'll get more then 10 minutes per game.