Insider Special: Rookie Watch

[Guest]

NBA Rookie Watch:

Stoudemire rises above Yao

By Terry Brown

Thursday, January 23 Updated 11:58 AM EST

This is the year after Rashard Lewis was supposed to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding as he led Hometown State to the NCAA title before being named College Player of the Year before being selected third in the upcoming draft behind a high school demigod and a foreign power forward with point guard skills.

Lewis

Imagine where he would stand on our Rookie of the Year Power Rankings if he were averaging 17.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as he is now for the Seattle Sonics.

Instead, he is a multi-millionaire on the verge of all star-hood after nearly being let go by the team that drafted him following his 2.4 point per game rookie season after breaking down on draft day in the green room, barely able to see beyond the tears to the board that listed him the third pick of the second round after leaving Alief Elsik High School in Texas in 1998.

Vince Carter won the ROY that year, followed by Elton Brand and Steve Francis, then Mike Miller then Pau Gasol.

Not Jonathan Bender or Darius Miles or Kwame Brown.

Now imagine where Bender would be if he had stayed in college for at least three years.

He was drafted No. 5 in 1999 and is averaging six points and 2.8 rebounds per game this season while Ron Artest, who was also a McDonald's High School All-American, played two years at St. John's, was drafted No. 16 in 1999 and is averaging 15.7 points and 5.4 rebounds in the same position as Bender plays on the same exact team.

Miles was drafted No. 3 in 2000 and is averaging 8.2 points and 5.6 rebounds this season for the Cleveland Cavs. Desmond Mason, after playing four years at Oklahoma State, was drafted No. 17 in 2000, won the slam dunk contest, may win the Sixthman of the Year and is averaging 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Sonics.

Brown was drafted No. 1 in 2001 and is averaging 7.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Tyson Chandler was drafted No. 2 and is averaging 7.9 points and 5.3 rebounds. Eddy Curry was drafted No. 4 and is averaging six points and 3.1 rebounds. DeSagana Diop was drafted No. 8 and is averaging 1.6 points and 2.7 rebounds.

Troy Murphy, who played three years at Notre Dame, was drafted No. 14 in 2001 and is averaging 11.7 points and 9.9 rebounds.

This is not to say that Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant or LeBron James shouldn't go pro straight from sixth period when they probably could have ditched fifth and gone after fourth.

This is saying that Paul Pierce, who played three years at Kansas, was drafted No. 10 in 1998, 22 picks before Lewis, and is averaging 25.9 points and 7.4 rebounds as an MVP candidate for the Boston Celtics.

1. Amare Stoudemire

Phoenix Suns

Numbers: 13.2 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 0.8 apg, 0.7 spg, 1 bpg, 47% shooting

Comment: The next Kevin Garnett. No, make that Shawn Kemp. No, make that . . . I remember meeting him for the first time during summer leagues, polite and reserved after the game, nothing like the demon possessed that just rocked the junior college gym he was debuting in as a professional basketball player. Shaq was his idol, he said, and, by the way, he wanted to be the first kid drafted right out of high school to be named Rookie of the Year. For the month, he's averaging 15.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, somewhat below KG's 22.9 and 12.7 but well above Kemp's 5.7 and 5.5. That last comparison probably wasn't fair, but neither was the one preceding it when Stoudemire started this season.

2. Yao Ming

Houston Rockets

Numbers: 12.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.3 spg, 2.0 bpg, 51% shooting

Comment: And you never thought a 7-foot-5 center weighing 296 pounds could fit under a microscope. You love him, you hate him, you love him again and then the younger, smaller kid above him on this list beats him up for 24 points and 13 rebounds and all of a sudden there's a new Next. One writer said that by the time this was all said and done, Yao would be "at least" as good as Shaq was. This writer is saying that when Shaq was a rookie, he averaged 23.4 points and 13.9 rebounds per game and didn't need a single writer to say he would be "at least" as good as Wilt was. Yao's 10 points and 10 boards against Shaq were admirable considering that the Diesel has wrecked stronger, better centers on much bigger stages who would have been grateful for the double-double handout. But other writers decided it was the equivalent of Shaq's 31 and 13 that night. Which is too bad because by the time this kid is putting up real double-doubles in regularity, we may not know if we're still using the magnifying glass.

3. Caron Butler

Miami Heat

Numbers: 13.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.3 bpg, 40% shooting

Comment: He's hot then he's cold. He's hot then he's cold. But that doesn't change the fact that in November, he averaged 12.5 points per game. In December, he averaged 13.2. And in January, while most rookies are hitting the wall (see below), he is averaging 15.9. He is Miami's second-leading scorer while also being fourth on the team in rebounds and assists and first in steals. There is one, and only one, player who the Heat want to keep on this roster next season and it isn't Eddie Jones or Brian Grant.

4. Nene Hilario

Denver Nuggets

Numbers: 9.5 ppg, 6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.7 bpg, 49% shooting

Comment: On Jan. 13, Nene tallied four points and four rebounds. On Jan. 15, he put up 24 points and nine boards. On Jan. 17, he was back down to six points and seven boards. So far this season, there have been 19 games in which he has scored 10 or fewer points. And then there have been the four games in which he's scored 20 or more points or the seven games in which he's grabbed 10 or more rebounds. Such is the life of an NBA rookie. As long as the latter are beginning to come more frequently than the former.

5. (tie) Drew Gooden

Memphis Grizzlies

Numbers: 12.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.5 bpg, 45% shooting

Comment: Officially hit the wall on Dec. 22, 2002 versus the Utah Jazz when he scored five points on 2 of 6 shooting. Since then, he has averaged a decent 10.2 points per game but shot 39 percent in the process as his team improves but he plays fewer and fewer minutes.

5. (tie) Dajuan Wagner

Cleveland Cavaliers

Numbers: 14.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.1 bpg, 35% shooting

Comment: Officially hit the wall on Jan. 12, 2003 versus the Seattle Sonics when he scored three points on 1 of 6 shooting. Since then, he's averaged 7.8 points per game on 27 percent shooting and toiling under a new head coach after his old one was fired for lack of player development.

5. (tie) Jay Williams

Chicago Bulls

Numbers: 9.5 ppg, 3 rpg, 5.3 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.2 bpg, 37% shooting

Comment: Officially hit the wall on Dec. 31, 2002 versus the Portland Blazers when he scored nine points on 3 of 9 shooting. Since then, he has averaged 3.7 points per game on 21 percent shooting and is currently on the injured reserve list with a left ankle sprain.