No other professional league has more impact players than the NBA, and the 2010-2011 season was no exception. Here's a look at the top rookies from last year's draft class and how they impacted the fantasy season.
PG: John Wall, Washington Wizards: It's a shame that Blake Griffin had to steal all the thunder from this year's rookie class because Wall was a truly special player. Injuries early in the year limited him to 69 games, but he finished the year with a very respectable 16.4 points and 8.3 assists, the latter of which ranked him seventh in the league. He shot just 41 percent from the field and averaged 3.8 turnovers, but his 1.8 steals and 4.1 rebounds all but made up for it. Wall should be a mid-round pick next season with plenty of upside going forward.
SG: Landry Fields, New York Knicks: He tailed off toward the end of the season which may have caused some to forget how good Fields was in the first half of the season. He averaged 11 points and seven rebounds through the first two months of the year, leading all rookie guards in rebounding and was also making over 50 percent of his shots. Many expected the departure of Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari to open things up even more for Fields, but Carmelo Anthony took over offensively, causing the rookie to average just 8.3 points and 4.3 rebounds the final two months.
SF:Wes Johnson, Minnesota Timberwolves: Evan Turner was expected to come out of the gates firing, but instead Johnson had the better rookie season. Small forward was a down year for the rookie class, but Johnson finished with 9 points and 3 rebounds and was a good pick down the stretch for fantasy owners. He gave consistent production all year and had a season-high of 29 points in a March loss to the Lakers. Minnesota is a mess (what's new?) but Johnson should have good value heading into 2011.
PF: Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers: Wow. That's about all you can say about the Rookie of the Year's performance this season. Griffin averaged 22.5 points on 50 percent shooting and 12.2 rebounds in 2010, playing in all 82 games for the Clips. He peaked in January when he averaged 26 and 13 and averaged at least 20 and 10 in every month (not counting October). His free throw percentage (65%) was less than stellar but you will not find an owner who wasn't ecstatic with Griffin's performance in 2010, considering he went somewhere in the fourth through sixth rounds of the draft.
C: DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings: It was a true "up-and-down" season for Cousins, in every sense of the word. Rookies hit walls at times that Cousins never did, but he always seem to follow up huge performances with duds. His shot selection was questioned at times, as he made just 43 percent of his shots, but he finished with 14 points and 8.6 rebounds on the year and averaged a steal and a block per game. If he can keep his head on straight he could be special in a few years, but that's a big "if" at this point.
Comments