Bucks' Brandon Jennings leads NBA rookie class
The draft is obviously crucial to any pro sport, but nowhere is it as important as in the NBA. This year's rookie class has been solid to date, and that's without the overall No. 1 pick Blake Griffin seeing any action yet as the Clippers youngster recovers from a knee injury. Leading the way so far is Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks. After a little European seasoning, Jennings is already among the league's top point guards.
If you don’t draft well in the NBA, you’re toast. No other major betting sport is as dependent upon fresh blood, and there’s a big discrepancy in talent between the first round, the second round, and the free-agent leftovers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are only who they are today because they won the lottery and drafted LeBron James first overall in 2003. The Los Angeles Clippers, meanwhile, selected Michael Olowokandi No. 1 in 1998. Oops.
Of course, there are only a few choice rookies to go around. Most will have a minimal impact on their teams in Year One; some will be amazingly good right out of the box, which spills over into the ATS column, while others will go bust and drag their teams down at the pay window.
The Class of 2009 has been quite good so far – although we still haven’t seen No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin (again to the Clippers) because of a stress fracture in his knee. Griffin is expected to debut in January and has star potential as the reigning Wooden Award winner. For now, the Clippers are 13-17 SU and headed for the soup kitchen at 11-18-1 ATS.
Here’s a look at the 2009 rookies who have made the biggest impact on the betting odds, for better or worse.
Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee Bucks (No. 10 overall)
The leading contender for Rookie of the Year honors is not a rookie in the truest sense, skipping college altogether to start his pro career in Europe with Lottomatica Roma. It’s hard to argue with that career path.
After some overseas exposure, Jennings (22.2 points, 7.0 assists per 40 minutes) is already one of the better point guards in the NBA, and the Bucks have a shot at the playoffs in the Eastern Conference at 12-16 (16-12 ATS). The added burst of scoring Jennings provides has the 'over' at 17-11, second only to the Atlanta Hawks (18-11) in the league.
Tyreke Evans, Sacramento Kings (No. 4 overall)
Evans was the preseason favorite for the ROY award, and appears poised to take over as the favorite while Jennings cools off in Milwaukee. The Kings have played the 6-foot-6 Evans at both guard positions and have gotten very strong results: 22.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per 40 minutes. The Kings have been railroaded by injuries this year, but are still doing handicappers proud at 13-16 (18-10-1 ATS) with the 'over' at 16-11-2, the best in the West.
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (No. 7 overall)
There was some concern about Golden State pulling the trigger on Curry at the draft. He’s a consummate shooter, leading all of Division I last year with 28.6 points per game, but his point guard skills are questionable and his defense lacking.
The Warriors immediately plugged him in the starting backcourt at the 1-spot with another combo guard, Monta Ellis, and Curry has responded with a fairly benign 14.7 points and 5.7 assists per 40 minutes. The bonus: Curry is hitting 40.4 percent of his 3-point attempts, enough to keep 8-21 Golden State out of the red at 14-14-1 ATS with the 'over' at 15-14.
Terrence Williams, New Jersey Nets (No. 11 overall)
There are far too many things going wrong with the Nets (2-28 SU, 9-21 ATS) to pin the blame on their first-round draft pick. But Williams is part of the problem. The swingman has plenty of athleticism and, as far as we can tell, a low basketball IQ as well as a poor shooting touch. Williams has given the Nets 15.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per 40 minutes as one of their top reserves (23.2 minutes per game).
They’ll have to live with his growing pains for now, because New Jersey is thin on talent with an eye on the 2010 free-agent class, not to mention a change in ownership and the long-rumored move to Brooklyn. The 'under' is 18-9-3 for the punchless Nets.
The draft is obviously crucial to any pro sport, but nowhere is it as important as in the NBA. This year's rookie class has been solid to date, and that's without the overall No. 1 pick Blake Griffin seeing any action yet as the Clippers youngster recovers from a knee injury. Leading the way so far is Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks. After a little European seasoning, Jennings is already among the league's top point guards.
If you don’t draft well in the NBA, you’re toast. No other major betting sport is as dependent upon fresh blood, and there’s a big discrepancy in talent between the first round, the second round, and the free-agent leftovers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are only who they are today because they won the lottery and drafted LeBron James first overall in 2003. The Los Angeles Clippers, meanwhile, selected Michael Olowokandi No. 1 in 1998. Oops.
Of course, there are only a few choice rookies to go around. Most will have a minimal impact on their teams in Year One; some will be amazingly good right out of the box, which spills over into the ATS column, while others will go bust and drag their teams down at the pay window.
The Class of 2009 has been quite good so far – although we still haven’t seen No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin (again to the Clippers) because of a stress fracture in his knee. Griffin is expected to debut in January and has star potential as the reigning Wooden Award winner. For now, the Clippers are 13-17 SU and headed for the soup kitchen at 11-18-1 ATS.
Here’s a look at the 2009 rookies who have made the biggest impact on the betting odds, for better or worse.
Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee Bucks (No. 10 overall)
The leading contender for Rookie of the Year honors is not a rookie in the truest sense, skipping college altogether to start his pro career in Europe with Lottomatica Roma. It’s hard to argue with that career path.
After some overseas exposure, Jennings (22.2 points, 7.0 assists per 40 minutes) is already one of the better point guards in the NBA, and the Bucks have a shot at the playoffs in the Eastern Conference at 12-16 (16-12 ATS). The added burst of scoring Jennings provides has the 'over' at 17-11, second only to the Atlanta Hawks (18-11) in the league.
Tyreke Evans, Sacramento Kings (No. 4 overall)
Evans was the preseason favorite for the ROY award, and appears poised to take over as the favorite while Jennings cools off in Milwaukee. The Kings have played the 6-foot-6 Evans at both guard positions and have gotten very strong results: 22.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per 40 minutes. The Kings have been railroaded by injuries this year, but are still doing handicappers proud at 13-16 (18-10-1 ATS) with the 'over' at 16-11-2, the best in the West.
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (No. 7 overall)
There was some concern about Golden State pulling the trigger on Curry at the draft. He’s a consummate shooter, leading all of Division I last year with 28.6 points per game, but his point guard skills are questionable and his defense lacking.
The Warriors immediately plugged him in the starting backcourt at the 1-spot with another combo guard, Monta Ellis, and Curry has responded with a fairly benign 14.7 points and 5.7 assists per 40 minutes. The bonus: Curry is hitting 40.4 percent of his 3-point attempts, enough to keep 8-21 Golden State out of the red at 14-14-1 ATS with the 'over' at 15-14.
Terrence Williams, New Jersey Nets (No. 11 overall)
There are far too many things going wrong with the Nets (2-28 SU, 9-21 ATS) to pin the blame on their first-round draft pick. But Williams is part of the problem. The swingman has plenty of athleticism and, as far as we can tell, a low basketball IQ as well as a poor shooting touch. Williams has given the Nets 15.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per 40 minutes as one of their top reserves (23.2 minutes per game).
They’ll have to live with his growing pains for now, because New Jersey is thin on talent with an eye on the 2010 free-agent class, not to mention a change in ownership and the long-rumored move to Brooklyn. The 'under' is 18-9-3 for the punchless Nets.
