NBA Blog

So I realize that I offered a teaser of my predictions of the All Rookie Teams last Friday, only to leave everyone hanging.  Not cool, I realize that.  My bad.  Seriously, I really dropped the ball on that one.

Not to worry, though.  I have the first of my award winning NBA predictions below.

(So, they have not won an award yet, but give me time.)

Durant is going to win the Rookie of the Year Award as I previously mentioned, which means he will clearly be on the NBA All-Rookie First Team as well.  He will be joined by the following players:

First Team:
G - Juan Carlos Navarro - A rookie from Spain who will quickly steal minutes away from Mike Conley, Jr., Tarence Kinsey, and Randy Foye.  The Grizzlies actually have a nice collection of young point/combo guards to run their fast paced offense.  It will be interesting to see how that rotation unfolds, especially with Damon Stoudamire back in the mix. 
G - Kevin Durant - He’s starting the year at the two guard, so he’s making my team as the two guard. 
F - Al Thornton - I was torn between Thornton and Horford here, because I absolutely love how Horford’s game is going to transition into the NBA, but the Hawks just have too many bodies that they want to get minutes, including Horford, (uberwasted pick) Shelden Williams, Marvin Williams and Josh Smith.  Horford and/or Williams will share minutes with Pachulia, but I still don’t see enough time to go around for all.  Unlike Navarro, Horford will still have to develop against the professional players.
F - Luis Scola - This is the guy that I believe will make a run at Durant as the top rookie.  He’s 27 years old, and he’s been dominant in Europe.  Plus, there is that little axe to grind with the Spurs for never bringing him over to the U.S.  Scola will not have the stats to compete with Durant over the long haul, but he will be a very good rookie for the entire season.
C - Kyrylo Fesenko - This is my sleeper.  I watched him get minutes during the summer league game, and I hopped on the Fess bandwagon.  He is huge, he runs the floor really well, and he’s got a nasty streak that I have not seen in any Euro big men.  Once he breaks into Jerry Sloan’s rotation, he will stay there.  This kid is something special, and the stories I have been hearing about his personality are hilarious. 

Second Team:
G - Marco Belinelli - A sweet shooting guard for Nellie-ball.  I’m waiting for the first Sportscenter highlight where Belinelli gets hot and knocks down 6 3’s in 13 minutes of game action.  Pietrus and Davis have a knack for getting hurt, Jax is missing the first seven games, and Monta Ellis’ nasty injury (which has not received enough press coverage) means that there will be plenty of minutes to be distributed between Kelenna Azubuike and Belinelli.  (Personally, I don’t buy the news that the Warrior rookies are spending the first part of the season in the NBDL, at least not Belinelli).
G - Rodney Stuckey - The Pistons will play solid all year long, and Billups and Rip will need some help from the bench.  Stuckey is able to rotate between the two guard positions, and he should see enough time to beat out Thaddeus Young for this spot.
F - Corey Brewer - Somebody has to play in Minnesota right?  Jefferson and Brewer should have solid fantasy seasons, but they won’t do much as far as wins are concerned.
F - Al Horford - He may not make the first team, but I believe he will be the third most important thing from this draft class right behind Kevin Durant and Greg Oden’s knee when all is said and done.
C - Jo Noah - Once again, there are no centers in the draft that will contribute much.  While I like Noah’s energy, he reminds me of nothing more than Mikki Moore.  Moore is a great energy guy, but do we really talk about him all that much?  No, so why does Noah get the hype.

Inconspicuously left off the list:
Jeff Green - solid season, just no ‘wow’ factor.  He will be like the Rounder of this draft class, never in the top, but never in the bottom either.  He’s gonna come in and do solid things every night.
Thaddeus Young - The wild card.  He has some tremendous athletic ability, but there’s no way to know how long it will take for him to develop.
Mike Conley, Jr. - Not enough minutes for him behind Foye, Navarro, Stoudamire, and Kinsey.

Left off for a big reason:
Morris Almond - I like his shooting stroke, but as I watched the other players on his team during the Summer League, I noticed that Matt Lojeski (white kid from Hawaii) is a MUCH better shooter.  I mean, Lojeski’s jumper is phenomenal, a la Mike Miller.  I’m on the Lojeski bandwagon, which makes two rookie Utah players that I like.  Add that to the Utah players that I have liked in my life, and that makes two.  (Note: Greatest of all time “NBA Hoops” flops, Rafael Araujo is also listed on the Utah roster for now, which continuously haunts me like the ghost of Luke Jackson).