Week 6: Eye On The Rookies

Draftnation's Zach Bowers is keeping his eye on the NBA rookies and gives us his Top Five Rookie of the Year canidates and his "Impact Three" rookies.

Sorry about the delay folks. There hasn't been a whole lot of change in the past couple of weeks as far as the rookies go, but my workload at school sure has picked up. Anyway here are the Top 5 and Impact 3 rookies for week 6 of this young NBA season.

Top 5

1. Derrick Rose, PG, Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose is playing head and shoulders above almost every other rookie. The guy looks like a veteran on the court because of the way he takes care of the ball and is able to beat almost any defender off the dribble. He is shooting almost 50% from the field and is averaging 6.1 assists per game which leads all rookies. Chicago should be smiling about having this guy.


2. OJ Mayo, SG, Memphis Grizzlies: Mayo rounds out the nearly consensus top two rookies. Both Mayo and Rose are putting up big numbers on mediocre teams, but Mayo has been more of a shooter and less of a ball handler. Still he is averaging 2.5 assists per game to go along with very good rebounding numbers for a guard (4.3 RPG). The big knock on Mayo thus far has been not getting to the line enough (only 3.7 FTA per game) despite shooting 88% from the line.


3. Rudy Fernandez, SG, Portland Trail Blazers: Fernandez is still a lightning rod for the Trail Blazers coming off the bench. He is a spark for the second unit of this team and the chemistry between him and fellow Spaniard Sergio Rodriquez is amazing. Surprisingly his impact has helped the Trail Blazers more than . . .


4. Greg Oden, C, Portland Trail Blazers: Oden's transition to the NBA has been a little slow, but that should have been expected since he hasn't played basketball at a level close the NBA in over a year. Now Oden has finally found his way into our rookie rankings after facing a lot of pressure before stepping foot on an NBA court. His numbers aren't stellar, but he is a beast on the offensive glass and is solid on defense for the Blazers. Oden has the best chance of rising in these rankings compared to any other rookie.


5. Michael Beasley, PF, Miami Heat: Beasley got called "Tito Jackson" by Charles Barkley last week, but he has been a solid role player all year. He isn't a huge reason the Heat 12-10 (see Wade, Dwayne), but his 14 points and 5 rebounds per game aren't a liability either.

Impact Three

1. Anthony Morrow, SG, Golden State Warriors: Morrow is now a mainstay in the starting lineup for the Warriors which is truly an accomplishment because of the way Don Nelson flips his lineups around. He is an efficient scorer that is flourishing under Nelson's run and gun system.


2. George Hill, PG, San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs sure know how to draft. Hill was selected 26th overall and has found his way into the Spurs rotation because of his ability to hit open shots and get to the free throw line. Hill is an important piece to the Spurs championship hopes because he brings an energy that most of the "old guys" can't bring every night.


3. Brook Lopez, C, New Jersey Nets: The Nets are 11-10 and are playoff contenders in large part to the imporved play of Lopez (and Vince Carter and Devin Harris). They Nets were sorely lacking a big man and they found one in Lopez. His minutes have dropped since the return of Josh Boone, but his play only gets better with more minutes.