NBA News 2011: Kyrie Irving among few impact rookies

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Over the past few seasons, rookies have had a varied impact upon the fantasy hoops landscape. Two years ago, Stephen Curry and Tyreke Evans were studs, and nine rookies cracked the top 150 on the Player Rater. Last year, Blake Griffin, John Wall and Landry Fields were the only three to do so. But what will the prognosis be for this year's class, widely panned as one of the weakest groups of all time? Well, beyond Kyrie Irving, who will see run in Cleveland and have a chance to put up numbers, few rookies will be on the fantasy radar come draft day. Before seeing how their minutes shake out and skill sets translate, it's difficult to rationalize the gamble of spending a valuable draft pick on an unknown fantasy commodity. This year, it'll be more about knowing which players to keep a close eye upon as the season unravels, and which have the upside to be modest fantasy contributors if opportunity shines upon them.

Impact Players

• Kyrie Irving, PG, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Derrick Williams, PF, Minnesota Timberwolves
• Kemba Walker, PG, Charlotte Bobcats
• Jimmer Fredette, PG/SG, Sacramento Kings
• Klay Thompson, SG, Golden State Warriors

Long-Term Upside

• Jan Vesely, SF, Washington Wizards
• Bismack Biyombo, PF, Charlotte Bobcats
• Brandon Knight. PG, Detroit Pistons
• Kawhi Leonard, SF, San Antonio Spurs

Sleepers

• Alec Burks, SG, Utah Jazz
• Norris Cole, PG, Miami Heat
• Markieff Morris, PF, Phoenix Suns

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/basketball/fba/story?page=11draftrookies

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NBA News 2011: NBA Retrospective DeMarcus Cousins

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DeMarcus Cousins, 6-11, Center, Sacramento Kings, 1990
13.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 blocks, 2.7 turnovers, 43% FG, 67% FT, 27% 3PT

One of the most divisive prospects in the NBA draft last season, DeMarcus Cousins has had a very rocky start to his NBA career. Playing on one of the worst teams in the league, the #5 pick has undergone a drastic change in environment coming from a Kentucky Wildcats team that was ranked #1 in the nation for a good portion of last season. While Cousins has at times looked outstanding, his game-to-game production and efficiency are massively inconsistent, he's had multiple publicized problems with his coaching staff, and he's one of the most foul-prone big men in the league. Still, it's what he's been doing on the court that is most interesting.

Outlook:

Looking forward, Cousins remains one of the most enigmatic prospects in basketball even now that he's in the NBA. On one hand, he has extremely strong physical attributes and is capable of being one of the most uniquely dominant centers in the NBA, something that does show up every few games. On the other, he's basically done everything every doubter from the draft process expected him to do, and he has been one of the most inefficient, turnover prone players on one of the worst teams in the league.

There's still plenty of time for Cousins to turn things around at just 20 years old, and while it may be unfair to put such high expectations on a player this young, it's somewhat deserving given where he was taken in the draft combined with how productive a player he was at the collegiate level.

Unlike many prospects who fail transitioning to the NBA, Cousins' issues aren't due to his skills not translating, but more so of him abandoning everything that made him a great prospect and collegiate player in order to try being a completely different type of player.

While Cousins may significantly improve his perimeter and finesse offensive games in his time in the NBA, it's unlikely he'd be as successful as if he went back to what made him a great prospect in the first place. Fortunately, he still has plenty of time to do so.

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Rookie-Retrospective-DeMarcus-Cousins-3629/

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NBA News 2010: Pulling Evans out of season-long slump top issue for Kings

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SACRAMENTO -- Forget DeMarcus Cousins. This is a fun little show he's got going, lighting his rookie season on fire in plain view. But he is not the biggest problem for the stalled Kings. Cousins has already been kicked out of practice and fined in separate incidents, has already fouled his way to a reduced role of 23.3 minutes a game, has already been ripped by people around the league for an attitude some predict will keep him from stardom. None of it is surprising.

Tyreke Evans is the pressing issue.

His approach is great, unlike Cousins' attention-stealing immaturity, but his health is not. Neither is his shot. Evans spent an offseason breaking down and reconstructing his jumper, one of the few glaring holes in an arsenal filled with positives. But he's at 40.1 percent from the field after 16 games. His mindset is as scattershot as his shot.

"I'm frustrated because I know I can do better," Evans said. "It's just tough. I'm just trying to figure things out."

Evans has regressed from his Rookie of the Year season in 2009-10, and so have the Kings. Without his health, without a roster change to reduce the offensive burden, with an increasing level of angst -- he could be like this all season.

"His attitude's great," coach Paul Westphal said. "He's a team player all the way. He tries to do anything he can to help his team win. I think probably as much as anything -- and I don't know if he would admit this or not -- his body hasn't always responded the way he expected it to and it's made him a little hesitant. That's my best observation."

"He doesn't seem as consistently quick so far," Westphal said. "He's shown flashes. [Saturday against the Bulls] particularly, the first half he looked like himself. But he's had more off games this year already than he probably had all of last year. I think he's probably questioning himself a little bit more.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/scott_howard_cooper/12/03/tyreke-evans-struggles/index.html

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NBA News 2010: Who Will Be The Most Surprising Team?

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This year, once again, some team will emerge from their apparent wreckage and blossom into a legitimate NBA contender for years to come. In the East, an early favorite could be Indiana, who finally found a real point guard in Darren Collison to pair with Team USA participant Danny Granger on the wing. 

The West has an obvious choice in the Houston Rockets, as Yao Ming returns from a year-long injury hiatus, but for a deeper sleeper, what about the Sacramento Kings?  With Tyreke Evans, last year's Rookie of the Year, paired with the Kings' suddenly beefy frontcourt (Carl Landry, Jason Thompson, Samuel Dalembert and  DeMarcus Cousins), the Kings have real potential for a breakout season, even if they don't make the playoff leap in the always-competitive West.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/441970-nba-2010-11-the-100-biggest-questions-facing-the-nba-this-season#page/63

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NBA News 2010: Sacramento Kings Draft Preview (5th, 33rd Overall Picks)

Image via WikipediaPicks Owned: 5th, 33rd
Areas Of Need
Even though the Kings will eventually need to find a special point guard who is capable of sharing the backcourt with the ball dominant Tyreke Evans, they absolutely need to upgrade the frontcourt, where they routinely played at a deficit at the center and power forward positions. The pieces Sacramento has at power forward in Carl Landry and Jason Thompson would be greatly enhanced by playing beside a strong center.
Draft Targets
If DeMarcus Cousins happens to drop all the way to the fifth slot, the Kings may very well have repeat Rookie of the Year awards. Even though Geoff Petrie would have assuredly taken John Wall first overall if Sacramento had won the lottery, Cousins is the better overall pick for the franchise assuming his personality issues get sorted out completely.
During his first few seasons in the NBA, Cousins will absolutely score primarily at the rim on lobs and put-backs, but I would be surprised if he doesn’t have one of the better low post games and an occasional 15-footer (especially on the pick-and-pop) a season or two before his restricted free agency year.
Preferably instead of Johnson if Cousins is off the board, however, the Kings could possibly trade down a few slots to preserve some cap space and then draft a Cole Aldrich or Greg Monroe to address the center position.
As far as the 33rd overall pick, either Dominique Jones or Terrico White would be excellent options to pair with Evans.
Draft History

• 2009: Tyreke Evans, 4th / Omri Casspi, 23rd / Jon Brockman, 38th
• 2008: Jason Thompson, 12th / Sean Singletary, 42nd
• 2007: Spencer Hawes, 10th
• 2006: Quincy Douby, 19th
• 2005: Francisco Garcia, 23rd
• 2004: Kevin Martin, 23rd
• 2003: No pick
• 2002: Pick traded
• 2001: Gerald Wallace, 25th
• 2000: Hedo Turkoglu, 16th

*Only notable second round picks listed
Like so many GMs, Petrie's most successful picks have come when he has ignored position and made BPA picks. The Kings have had good success outside of the lottery with the 23rd overall pick in Martin and Casspi and hopefully they can translate that to the 33rd overall pick this season.
History of the 5th Overall Pick

• 2009: Ricky Rubio, Wolves, NA
• 2008: Kevin Love, Wolves/Grizzlies, 19.4
• 2007: Jeff Green, Sonics/Celtics, 12.7
• 2006: Shelden Williams, Hawks, 12.7
• 2005: Raymond Felton, Bobcats, 14.1
• 2004: Devin Harris, Mavericks/Wizards, 17.6
• 2003: Dwyane Wade, Heat, 25.7
• 2002: Nikoloz Tskitishvilli, Nuggets, 5.2
• 2001: Jason Richardson, Warriors, 16.9
• 2000: Mike Miller, Magic, 15.3

Average career PER: 15.5
http://kings.realgm.com/articles/188/20100615/sacramento_kings_draft_preview_(5th_33rd_overall_picks)/

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