Damian Lillard - 2012/13 Rookie of the Year

[Porn Player]

After last years class took most of the year to get going, this class has already started flexing in pre-season. This should be an exciting race.

People will want to talk about guys they liked from college but that have ended up on teams they don't necessarily follow, and this is a good way to track them.

I genuinely think Valanciunas has an outside shot at Rookie of the Year. Davis is the favorite, Lillard is there too (and has moved up the odds lists considerably over the past couple days). Drummond and Beal are the other two that round out my Top 5.

William Hill's odds on ROY as of today, October 23rd, 2012:
Link

+175 Anthony Davis
+600 Damian Lillard
+600 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
+1000 Bradley Beal
+1000 Harrison Barnes
+1000 Thomas Robinson
+1400 Jeremy Lamb
+1600 Dion Waiters
+1600 Jonas Valančiūnas
+1600 Kendall Marshall
+2000 Jared Sullinger
+2000 Royce White
+2500 Andre Drummond
+2500 Andrew Nicholson
+2500 Austin Rivers
+2500 John Jenkins
+2500 Maurice Harkless
+2500 Terrence Jones
+3300 Marquis Teague
+3300 Meyers Leonard
+3300 Perry Jones III
+3300 Terrence Ross
+4000 John Henson
+5000 Tyler Zeller

[hroz]

Motiejunas

[Porn Player]

Not a chance Motie wins ROY.

My outside bet is Andrew Nicholson, mainly because he could log a lot of minutes on that bad Magic team.

[E.H. Munro]

I actually expect the DM to run up some pretty pretty numbers on a shitty Rockets team. I'm surprised he didn't make the lost.

[Porn Player]

Maybe he made the lost list?

[Luke]

I was actually about to make this thread. It should be a really interesting race.

[XxIrvingxX]

Should be a good race. Last years was predictable due to Irving being a special talent and needing to carry quite a bit of the load for a team that was ragged with injuries through out most of the season.

[hobojoe]

Boring answer, but I think Anthony Davis runs away with it. Lillard will have a good season, Valančiūnas is a dark horse but I worry about him getting into foul trouble and being able to stay on the court.

[Porn Player]

Originally Posted by hobojoe

Valančiūnas is a dark horse but I worry about him getting into foul trouble and being able to stay on the court.

I've watched nearly all of the Raptors games and I'm not concerned about Valanciunas picking up fouls. He plays hard but he also plays smart. Why do you think he'll be in trouble?

[Porn Player]

Some big games to end a lot of these guys preseason

Notable lines (pts/boards/assists/steals/blocks):

Val 15/7/1/1/1
Davis 24/11/0/3/1
Drummond 13/10/0/0/2


Although not all great news:

MKG 0-5 (but 10 boards and 7-8 from FT)
Beal 0-6
Ross 4-12

[hobojoe]

Originally Posted by Porn Player

I've watched nearly all of the Raptors games and I'm not concerned about Valanciunas picking up fouls. He plays hard but he also plays smart. Why do you think he'll be in trouble?

Granted, I only watched the Raptors/Knicks game but I saw a guy with a great motor who's going to be productive when he's on the floor, but he also picked up a couple clumsy fouls. You know he's not going to get any respect as a rookie too. Ended up with 5 fouls in about 23 minutes in that game, I see he picked up another 5 fouls yesterday in just over 20 minutes of action.

Like I said, Anthony Davis is going to run away with this.

[Porn Player]

He got those 5 against the Knicks then played all of the 4th quarter without picking up another and playing great D on Amare.

Again last night he was extremely productive in the 4th.

Jonas for ROY.

[Diable]

I'd honestly be shocked if Davis does not win it. The Hornets will probably be a pretty decent team and he shall get some credit for that. He looks like he's going to transition to the NBA quite smoothly and I am less than impressed with the way his rivals compare to the impact I would expect him to make.

Of course there is some question about how he'll stand up to physical play. You can look at his frame and see that a lot of guys are going to be trying to pound on him. That's the only real question I can see. If he doesn't prove too slight of frame, Davis is going to be a superstar big man.

[Porn Player]

Davis has the keys to that team, making his push a whole lot easier, but I really do not see the Hornets being all that much improved.

I do agree, in 2/3 seasons, he is going to be a premier big man in this league. However, this year I still expect Lillard and Valanciunas to push him for the honours. Lillard will fire straight out of the gates and is playing on a solid roster, Big V won't struggle with the NBA season like other Rookies and he could go for a double double this year, and then we have Davis who will probably have the biggest highs but could struggle on a bad team and he's not had much time off which could cause him to hit the wall come March.

[Porn Player]

Waiters, Beal and Sullinger start their campaigns tonight. What's everybody expecting?

I think Sully might do well against the smaller Heat rotation, but I fully expect some highlight of Bron or Wade either stuffing his shot or stuffing a dunk on him.