All-Rookie Team (per withnail's request)

I'm not a huge fan of this rookie class. The only immediate impact players I can see are Brandon Roy in Portland and Randy Foye in Minnesota--both of whom *better* be impact players, because they'll be given free reign on those shitty teams.

I mean, I'm sure there will be other good players in this class, it's just that nobody jumps out at me at this point.

Bargnani can *really* shoot the ball. And hey, if you're 7 foot and can really shoot, you're a player to watch. I guarantee Toronto isn't regretting that pick (like Detroit was with Milicic about thirty seconds after he got into camp--and they saw Bosh, Anthony & Wade play their first five minutes in preseason). Still, no Euro has come in as a 20-year-old and set the league on fire--I'm sure it'll take him a few years.

Morrison will definitely be able to score, but if you can't do much else--and are likely a major defensive liability--you better be able to score *a lot*. That remains to be seen. Still, I'd put him right there with Foye & Roy in the ROY race because I don't see many other rookies averaging in double figures.

I also like Rajon Rondo a lot, he's got skills that translate very well to the NBA--namely, he can get to the basket at will. I see him either splitting time pretty close to 50/50 with Telfair, beating him out cleanly for the starting job, or Boston playing them 10 minutes or so on the floor at the same time--one way or another, he'll get 25-35 minutes a game. I also think Marcus Williams will be productive, but I prefer Rondo in both the short & long run.

The big men don't wow me, at least in the short run, but I'll bet at least one of Aldridge, Shelden Williams, and Tyrus Thomas come out of the gate strongly. Thomas is my favorite of the three, but with him stuck in a big man logjam in Chicago, I don't see him exploding on the scene right away. Aldridge will miss the entire preseason and possibly the start of this season with a shoulder injury, so that'll set him back a while. Plus Portland actually has some decent big men with Zach Randolph, Joel Przybilla, Raef Lafrentz, and Jamaal Magloire.

So that leaves Shelden Williams as the guy out of those three most likely to make a big impact this season. I don't see Zaza Pachulia and Lorenzen Wright keeping Williams from playing 25 minutes a game, and he's been productive (but up and down, as young big men always are) in preseason so far--averaging 9 & 7 in about 25 minutes a game. The key for him is blocking shots--if he can be a defensive force, he *will* get big minutes on that team. Scoring isn't the problem for the Hawks.

All Rookie Team:
Rajon Rondo
Randy Foye
Brandon Roy
Adam Morrison
Shelden Williams

(Kind of a cop out without a true PF, I know, but the rookie classes are almost always dominated by perimeter players, who are more able to come in and play than big men. If I need a PF, I'll go with Cedric Simmons).

Dark horse:
Shannon Brown -- a good fit for the Cavs, who need some bench scoring & athleticism, and he supposedly looked great in summer league. I personally have always liked the guy, and was praying the Lakers would get him.

Bigger dark horse:
Craig Smith -- also a good fit with Minnesota, who have no good big men other than Garnett; Garnett has raved about him, but as I said about Foye, that could just be KG's desperation speaking; also undersized PFs with big time college production have a good record of success in the NBA. In preseason, he's averaging a solid 9 & 7 in just 15 minutes a game.

Speaking of rookies, I see Daniel Horton got 22 minutes with the Heat last night, but didn't do much with it--4 assists to 1 turnover is very solid, but 2-8 shooting won't get it done. I wonder how his D was, it's tough to tell from a boxscore. Jennero Pargo--the Hornets' scrub PG--went for 22 in 24 minutes on 9-13 shooting, which doesn't bode well, but who knows if Horton was matched up on him. As I said going into camp, whoever (out of the many scrub guards Miami has on their roster) shoots the ball and defends the best will get that job.

Also, I see that Lavell Blanchard was in Toronto's camp, but got cut after getting just a few minutes in preseason. Too bad, I've always rooted for the guy. Maybe he wasn't the leader we wanted/needed him to be, but he was a good player and a class act during a period where we didn't have a whole lot of either of those.