The Rookie of the Year race at the top of the new year

It's really no surprise that the ROY race is still being fought by only two young men:  Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings.  Both play for smaller, less-successful markets, and are making their teams better.  You would say that's obvious, a rookie of the year would be playing on an improving team.  Not necessarily.  If you look at Golden State, it's pretty clear that Curry isn't leading the team to any more wins than they would've had without him.

Tyreke has the Kings at 14-19.  And for a Sacramento team in the West, that's not bad actually.  They're only a few games out of the 8th playoff spot.  So if you're a fan, there's a reason to keep watching.

And Jennings has the bucks at 13-18.  And in the East, they could make the playoffs if they can put together a few three game win streaks.

And really, the only other contenders (stats wise) would be Johnny Flynn of the T'Wolves, and Curry of the Warriors.  And those teams are horrible.  So it'll go to either Tyreke or Jennings barring any mid-season injuries - which, from a Blazers fan, trust me it is possible.

Right now, if I had to pick, I'd say Evans gets the votes and brings the attention to Sacramento.  And they deserve it.  I've got no love for the Kings, but they used to be a power-house Western team.  And the league is better with more good teams than bad.

The stat that is helping define Tyreke Evans right now is minutes played.  It's all about the air-time, right?  Currently, in the league, Tyreke is ranked 22nd in minutes played at 37.0.  Jennings?  48th place with 34.9.  It might not sound like much, but in this SportsCenter world, 2.1 minutes is all you may need to get that extra spin on the highlight reel.  Seriously.

And to bring this topic around full-circle to collecting, I'd say if you have any Tyreke Evans RC's, hold 'em.  At least until he's given the Rookie of the Year trophy.  I had this discussion with TJ at All Your Base Cards Belong To Us, and he was thinking of selling off his Tyreke cards.  If at all possible, I'd say wait on it.  It'll be worth more later.  To see TJ's Tyreke Evans RC patch to /100 click here.  That card will be worth a hobby box by the time the end of the year finally rolls around.