4. Tyreke, The Freak

In case you've been under a rock the past few weeks--or, you know, watching football like everyone else--Tyreke Evans has emerged as the clear-cut Rookie of the Year leader, and it's really not that close at this point. Brandon Jennings has been a revelation and single-handedly reinvigorated a franchise, but with Jennings coming back to earth and Evans continuing his assault on the whole league, it's becoming clear: Tyreke Evans is just a better player. In any other year, Jennings would probably be a no-brainer to win it, but... Tyreke Evans.

The requisite, glowing Sports Illustrated feature had a pinch of basketball heresy though:

"You hate to compare players like this," said Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan on Wednesday after escaping with a 95-88 win against Evans' Kings, "but I think he's got some Magic [Johnson] in him. He's a big guard that can see the floor, he's unselfish, he gets to the rim, he uses his body very well, he's good in transition, he can rebound and push the ball, and a small or big guard doesn't really faze him."

And yeah, he's really good. But to say that he's Magic--or even worthy of the juxtaposition--now we're taking this a little bit too far. He's got all the makings of a very good NBA player, but there's nothing that says he's going to be that good-- or Great, to be exact. As potential superstars go, he's not very athletic, and he's not a great shooter. He's stronger than a lot of people and can get to the rim consistently, but that's not necessarily an indicator of some future reign over the NBA. 

Right now, Tyreke feels like a Dwyane Wade-type playmaker, but with a big, ginormous question mark. The quality that sets Wade apart from other "very good" players in the NBA is his abilitiy to push himself to another level in crunch time. If it weren't for that intangible, it's hard to imagine Wade being alongside Lebron and Kobe as one of the best players in basketball. With Evans, it's waaaaaaaay too early to tell whether he's got that last ingredient.

And yeah, you could count this late-game steal as a indication of this intangible, but I like to think of it as yet another step toward Gilbert Arenas driving me to insanity. Gilbert iso'd in crunch time? HELL YEAH.

(HT: Truth About It)