Future Looks on Point

Wasn’t this supposed to be the draft where only the Clipper’s were getting an NBA ready player? Before the season even started, Blake Griffin, who has yet to play in his first NBA game, was projected as the only player to make an immediate impact on his team.

Seven games into the NBA season, that all changed, when the electrifying lefty Brandon Jennings dropped a double nickel 55 points on the Warriors in a four point victory. Jennings sent shockwaves throughout the NBA, and put the Milwaukee Bucks on the NBA radar for maybe their first time ever.  What’s even more important, the Bucks have a 12-16 record, good enough for second in the central division trailing only Lebron’s Cavs, and 7^th in the east.  That’s right…seventh! That’s good enough for a playoff spot if they started today and ironically, would be playing the Cavs in the first round. All this while their supposed franchise player Michael Redd has been in and out of the lineup and averaged a dismal 12.3 points per game, clearly lingering from his injury. With former number one pick Andrew Bogut in the center, sharpshooting guard Michael Redd making his way back from his injury, and the explosive Jennings running the show at point guard, the future in Milwaukee is looking bright

Moving back to the Western Conference, Clipper’s young rookie Blake Griffin still hasn’t been able to show off his potential as he suffered a knee injury in the preseason, but it’s another California rookie that has been stealing the attention. Sacramento’s rookie Tyreke Evans has picked up the slack with leading scorer Kevin Martin out with an injury. Martin is currently second in the league in scoring with 30.6 points a game, but has only played a team low 5 games thus far. He is working his way back after having surgery on his left wrist on November 6^th, and according to his 8 week projection absence, should be expected back sometime early in the new year. So when Martin went down, it looked like he was taking the whole franchise with him. Enter, Tyreke. With nothing to lose, the Memphis prodigy has led the Kings to a very impressive 13-16 record. At 6’6 and 220 pounds, Evans is currently averaging 20.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists a game. The last rookie to average 20-5-5 was a little someone named Lebron James. What’s most impressive is the Kings won a total of 17 games last season, with Evans running the show, their on route to more than double their win total this season. On top of all that, the Kings have sophomore power forward Jason Thompson leading the team in rebounding with 9.1. With one of the youngest teams in the NBA and leading scorer Kevin Martin coming back soon, the Arco Arena may be getting loud once again.

In their only meeting this season, the Kings won a thrilling 95 to 96 victory on a reverse lay-up by Evans with .9 left on the shot clock. Jennings had 15 points 9 assists and 6 rebounds to keep the Bucks in the game, but Evans’ last two of his 24 points were what sealed the victory in this exciting match-up between the point guards of the future. Although Griffin, the talk of the draft has yet to play in his first NBA game, Brandon Jennings and Tyreke Evans have given the NBA plenty of reasons to smile. You can guarantee these two promising point guards will have many more battles to come in the future.