Chad Ford Rookie Grades

[Dead_Real]

The Good

Brandon Roy, G, Trail Blazers
Since the draft, I\'ve pegged Roy as having the best shot at the Rookie of the Year award, and his strong play in the summer league and preseason indicate that he\'s still the leading candidate to bring home the trophy.

He\'s poised to have a big year for the Blazers. It appears that he\'s won the starting two guard position and even will play some point guard for the Blazers.

Rudy Gay, F, Grizzlies
Pau Gasol\'s injury in the World Championship was devastating to the Grizzlies but good for getting Gay\'s career going. Without Gasol, the Grizzlies will look for Gay to give them scoring punch.

After a lackluster sophomore season at UConn, Gay\'s performance in the summer league and preseason seem to indicate that he might live up to his limitless potential.

Rajon Rondo, PG, Celtics
I had Rondo ranked at the top point guard in the draft almost all year and thought he should be a top 10 pick. He became the steal of the draft when he fell into the Celtics\' lap at No. 21 (via trade from Phoenix).

So far in the preseason, Rondo has played as well as, if not better than, Boston starting point guard Sebastian Telfair. Only time will tell whether Rondo will be able to beat out Telfair for the starting job, but the facts are in his favor: Rondo is a much better defender and rebounder, and he has played virtually mistake-free basketball so far.

If he can learn to consistently knock down the mid-range jumper, he\'s got a chance to be a star.

Tyrus Thomas, PF, Bulls
Thomas had the most upside of anyone in the draft, but I thought he was a year or two away from being an NBA contributor. However, his energy, shot-blocking and athleticism in the preseason indicate that he\'ll be a solid rotation player this season.

Marcus Williams, PG, New Jersey Nets
Williams took a shocking draft night nosedive but found the perfect home in New Jersey.

The Nets will try to limit Jason Kidd\'s minutes this season, and Williams has shown in the preseason and the summer league that he\'s ready to handle the team 15-to-20 minutes a night. He really should rack up the assists in Jersey.



The Bad

Adam Morrison, F, Bobcats
Morrison looked good in the summer league, but he\'s struggled mightily with his shot in the preseason, shooting just 32 percent from the field. Considering he doesn\'t play much defense, grab rebounds or do much in the assist department, he\'d better start making his shots.

The early word out of Bobcats camp is that the team likes him, but he\'s going to have make big adjustments to his college game to thrive in the pros.

Shelden Williams, F, Hawks
__________________________________________________ ___
He is stating the obvious about Ammo, it will take him time to become the player we are hoping he will be. I\'m looking at Rudy Gay\'s direction right now MJ is going to be pissed I\'ve said it since draft Gay will > Adam Morrison in the NBA.

[djack]

Its still early. If we get to the all-star break and Adam is getting lots of minutes but still shooting 32 - 35% from the field and Rudy Gay is tearing the league up, then I\'ll agree with you. But for now its too early to tell.
Raymond looked lost for the first 30 - 40 games.
And if you go back 2 years, Dwight Howard didn\'t look like much until the end of his first season.

[dvdbumpus]

I only hope that not picking the versatile Brandon Roy, or Randy Foye, or the limitless potential of Gay comes back to bite us in the butt.

I believe in AMMO and he provides the heart of the team. I only hopes that he\'s what Felton was....a slow starter and strong finisher.

[djack]

I have faith that Adam is going to be a good player. But I have to admit that I do have some fear that passing on Rudy Gay could haunt this franchise.

[Dead_Real]

The reason I think Gay will be a better pro is if he is not having a good scoring night he will give you defense or vise versa if Ammo is not scoring he looks lost out there. It\'s not hard to see why BK probaly will start over him from day 1. I stick to my clame Gay will be a superstar in the league while Ammo will probaly just be a decent scorer having some good nights and some bad nights.

[CaptainCrunch]

Ammo is playing a lot better he is getting better as a basketball player as the season has progressed so by the end of the year ammo should be either the best or second best rookie of the year this year.