Tyreke Evans has had a great rookie season for the Sacramento Kings this year, but there is another rookie in the state of California that is starting to gain some ground on him.  Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors has improved rapidly over the course of the season, and has solidified his spot at number two for the Rookie of the Year Award.  Still, Tyreke Evans has been much more consistent than Curry and was an impact player the first game of the season.  Curry took a little while to adjust to the speed and physicality of the NBA, but now that he has he is putting up some impressive numbers.  Unfortunately for both rookies, they are on some bad teams.  However, since they are on some bad teams it has given them the opportunity to get a lot of playing time and gain valuable minutes.  Evans season is more impressive than Curry’s though, despite Curry’s flashy and great play the past two months.  Evans has the consistency (and the scoring average) over Curry, so he will likely still win the ROY Award.  This season Evans is averaging 20.3 points, 5.4 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals.  While Curry’s numbers are nearly identical to Evans in most categories, he is only averaging 16.0 points compared to Evans’ 20.3.  Both Evans and Curry will be stars in this league for years to come, but Evans has had the better rookie season.

The Sacramento Kings have traded Kevin Martin, Hilton Armstrong, and Sergio Rodriguez in three-team deal also involving the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks.  Martin and Armstrong are going to the Rockets, while Rodriguez is going to the Knicks.  In return, the Kings are getting Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey from the Rockets, and Larry Hughes from the Knicks.  The Knicks are also getting Tracy McGrady from the Rockets, while the Rockets are getting two future-first round draft picks from the Knicks.

Kevin Martin was a very good guard for the Kings, but he did not fit well with the Kings’ superstar rookie Tyreke Evans.  Martin also only played in 22 games this season due to a broken wrist.  In 5 1/2 seasons with the Kings, Martin played in 331 games (245 starts) he averaged 30.6 minutes, 17.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steals, and shot 45% from the field and 39% from three.  The Kings got a great player in Carl Landry though, who has been one of the best 6th men this season averaging 16.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 0.9 blocks in just 27.2 minutes per game.  He also only makes $3 million next year, meaning the Kings will have some money to spend in this offseason, which is full of some top-talent free agents.  Joey Dorsey hasn’t done much lately, but he gives them more depth in the front court.  Larry Hughes might be bought out, but if not he still can be a decent player at times.  Overall, this was a good deal for the Kings.

It seems as if the Sacramento Kings have hit a wall in the month of January, winning only 1 of 11 games so far this month and losing their last 7 games.  They have gone 1-12 since December 23rd and things just keep getting worse.  They have been playing terrible defense and have been giving up 106 points-per-game since December 23rd.  It looks like most of the Kings’ players have given up on the season and they are only half-way through the 2009-’10 season.  Pretty much every Kings’ player needs to step up their play and bring a strong effort every night.  One of the few players you can’t put much blame on for the Kings’ failures is rookie Tyreke Evans.  Evans has been the Kings’ best player all season long and has been having some very strong games despite the Kings recent losing ways.  He is averaging 20.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting 46% from the field.  He is the favorite to win this year’s Rookie of the Year Award, but he is getting very little help on offense and their team defense has been terrible so the Kings will continue to struggle.

With under 9 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter, and the Sacramento Kings (13-14) down 79-44 against the Chicago Bulls (10-16), most Kings fans probably turned the game off.  Well, those fans are probably kicking themselves now, since the Kings came back from a 35-point deficit to win the game.  The Kings were a completely different team in the second half, and like usual the rookie Tyreke Evans led the Kings.  He had 23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals and took over in the 4th quarter.  Evans helped the Kings outscore the Bulls 33-10 in the fourth quarter.  Luol Deng led the Bulls with 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.  Evans hit a key jumper over Deng late in the game.  The Kings obviously buckled down defensively too, forcing the Bulls into 18 second half turnovers after the Bulls had zero in the first half.  Ime Udoka had a very nice game off the bench for the Kings, going for 17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal in only 23 minutes of play.  This was the biggest come-back win in the NBA since 1996, and the Kings showed great character by not giving up.

The rookie Tyreke Evans (7-16) made a great defensive play for the Sacramento Kings (11-13) to seal the victory over the Washington Wizards.  With the clock winding down at the end of the game, the Wizards’ star Gilbert Arenas had Evans isolated at the top of the key and Evans picked his pocket.  It was a very clean steal and Evans calmly knocked down the two free throws to help seal the win.  Evans finished the game with 26 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and that big steal at the end of the game.  Andres Nocioni also had a nice game for the Kings, giving them 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal.  Arenas led the Wizards with 33 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.  This was an exciting win for the Kings and it was a great play by their star rookie.