Sacramento Kings’ rookie sensation Tyreke Evans has won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after having a phenomenal season this year.  Evans was the top rookie in a very talented rookie class, beating out the Golden State Warriors’ talented rookie Stephen Curry and the Milwaukee Bucks’ star rookie Brandon Jennings.  Evans received 67 first-place votes on his way to a total of 491 points, where as Curry finished second with 43 first-place votes for a total of 391 points.  Jennings finished third with 12 first-place votes and a total of 204 points.  Some people jumped on the Stephen Curry bandwagon towards the end of the season, since he played great down the stretch of the season and won the Rookie of the Month award for the Western Conference in three of the final four months of the season.  People can’t forget that Curry only averaged 9.8 points in the first month of the season, where as Evans put together a full season of great play.  Evans never averaged less that 19.4 points in a month, and his final averages were 20.1 points, 5.8 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals while shooting 46% from the field.  In my opinion Evans was the easy choice for this year’s Rookie of the Year, even though Curry played just as well if not better in the final months.  Evans was the leader of his team all season and he became just the fourth rookie in the history of the NBA to average over 20 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds.  He is now a member of a very impressive and exclusive club, with the three other players being Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and LeBron James.  It is safe to say that Evans will be one of the top players in the NBA for years to come and he has brought some much needed excitement to Kings’ fans.

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.

The Sacramento Kings (10-13) really struggled scoring the ball and fell to the Portland Trailblazers (15-11) because of it.  They shot 44% from the field and had 13 turnovers.  Tyreke Evans and Jason Thompson played well for the Kings, but the three other starters played poorly and combined for only 15 points.  Evans had 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals while Thompson had 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists.  Beno Udrih had a solid night off the bench, coming in and giving the Kings 17 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals.  The Kings kept it close, but they could not stop the Blazers’ combo of Brandon Roy and LeMarcus Aldridge.  Roy had 25 points and 10 assists, and Aldridge had 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.  Jerryd Bayless also hurt the Kings a lot, coming off the bench for 14 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.  His aggressiveness was not handled well by the Blazers, as Bayless got to the free throw line 10 times, going 8-10, in only 24 minutes of play.  The Kings need some more guys to step it up on the offensive end as their offense nearly shut down when it was needed most, scoring only 15 points in the final quarter.

Tyreke Evans has not only been the Sacramento Kings best rookie this season, but their best player.  Evans was picked 4th in the NBA draft but has arguably been the best rookie so far this season.  He has already proven to be a top guard in this league and is not playing anything like a rookie.  Evans has played up to and even surpassed the hype that has surrounded him coming into the NBA.  See if Evans tops my list of the Top Rookies in the NBA so far, or if the Bucks’ Brandon Jennings is ahead of him.

The Sacramento Kings knew they would have one of the best rookies this year in Tyreke Evans, but they weren’t sure what they would get out of Omri Casspi.  Casspi has been playing well beyond expectations and has been a great addition for this Kings team.  His shooting has been great all season, especially from three point land.  See where Omri Casspi ranks against some of the other good rookies here:  Top Rookies in the NBA so far.

Tyreke Evans had a great game last night and led the Sacramento Kings (9-8) to a win over the Indiana Pacers (6-10).  Evans had 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists as the Kings won their fourth straight.  The Kings shot 51% from the field and were very good from three point land, going 9-18 (50%) as a team.  Andres Nocioni went 3-5 from three and finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.  The Kings did not do a very good job rebounding though, as the Pacers beat them on the glass 49-39.  The Kings did give up 33 points to Pacers’ wing Danny Granger, but it was a solid defensive effort overall.