Tyrese Haliburton has quickly made a good impression in Sacramento. He’s been called the steal of the draft. He’s already got a defensive highlight reel better than some NBA players will have in a career.
90 seconds of Tyrese Haliburton making plays on defense in the preseason pic.twitter.com/xoXACLmPzQ
— Tony Xypteras (@TonyXypteras) December 19, 2020
Given his play already, I find myself asking a question I didn’t think was realistic even just a few weeks ago; can Tyrese Haliburton win Rookie of the Year?
Haliburton certainly isn’t the favorite. Depending on the book you look at, that’s likely to LaMelo Ball or Obi Toppin. LaMelo is allergic to normal passes, instead opting for flair at every opportunity. That’s going to lead to some exciting highlights, and the Hornets will give him every opportunity to shine.
Similarly, Toppin will be given plenty of opportunity in New York, because the Knicks aren’t really playing for anything else this season. Toppin was one of the drafts older and most NBA-ready lotto picks, and will likely put up impressive counting stats.
Most oddsmakers have Haliburton in the 5-10 range as far as likelihood to win. The defensive highlights will attract attention, but Haliburton averaged just 6.3 points per game in preseason. We know Haliburton could score in college, so it may just be a matter of getting comfortable, but he’s unlikely to win ROY unless he increases his scoring output.
No. Because he’s not likely to start and thus won’t light up the stat sheet. The Kings will also likely suck which will decrease recognition.
I love that 90 seconds of Defense clip though. Looking forward to watching this kid this season.
Also I think I read or heard somewhere, no national TV games right? That doesn’t help either.
But I am so excited to watch him play, he brings such a great energy to the court. He may not be scoring the most, and I hope he looks for his shot more, but he is fun to watch on both ends of the court.
Agreed. If he doesn’t start the majority of the season he won’t win. There hasn’t been a non starter ROY in something like 40 years.
Brogdon the only one that started less than 75% of games since they began keeping starts as a statistic in 1980. It’d require a major injury to get him into the starting lineup early enough.
Off topic, but damn the kings haven’t had in the middle like Whiteside since… Whiteside.
Can it happen? Yeah, I mean, it’s a greater than zero statistical possibility, but it’s doubtful. For starters, we’re the Kings. Second, when’s the last time defense got a rookie in the award conversation?
I’ve become a big Ty fan, and I’m so happy he’s a King. I just don’t see it, though, especially with Ball in Charlotte likely grabbing so much attention.
I just hope he has a great year/career. I think after Tyreke (my autocorrect changed it to Turkey and I almost left it alone) Evans won the ROY has meant almost nothing to me.
With that being said, I believe he has a chance but there’s a steep hill he has to climb.
Will he win rookie of the year? No, and that’s okay.
He projects to be, eventually, a very high-end role player. That is excellent value for the #12 pick, and a quality building block for our future.
I don’t think he’ll win it but that doesn’t mean he won’t have the biggest impact on his team. I was listening to the newest LowePost podcast and Kevin Arnovitz was talking about how he had just started watching tape of all the rookies and that he was blown away by how advanced Halliburton’s game is at 20 years old. I see a lot of really smart basketball people gushing about him and that hasn’t happened for a Kings rookie in a long time.
This makes me so happy!
Matisse Thybulle is one of the best defenders I’ve ever seen in my life. Yes, he’s that special. Without buckets, he was sadly ignored in the ROY voting.
Marty, how would your 2019-20 ROY top 5 look?
I don’t know man, but it does rub me the wrong way to place Zion so high when he played in only 24 games.
Last year Thybulle was pretty bad on offense, especially his free throw percentage 58%, assist percentage 8%, TO 16%. His rebounding was not great either, only 5% of available rebounds. He was glorious on D thougheye test and advanced metrics agree.
I don’t know where he should fall on ROY voting either, but I wish he were a King!
I get called out for overrating Thybulle all the time, but I think he’s going to be a perennial pick for all-defensive first team for years to come. I was crossing my fingers for a Buddy trade with the Sixers that involved him. His defensive instincts are special.
If I were the Kings GM, I’d keep calling. I don’t know how Morey values Thybulle (he’s smart so probably accurately). If we pretend that 538’s WAR projections are spot on, he’ll be worth about 4 more wins over the next 4 years than Hield. He’d actually only trail Fox and Halliburton in expected WAR over that time.
side noteI sure hope 538’s model is wrong about Bagley. They project him as worth about 8 wins over then next 5 years. ð¤®
What do you need to win rookie of the year?
1) Exposure via highlights or national TV
2) Starting role
3) A team that outperforms expectations
4) Big counting stats
5) Health to rack up enough games played
Based on these five attributes as well as the rookies’ skill sets and likely roles, I think Ball is by far the favorite. Toppin I could see as winning as well. After that, I’d put Halliburton as third favorite. Wiseman has almost no shot with dubs. I don’t see Edwards getting enough opportunities in Minn unless there are injuries to KAT or Russel. The other guys in the top 15 all have more defensive upside, physical attributes but limited skills, or play with Westbrook, which will limit opportunities.
“A cruel teacher gives the exam first, then the lesson later”. I would like to see the Kings do that with Haliburton. The exam: Play him 25-30 min a night, every night. The lesson: Everything he’ll encounter as a NBA rookie, the fatigue, teams running multiple guys at him, him getting lost on defense, etc. The talent is there. Letting him learn early will make him a better player later.
I love that quote, and I’d love to see him play alongside Fox and Hield for about 25 minutes a night.
According to my calculations (back of the napkin), his steal rate per 36 minutes based on this video is approximately 360. Not bad!
*Shrug*
Of course.
Ramsey’s the obvious favorite
Thanks for ruining Tyrese’s ROTY chances, Greg.
With Team Tyreke, he’d be a lock for ROY.
Watching that tape, he may win defensive player of the year.
If rc50’s math proves out, it’s a definite maybe.
If Haliburton makes an all NBA rookie first or second team that is a big success for him. He has a chance to surprise and win ROY but I just see New York and Charlotte riding Ball and Toppin similarly to how we did with Evans in 2009.
Either way, I would love to see Haliburton get strong minutes and excell on defense and play making. After watching preseason, I can really understand the Doug Christie comps.
Much more so than Lonzo Ball. I haven’t seen him try to duck Fox at all
Its going to be annoying to watch Ball take all the ROY hype when he’s scoring 20PPG on 28 FGA
ROY would be great, but I’d much prefer that Halliburton become an Andre Iguodala type player. Someone who has Warriors season tickets made that comparison, and I hope it comes true.
A resounding no. Number One Reason: his numbers won’t be impactful enough to be considered.
Everybody is coming up with reasons why Haliburton can’t win ROY. I’m saying what if he can? I’m bullish on him being the best player in the draft, so maybe he proves it. The voters aren’t completely unaware that advanced stats exist.
Probably not going to win Rookie of the Year, but has a chance to be the best player in this draft 3 years from now.
He will definitely win. Will have a big impact even in a non starting role 25-30 min per game likely, and his growth will be a big part of ending the playoff drought. Everyone will love that story and vote for him.
He could be the next Lebron James as a rookie and I don’t think he’d win as the national talking heads aren’t interested or it won’t fit the narrative as they don’t really want to talk about the Kings in any meaningful way. It looks like he will be a good player but not in a flashy points scoring way though. They won’t help either
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