Sacramento Kings rookie Tyrese Haliburton has continued to impress analysts all across the league. Counter to the concerns shared on draft night regarding his lack of long-term upside, Haliburton was recently named the rookie with the second-highest potential by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, behind only LaMelo Ball, the current favorite for Rookie of the Year, while Mike Schmitz also placed him behind Ball, as well as Anthony Edwards – not a bad spot for a guy who slipped to the twelfth pick.
In addition to those honors, Haliburton placed second on the league’s Rookie Ladder on Wednesday afternoon. Steve Aschburner had high praise for Sacramento’s future star:
Slipping without drama or setbacks into the Kings’ starting PG role (De’Aaron Fox went out under health and safety protocols) was another example of Haliburton’s smooth ability to help, regardless of role. For Tyrese, it will help speed up where he goes as a player, Kings coach Luke Walton said. Said teammate Mo Harkless: He’s shown a level of poise that a lot of rookies don’t have right away. He has a really good feel for the game. He doesn’t really force anything. He just lets the game come to him. I really enjoy watching him play and playing with him.
Despite his strong play, Tyrese still trails the number one overall pick Anthony Edwards, who has turned into a monster in the latter half of the season. Since his monster dunk over Yuta Watanabe, which truly seemed to be some sort of turning point in his young career, Edwards has put up a staggering 21.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game in the month-and-a-half since that potential dunk of the year. Conversely, Haliburton has been more consistent throughout the season, but he has yet to post a stretch of that caliber, although his impact on the defensive end of the ball can’t be discounted either.
As these last dozen or so games bring the strange 2020 NBA season to a close, it’s clear that three Rookie of the Year candidates have emerged, with no one else even close to the upper echelon. LaMelo Ball is likely favored due to his strong play throughout the year, and he’ll only be helped by a potential return from injury. Meanwhile, Tyrese Haliburton has been the steady go-to who shoots the lights out and doesn’t make mistakes, while Anthony Edwards is making a late charge to snag the coveted award. No matter who ends up with the hardware, the Charlotte Hornets, Sacramento Kings, and Minnesota Timberwolves have to be feeling quite pleased with their future stars.
Not that it matters, but:
NBA Rookie of the Month Recipients so far (East and West):
January: LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton
February: Lamelo ball and Tyrese Haliburton
March: Lamelo Ball and Anthony Edwards
April: Isaiah Stewart (?) and Anthony Edwards.
Can’t really argue with this, seeing Hali has had his rookie moments as well. Edwards has legit been impressive since KAT and Russell got back. Shows a nice feel to the game, which I felt he lacked earlier in the season. Playing alongside Towns has definitely helped him.
Sorry Tyrese. You deserved better. – Kings fans
Sorry Kings fans, you too deserve better – Not anyone in ownership.
1st team all-NBA lock. Could not ask for more out of a #12 pick. Great season for Haliburton.
Some day. First team all-rookie for now.
I see your serial downvoter stupidly strikes again, Rob.
Yeah, but I have them held at bay with the comment where I called myself an A-hole. They don’t know what to do – they agree with the comment so much, but they want to downvote it sooooooooo much. What to do? What to do?!?
Boom gotcha! I think you’re more of an insightful commenter than asshole.
If voters only consider points/boards/assists, then Edwards walks away with it. If they factor in shooting%, 3pt%, assists to turnovers, steals, and blocks, our kid Ty runs away with it. Using those metrics, Edwards is the thirteenth-best rookie. See for yourself.
I forgot to include free throw percentage.
Oh yeah, honestly, they barely even consider boards and assists. PPG is king. And, of course, recency bias.
Or defense.
This is the big one. Tyrese’s value goes beyond just the offensive side. Shame he won’t get credit for that from the voters.
ROY has always been a raw stats award, and it and COY are the two most meaningless awards that the league gives out.
Just as we had this conversation during Tyreke Evan’s rookie year (where it was between him and Brandon Jennings), the award is called Rookie of the YEAR. Not Rookie of the First (or Second) Half of the Season.
LaMelo, has been really good, and probably would be deserving if he hadn’t missed a large stretch of games. Edwards has definitely emerged as worthy in the past few weeks. But I would argue Tyrese should receive the ROY honors because he’s been consistently productive and, potentially even more important, efficient all season long.
I don’t want him to win the award, I just want him to keep playing and improving like he is.
Forget the hardware this year, use the perceived slight as motivation in the offseason.
And lastly, if he doesn’t win it then we don’t have to hear the kings media people trumpet what a successful season it was since they had the rookie of the year.
If he doesn’t, i’m sure we will still hear about how he should have won it -what the voters don’t understand is…
Badge Legend