On Fantasy Draft night there was a lot of wondering on which rookies were going to pan out for their respective teams, and which ones wouldn’t be worthy of the hype that they were receiving.

Now that we have come about half-way through the NBA season, things are a lot more clear.

Let’s take a look…

1. Derrick Rose – With being the first pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, there were high hopes for Rose. But playing alongside Hinrich and Gordon, you had to think that Rose would have to split too much time in his rookie season to excel. Not so. 16.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 0.8 steals is good for any point guard, let alone a 20 year old rookie.

2. O.J. Mayo – I didn’t think there was a chance that we would see a 20 point per game performer from this rookie class. Mayo’s other stats aren’t spectacular, but his 19.3 points per game is knocking on the door of being a 20 point per game guy.

3. Brook Lopez – I picked him up in the season when I saw that my blocks were a little low. It’s amazing that a rookie is one of the best block guys in the league day-in and day-out. I’m almost guaranteed 2 blocks out of Lopez every game that he plays. His stat-line: 11 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.1 bpg, 47.5 FG%, 81.3 FT%. I’ve got the guy starting. He along with Camby have propelled me to the top of the blocks in my rotisserie league.

Not Living Up to the Hype

Before I start this short list, I just wanted to warn you that these rookies are not doing poorly. They are doing well. They are just not doing nearly as well as they were expected to do when they were drafted so high.

1. Greg Oden – I feel bad picking on a nice guy like Greg Oden in two separate articles, but I predicted that he’d be at 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. He is currently sporting a rather pedestrian 7.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. I figured he’d mostly be picked up for his rebounds and blocks, but I also figured that those types of number were certainly not worth a fourth round pick. My prediction has been born out thus far. In fact, his higher than expected rebounds doesn’t make up for the lower than expected blocks. The main reason you pick a man like Oden is for blocks, and 1.1 per night isn’t going to cut it on most Fantasy teams, especially if that is the sole reason that you were willing to risk a higher pick on him. Comparing fellow rookie Brook Lopez with Oden’s numbers, Oden isn’t even close. He’ll be a valuable teammate for the Blazers this year and for many years to come, but he isn’t so valuable on your Fantasy Basketball team this year. And you honestly should not have expected him to be.

2. Michael Beasley – Another good performer who just wasn’t worth the hype. 13.8 ppg and 5.2 rpg are very good for a rookie, but I heard a lot of people (including sports writers), think that he might be able to be a 20-10 guy in his rookie season, especially on a team like Miami. He certainly wasn’t worth drafting as highly as he was in most Fantasy Basketball leagues, especially when 13 ppg guys are a dime a dozen. Still, I think Beasley has shown that he will be a good Fantasy players in this league, if you give him another year or two.