InsideHoops felt that Elton Brand and Steve Francis deserved to share the Rookie of the Year award. NBA voters agreed.

It takes guts to declare that one guy deserves an award over another. But if two guys were equally impressive, and neither had some sort of x-factor that puts him over the top (some say Francis' x-factor was his stellar performance in the slam dunk competition - but we'll pass on using that), calling it a tie isn't just safe - it's correct.

We call it a tie.

Steve Francis, while flashy and potentially the next Allen Iverson (or Stephon Marbury?) should become an all-star guard in a season or two (or three, if he falls off a bit). And thanks to the total lack of good power forwards in the East, we say Elton Brand becomes an all star this coming season.

Lamar Odom was the clear #3. At the start of the season, he produced great stats, but eventually Lamar realized that he was a Los Angeles Clipper and, as Clippers are suppossed to, he fell off.

Wally Scsczczrszrsrszrczback also had an impressive rookie season. While he's not the quickest guy in the world, it's clear that Wally has talent. His defense can use some work (as can that of every rookie), but offensively Szczerbiak can hit open shots, and in limited but reasonably effective fashion, create something for himself, or dish off and keep things in motion. We expect slow, gradual, but consistent growth from Wallyworld.

Andre Miller, like Odom, is stuck on a bad team. Except, while Odom got to play, Miller was stuck on the bench a lot more than he should have been. Miller is clearly a better player than Brevin Knight, so we assume that the Cavs wanted to show off Knight's talents enough to make him worth something in a trade.

And, there you have the 1999-2000 NBA All-Rookie First Team.

The All-Rookie 2nd team player that got the most votes did deserve them, as he's basically first team caliber. We're talking about Shawn Marion. He's raw, with immense physical talents (he can hit his head on the top of the gym), but not Harold Minor raw - we're talking the good kind. For a guy who isn't that big, Marion can rebound with the best of them. We expect him to have a standout second season.

Other 2nd teamers were Chicago's Ron Artest, Denver's James Posey, Atlanta's Jason Terry and Orlando's Chucky Atkins.
 

InsideHoops
5/22/2000
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