Midseason Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant, Al Horford, or Jamario Moon?

January 27 08

Top Three Rookie of The Year Candidates:

1) Kevin Durant, Seattle SuperSonics.

2) Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks.

3) Jamario Moon, Toronto Raptors.

Winner: Kevin Durant.

Why: Being a first option on offense is never easy. You draw opponent’s top defender and entire schemes are devised to stop you. Now try being ‘The Guy’ as a rookie. Oh yeah, a nineteen year old rookie, too.

Welcome to Kevin Durant’s world. The Seattle Supersonics selected him second overall in last June’s entry draft, then cut ties with established stars Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis.

Durant instantly became The Man. Not an easy task for a young player. And, for the most part, he’s responded. The willowy wing has averaged 19 points per game on a rebuilding Sonics’ squad –nine more than the second highest first year.

Winning team or not, Durant deserves rookie of the year. Check out the evidence ...

Best of the Rest:

Al Horford can play. The forward has the size to bang down-low and grace to dance on the perimeter. Unfortunately, Atlanta has a plethora of young bigs, so Horford hasn’t gotten regular minutes.

Much can happen in six months. Just ask Jamario Moon. Last summer, Moon was a 27 year old rookie attending Toronto’s summer camp as a free agent. This winter, he’s a top rookie, starting on the Raptors (a playoff team), and participating in the upcoming Slam Dunk Contest.

Is Durant your rookie of the year? Get at us in the comment box below or hit us up in our fan forum. Click here to read and subscribe to Oly Sandor’s NBA Blog.

9 Comments: Midseason Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant, Al Horford, or (...)

Posted by
wal
on 01.28.2008

al thornton man whut that guy is doin there in la right now is pretty damn good i think he’s playing beter than everybody else on that team even though durant does it to i like al better .

Posted by
me!!!
on 01.28.2008

i’d wanna see super jamario get it but it’s gonna go to durant cuz he’s savin’ the sonics from movin’ to oklahoma(for the rest of the season at least)...maybe they could be co-rookies of the year...that’d be ballin’ like jim jones(who couldn’t rap ta save his life) .

Posted by
kids say the darndest things
on 01.28.2008

who the Fu*k would say Greg should be ROY? that’s crazy! .

Posted by

on 01.27.2008

jamario moon is an amazing athlete...but kevin durant has been the only bright spot to the seattle sonics year. putting up amazing numbers and playing extremely well. k.durant deserves the ROY award. .

Posted by
J oc
on 01.27.2008

Jamario should be roookie of year no doubt.. if he wins the dunk its all his but yea man yu gat 2 yur facts.. seattle is a relly shyt team compared to like atlanta or even toronto .. durant need respect but hes not at that level yet so yeee maw pik is JAmarion Moon from tdot .

Posted by
JuanValdez
on 01.27.2008

J Moon is going to win the slam dunk contest, hands down.. .

Posted by
Moon Me
on 01.27.2008

J-Moon, seeing that he came down to the last cut, and performing the way he has, an undraftee, is deserving of the award. It was a given Kevin was gonna be good. .

Posted by
Grown Folk
on 01.27.2008

Damn kid, are you slow, first the J-Kidd thing now this. Do you even watch basketball? Greg Oden hasn’t played all season, yet you have him a R.O.Y. I’m guessing you’re in slow learners classes .

Posted by
middle school all-star
on 01.27.2008

Greg Oden should be R.O.Y. flat out he is the best of all the rookies. .

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	About Oly Sandor
Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More

Midseason Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant, Al Horford, or Jamario Moon?

Top Three Rookie of The Year Candidates:

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