Which players will make an immediate impact as rookies?

Players that will make a big impact ROY candidates:
Jay Williams will be ROY and make a very big impact.

Caron Butler - big impact player that will defend, rebound and score as a rookie. Maybe the safest pick in the draft.

Dajuan Wagner - big impact he is not the next comming of AI but close and with out the attitude.

Players that will make a solid contribution:
Mike Dunleavy - should start as a rookie and put up good numbers early but will hit the wall and fade down the stretch.

Chris Wilcox - will be solid off of the bench with a lot of rookie enthusiasm in his first year. I think this is the guy that Steve Francis wants but he is not good enough to be drafted with the 1st pick and too good to last until the 15th pick.

Drew Gooden - If he starts he will put up good numbers. If a team in the east drafts him he could have a very good rookie year and be a ROY candidate.

Curtis Borchardt - If he is drafted into the east he should put up good numbers as a rookie. He will still be effective in the west but the numbers will not be as good. He will be a better version of Reaf LaFrentz.

Players that will come on in the second half of the season:
Jared Jeffries - It may take his team time to get confidence in him but he will be a very good NBA player and will get more playing time as the season moves on. If he is not taken in the lottery he will be one of the steals of the draft.

Jeri Welsch - every team needs good defensive guards and once his team finds out he brings the same fundamentals and shooting stroke as the rest of the Euros he will be a starter. He might be the steal of the draft if he does not go until the end of the 1st round or beginning of the 2nd.

Bostjan Nachbar - If his stroke is really as sweet as Pejas then teams will have a hard time keeping him off of the floor. I don't see him as making more of an immediate impact, as Peja or Turkoglu and both of those players have had to pay their dues on the bench.

Players making little impact or riding the pine:
Yao Ming - After missing training camp and probably most of the first month of the season it will take time for him and his new team mates to get to know each other both on and off the court. When he finally starts getting minutes (sometimes late in December) he will find it hard to stay on the floor due to constant foul trouble and the physical style of play he will not be use to. Could come on towards the end of the season. Maybe he will be the real deal as a sophomore.

Qyntel Woods - tons of athleticism but unpolished offensive game and no defense. Maybe we can get him some tweezers to pull the splinters out of his ass that he will be collecting this year from riding the pine. He may be a stud in a year or two but not this year.

Nene Hilario - Not even Dream would have received minutes as a 19 year old. See Qyntel Woods.

Amare Stoudemire - Riding the pine. See Kwame Brown. Best case scenario would have him getting as many minutes as Eddie Curry last year but not likely. He is another player whos future is still a couple of years ahead of him.

Nickoloz Tskitishvili - Even Dirk was ineffective as a 19-year-old in the league. If his shot is really sweet then he will get some minutes at the end of games but nothing meaningful. May turn out as good as or even better than Dirk but not this year. This year he will look more like Dan Langhi than Dirk.

Chris Marcus - He makes me think of Thomas Hamilton. Slow-footed fat asses rarely make it in this league. If he proves he can get some rebounds and control the paint (somewhat) he may move up a notch or two and be a solid rookie but if not then he will vanish to the end of the bench.

I think most of these players stand a good chance of being studs before their career is over but many of them are either too raw (Qyntel Woods) or too young (Tsiki) to make any real immediate impact. I think Tsiki may eventually turn in to the best player of this draft.

 

Pau Gasol and Shane Battier both had big impacts.

Jamal Tinsley and Tony Parker are both players that were very solid. Tinsley was on his way to having a big impact but kind of fell off in the second half of the year.

Jason Richardson and Eddie Griffin are both players that I thought came on in the second half.

Kwame Brown is a player that fits my last description of riding the pine.

There are others that fit in each catagory but I think you get the picture.