Out with the old rooks, in with the new
by David Murphy, Friday, July 23, 2010

Meant to do this a while ago, but we just wanted to put a bow on the 2009-10 rookies and make room for the new guys.

The point guard crop from last year was better than advertised, culminating with the top-3 ROY vote-getters all coming at that position. Tyreke Evans eventually took home the honors, with Stephen Curry finishing second and Brandon Jennings third.

Originally, the headliner of the class was Blake Griffin, who missed the entire year after undergoing knee surgery. Fifth-overall pick Ricky Rubio remained in Spain and will do so again for the 2010-11 season.

Here's the official All-Rookie teams for 2009-10.

First team
Tyreke Evans, Sacramento
Stephen Curry, Golden State
Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee
Darren Collison, New Orleans
Taj Gibson, Chicago

Second team
Jonny Flynn, Minnesota
Marcus Thornton, New Orleans
James Harden, Oklahoma City
Jonas Jerebko, Detroit
DeJuan Blair, San Antonio

For The Association Nation's All-Rookie squads click here.

Rookie statistical leaders (per game)

Points
Tyreke Evans - 20.1
Stephen Curry - 17.5

Assists
Stephen Curry - 5.9
Tyreke Evans - 5.8

Rebounds
Taj Gibson - 7.5
DeJuan Blair - 6.4

Steals
Stephen Curry - 1.9
Tyreke Evans - 1.5

Blocks
Serge Ibaka - 1.3
Hasheem Thabeet - 1.3

Minutes
Tyreke Evans - 37.2
Stephen Curry - 36.2

And with that we shift our focus to the 2010-11 draft class. Look for our Rookie Spotlights to come weekly once the new season is underway. John Wall will come first, and the rest of the notable rookies will be added as we see more of them.