If the Chicago Bulls didn’t have Derrick Rose, would they be battling the Boston Celtics in the playoffs right now? As only a rookie, Derrick Rose has already shown his worth to the Bulls by racking up 16.8 ppg, 6.3 apg and 80 starts for Chicago in the 2008-2009. It was also enough for the NBA to name Rose their Rookie of the Year.

Rose is a 6′3″ point guard who played one season of college basketball for Memphis. He was named to the All-Final Four team after averaging 20.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6 assists during the tourney. Rose left early for the NBA and became the first pick of the 2008 NBA Draft. Judging by his performance this year, I’d say he made the right move. Rose looks like a future superstar in the league and perennial all-star.

Show your support for 2009’s NBA Rookie of the Year, #1 Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, with this graphic tee by adidas!

We are approaching midseason for the 2008-2009 NBA year. Teams invest a lot of money and time into developing rookies. Some rookies come in and contribute right away, others need to spend more time in practice or the developmental league. In today’s post, we’ll take a look at the top 3 picks from the 2008 NBA Draft and see how they’re doing.

Derrick Rose – PG – Chicago Bulls
Rose was the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and is making about $4.8 million this season. Rose started his rookie year on fire, averaging 18.9 PPG and 6.1 AST in his first month of action. Since then his PPG average has dropped steadily each month: 16.3 for December and 14.9 in January. Has he hit the “rookie wall”? Not sure, but check out this sick crossover he put on Andre Miller:

Michael Beasley – PF – Miami Heat
Beasley was the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and is making about $4.3 million this season. Over the last 10 games, Beasley has started to become a player. He went through a little slump from mid November through easrly January, but now he’s put up double digit points in 9 of the last 10 games. On the season Beasley is averagine 13.6 PPG and 5.3 RPG in only 25.2 minutes per game. With more playig time, he can easily become a double-double player.

O.J. Mayo – SG – Memphis Grizzlies
Mayo was the No. 3 overall picl in the 2008 NBA Draft and is making about $3.9 million this season. O.J. Mayo has started 40 of Grizzlies’ 41 games and averages 37.8 minutes per game. He leads all rookies in scoring with 19.1 PPG, but is that because he gets more playing time then other rookies? Probably not… he has put up 30+ points in 4 games this season (Eric Gordon and Russel Westbrook are the only other top 10 picks to record 30 or more points in a game).

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