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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