Power Rankings: For winning rookies, it's quality, not quantity of shots

Updated Nov. 10

Already the talk has begun.

Tyreke Evans is a shoo-in to win the Rookie of the Year award.

Sturdy rebounder DeJuan Blair (45) is shooting 61 percent from the floor; Tyreke Evans is managing just 40 percent. (AP)

With Blake Griffin watching from the sideline and Ricky Rubio catching only highlights from abroad, the race to capture the league's top-rookie hardware might appear to be a two-stud staredown.

But numbers can be deceiving.

Jennings and Evans are off to fabulous starts. No doubt about it. They rank 1-2 in scoring among rookies in the early going.

But have they been the most impactful first-year players so far? It says here: No.

Any NBA observer worth his meal-room credential will tell you it's easy putting up points for a bad team. And while the Kings and Bucks have surprised some in the first fortnight, make no mistake about it: They are bad teams.

Two numbers tell you everything you need to know about the efficiency of Evans and Jennings: 40.2 and 43.0. Those were their shooting percentages as they prepared to enter their third full week of pay-for-play.

In other words, they're scoring a lot because they're shooting a lot. It's a luxury afforded to rookies on talent-challenged teams.

I believe three other rookies have outplayed them so far. They'd be 1-2-3 on my Rookie of the Year ballot if the election were held today:

•  Ty Lawson, Nuggets: The North Carolina standout was acquired on draft day to back up Chauncey Billups at the point, but he's been asked to be a whole lot more than that in his first seven games. With J.R. Smith suspended, the Nuggets have had to call upon Lawson to play almost half the game -- often alongside Billups -- and he has responded with difference-making shooting (55.4 percent) despite having already played on six different courts in his budding career.

•  Chase Budinger, Rockets: The Nuggets got off to a fast start with one starter out of the lineup; the Rockets have done it with two. Their best two. Without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, the Rockets have completely shifted gears and counted upon long-range shooting to already surprise the likes of the Blazers and Jazz. Budinger has keyed the 3-point-shooting success, burying eight of 19 while shooting 52.5 percent overall.

•  DeJuan Blair, Spurs: Like Lawson, Blair was brought in to back up a superstar, but has been so good early on, his coach already is looking for ways of playing them in tandem. In fact, it's been hard to tell when Tim Duncan has been out of the Spurs' lineup early on, with Blair having hit an amazing 61.1 percent of his shots while averaging 7.8 points and 7.6 rebounds in just 18.6 minutes per game.

Give Lawson and Budinger the same number of shots as Evans and Jennings, and they'd rank 1-2 among rookies in scoring. And put Blair on either the Kings or Bucks, and he might lead all NBA players in rebounds.

Who has the inside track to the Rookie of the Year hardware? The high scorers do, of course.

But who have been the best newcomers so far? Give me a winner -- or three -- anyway.

Thanks in large part to their first-year players' contributions, the Nuggets, Rockets and Spurs all have playoff-worthy positions in my latest CBSSports.com NBA Power Rankings:

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Spurs · Trends	1
	Can you win an NBA title with an offense-first team? That's what Popovich is trying to do this season. And he may have a better shot than the Seven-Seconds-or-Less Suns. It would not be celebrated as such, but it would be an incredible accomplishment.
	2	Bulls · Trends	2
	The most consistent team in the league for two years running. Tom Thibodeau is the Dr. Doom of the NBA.
	3	Heat · Trends	3
	To live up to expectations, the Heat have to make such a huge jump, they need rocket fuel to get it done.
	4	Thunder · Trends	5
	The Thunder have had nothing but upside and positive feelings the past two years as they climbed into contention. They're facing their first bout of serious adversity. How they handle it determines whether this team has championship mettle.
	5	Pacers · Trends	9
	You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos.
	6	Lakers · Trends	6
	The Lakers winning the Pacific again would be like the Kansas Jayhawks winning their conference. They have a closet where they just toss the trophies on top of the pile. Looks like Scrooge McDuck's gold.
	7	Clippers · Trends	7
	Uh, anyone else notice that despite all the questions (defense, coaching, shooters, coaching, cohesiveness, coaching), the Clippers are really pretty good?
	8	Celtics · Trends	4
	One more ride, old-timers. One more ride.
	9	Hawks · Trends	11
	Boston and Atlanta began their playoff runs with their cores pitted against one another. It's possible they'll end them as well.
	10	Knicks · Trends	12
	The grind-it-out style of the playoffs means having Carmelo Anthony's super-ISO offense is a whole different thing.
	11	Grizzlies · Trends	8
	The Grizzlies are on the worst-looking five-game winning streak ever.
	12	Nuggets · Trends	10
	Oh, look, Denver, you found your offense under the porch! Good job! Maybe that'll teach you not to be so cavalier with it.
	13	Jazz · Trends	16
	The Jazz hope the first round's title will be "Hidden Tiger, Crouching Millsap."
	14	Mavericks · Trends	17
	I've decided the Mavericks' 2012 season is "Cabin in the Woods." It looks like your standard horror show, but there's so much more going on.
	15	Suns · Trends	13
	If this were Steve Nash's last legitimate playoff run ... #slowclap
	16	76ers · Trends	19
	"Mr. and Mrs. Sixers fans? Hi. Yes, I'm Dr. Easy Schedule. Your team is stable. It's resting comfortably. It was touch-and-go for a while, but we managed to repair the playoff eligibility. It's going to make it. ... You don't look happy?"
	17	Rockets · Trends	15
	Oh, look. The late lottery. There's a new area for the Rockets to explore. #stare
	18	Magic · Trends	14
	The Orlando Magic: The walking, talking reason for the league to enact a "you can trade your playoff spot for a lottery pick" rule.
	19	Bucks · Trends	18
	A pivotal offseason for the Bucks is set to begin. It's extremely unlikely, but imagine if this team lands a top-three pick.
	20	Timberwolves · Trends	22
	To the tune of "Total Eclipse of the Heart:" "Ru-bi-o, every now and then I get a little bit lonely and your leg still isn't healed. Ru-bi-o, every now and then I get a little bit tired of Beasley getting killed on defense ..."
	21	Trail Blazers · Trends	21
	The Blazers were 12-9 on Feb. 1. This completes today's lesson in "How quickly things can go to hell in a handcart."
	22	Kings · Trends	23
	The Kings can look back and point to legitimate growth. But the next steps are even more important. The leap from "promising young talent" to "team that doesn't make you want to gouge your eye out with a lobster fork" is a difficult process.
	23	Hornets · Trends	20
	Monty Williams and Dell Demps need to go bowling, get drunk and forget this year ever happened. Unfortunately, it's New Orleans, so finding alcohol could be a problem.
	24	Pistons · Trends	24
	Well, a young, inexperienced team like that is going to have ... what's that? Tayshaun Prince is how old? Oh, never mind, they're just bad.
	25	Raptors · Trends	25
	Dwane Casey can look back and say he changed the culture. The talent comes next, then the winning. The future is bright in Toronto.
	26	Nets · Trends	26
	I'm sure New Jersey is all choked up over losing the Nets. At least they're used to that when it comes to the Nets -- losing, that is.
	27	Cavaliers · Trends	27
	It had to get worse before it gets better. They've got their next franchise guy. Now they just have to build around him. And do it better this time.
	28	Warriors · Trends	28
	This had better have been worth it.
	29	Wizards · Trends	29
	The Wizards managed to move from pathetic joke to just pathetic by the end of the year. Progress in our time!
	30	Bobcats · Trends	30
	Now let us never speak of this again.