The NBA's Top Five Up-and-Coming Duos #3: Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins

Tyreke Evans won the 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year Award after recording a rare 20-5-5 rookie season with a style of player similar to LeBron James.  He was 20 years old.  Sacramento Kings fans finally had something to be excited about again. 

But after an injury-riddled 2011 season that saw his production decrease across the board, Evans has become encapsulated in question marks and doubt.  A leg injury shackled Evans and disallowed Kings fans from watching him set up defenders with tricky ball-handling before puissantly driving to the basket with off-balance defenders rolling off him.  But can you blame Tyreke?  If he couldn't push off the leg, how is he supposed to repeat what he did in his rookie year, especially with defenses knowing what they're dealing with? 

Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins are Sacramento's future. 

It's more reasonable to use Reke's 2010 season to predict where he'll end up.  A 26.2 USG% with an individual offensive rating of 107 is actually pretty good for a rookie with a weak jumper.  Evans should be slotted at shooting guard and used as a combo guard alongside a pure floor-general who can take the ball out of his hands and make him more unpredictable.  Rookie year stats aside, he isn't LeBron, and having five pairs of eyes on him every time down court is going to wear the kid out- not something you want to do to a young guy who has had leg injuries.  With complete health and a full 2012 season, Evans should go back to being a 20-5-5- threat with an improved jumper, especially if DeMarcus Cousins can help free him.

Likewise, Cousins should benefit from A.) experience, and B.) having a creative force like Evans healthy for more than 57 games.  Cousins had a very Shawn Kemp-like year as a rookie, and I'm not talking about the monster jams or the awesome '90s high-top fade (anything to put some Reign Man Dunks up).  I'm talking about being fifth in the NBA in total turnovers and first in total fouls.  That's pretty bad, especially considering he played only 28.5 minutes per game.

But he's big and skilled and talented; he's got good passing and ball-handling skills for a player with such an elephantine frame.  Although he was a poor defender and average shot-blocker in his rookie year, he still sported an excellent defensive rebound rate.  Efficiency and playing within himself weren't things he focused on in year one, but hopefully some experience will remedy those problems.

TyWreck and Demo have a chance to grow into a devastating small/big combo.  We could be looking at a future top-5ish small maturing with a future top-5ish big, a classic core build that could make Sacramento a power in the West again.       

The NBA's Top Five Up-and-Coming Duos #4: Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson

After trading Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to New York last season, the Denver Nuggets roared into the playoffs as the best offensive team in the league, a squad replete with a mix of explosive scorers and consistent high-efficiency finishers.  Melo and Mr. Big Shot were anchoring a top-notch offense before the trade, but Denver pushed it into high gear post-trade and finished with 50 wins and a decent playoff showing against a more established Oklahoma City team (weird saying OKC is more established- boy are they old now or what?).

While Denver used incredible depth and commendable teamwork to achieve the post-jettison results, Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson were major impetuses for it.  Melo was traded for reasons mainly dealing with his impending free agency and possible departure, but Denver had a host of packages to choose from and chose one centered around Gallinari.  They were also cozy with trading Billups away because they had seen some of what Lawson could do and liked him as a point guard.       

Danilo Gallinari, #8, and Ty Lawson, #3, are a potent offensive duo.

Gallinari has become one of the most efficient players in the league.  He's a dead-eye 3-point shooter with unlimited range who uses screens effectively.  Now, he's using his shot fake ability to help him get by hapless defenders and draw fouls inside.  A lot of fouls inside.  In NY, he had a foul draw rate of 18.8 percent; in his 14 games with Denver, it went to 24.3 percent.  For perspective, Dwight Howard had a foul draw rate of 27.1 percent, and most high-volume wings hover in the teens.  Rooster's passing creativity should be unleashed on his new team as well, and if he maintains his healthy vitriol of losing, he could become a borderline all-star type- kind of like how DeMar DeRozan was described last post.     

Lawson saw a boost in his numbers following the trade, too.  After the all-star game, he started 25 games, averaging 14.4 points and 6.9 assists on 50.6 percent shooting and 42.4 percent from 3 in 31.5 minutes.  Lawson can dart into the lane with television camera-evading speed to wreak havoc on opposing defenses.  He can shoot the ball, and he's a solid defender.  If he works on his mid-range game and develops a floater, he could become one of those point guards who will continually get screwed out of future all-star games because the point guard position is so ridiculously deep in promising talent right now.  That's a compliment.

Gallinari and Lawson have burgeoning skill sets ready-made to compliment each other and anchor a perennially elite offense for Denver.

The NBA's Top 5 Up-and-Coming Duos Countdown #5: DeMar DeRozan and Ed Davis

The Toronto Raptors didn't have a very good decade in the 2000s, especially when it came to perimeter players.  They lost Tracy McGrady, traded Vince Carter, got torched in historic fashion by Kobe Bryant, and were beaten by Allen Iverson during the playoffs in their most tantalizing season of the decade.  The most haunting perimeter player-oriented debacle for the franchise: the center they drafted with their number one overall pick turned into a shooting guard, too.  Or at least, he rebounds like one- on a good day.

Yes Ed, the camera is on. 

But this decade should be different.  Guard DeMar DeRozan has all the makings of quality swingman, from size to athletic ability to work ethic.  While he doesn't have the potential of a T-Mac or VC, he's got a combination of traits that should allow him to become a 20 point, 6-7 rebound, 3 assist, 1.5 steal shooting guard/small forward who scores efficiently from 20 feet in and defends well.  Those are the numbers of a borderline all-star- something like prime Caron Butler or a better Josh Howard, but geared more toward SG.  He'll need to work on his ball-handling, shooting, and defense, but he's only 21, and the team needs somebody to produce. 

Ed Davis is DeRozan's fellow 21-year-old partner in this up-and-coming duo.  Davis is already one of the better defenders on the team- it doesn't say much considering Toronto was the worst defensive team in the league last year, but still- and gives them efficient frontcourt offense (7.7 ppg on 58.3 percent True Shooting in 24.6 minutes per game last year).  He rebounds on both ends and has shown himself to be a decent shot-blocker (1.5 blocks per-36 minutes last year).

DeRozan and Davis need better spacing from their teammates- Toronto was the worst 3-point shooting team in the league last year- especially DeRozan, whose games is based on slashing and scoring in the mid-range.  If they get that, it is more likely they will flourish offensively.  Together, D&D can put some D in the dinosaurs, too.

This duo alone won't get Toronto to any future NBA Finals, but they're a great starting point that will make the team relevant again.