Roy, Millsap, Bargnani lead oft-maligned rookie crop

Nobody should pretend that this year's rookie class isn't underwhelming. It is, but that's no reason to go the other way and pretend that it isn't boasting a strong series of contributors and a few potential All-Stars. Even the much-maligned Renaldo Balkman, drafted by New York in the first round after being pegged as a possible second-rounder at best, is changing the entire timbre of every game he plays with his all-out hustle and smart offensive cuts.

So, it would seem as good a time as any (with the league's general managers sitting on their hands over the trade deadline) to take a look at this year's rookie class. To make things easier, and make up for the disparate roles each of these rookies play, we've taken to normalizing most statistics to a per-40-minute mark, though only when noted.

(All statistics and records through Feb. 22 -- the Day the Trade Deadline Died.)

NBA Rookie Power Rankings Rank LW   Player 1 - Brandon Roy Roy isn't blowing anyone away with All-Star level play, but he's been a solid contributor while picking his spots with a methodical Trail Blazers team. Roy's averages of 18.5 points, 4.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds per 40 minutes compare quite favorably with the rookie years of Ray Allen (17.4 points, 3.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds per 40 minutes), Allan Houston (17.6, 2.6, 3.2), Michael Finley (15.4, 3.6, 4.7) and Eddie Jones (18.1, 2.6, 5.0 per 40). Roy is the rare rookie who rarely turns the ball over as well. 2 - Paul Millsap He won't be averaging 20 points in a few years -- unlike the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft -- but Millsap is playing a better brand of basketball than his rookie counterparts. His stats are just hampered by the fact that he plays 17.5 minutes per game. Scoring at a rate that is nearly at Andrea Bargnani's level (15.9 points per 40 minutes to 18.1), Millsap is almost doubling Bargnani's rebounding output (11.3 to 5.9 per 40) while playing strong defense for the Northwest-leading Jazz. 3 - Andrea Bargnani Give this to Bargnani: He may not turn into the sort of all-around monster Dirk Nowitzki has become, but he'll be close someday, and he's contributing an awful lot earlier in his rookie season than Dirk did in Big D. Bargnani is averaging nearly 11 points in just under 24 minutes, finding his way without having many plays called for him. 4 - Rudy Gay Recently we made a crack about Gay only knowing how to score for the cellar-dwelling Memphis Grizzlies, and that was probably unfair. Gay might not be hoarding boards like Millsap or playing for a winner like Bargnani, but he is more than a scorer. Consider this: His rebound rate (the percentage of available rebounds a player grabs while he's on the court) of 9.9 is already better than the 8.8 mark of Carmelo Anthony, who is in his fourth season. Even better, Gay is hitting 40 percent of his three-pointers, which we can't say about the sweet-shooting Bargnani. 5 - Randy Foye The best you can say about Foye is that he's everything we'd hoped he'd be: a devastating driver who can finish in the lane, a player who gets the job done despite an off-and-on jump shot. Working on a team that features a host of combo guards aching for minutes (Mike James, Troy Hudson, Marko Jaric, Rashad McCants), Foye has also taken over as Minnesota's go-to perimeter guy in the clutch. 6 - Marcus Williams Williams has already established himself as one of the best change-of-pace guards in the game; he's equally adept at upping the tempo off the bench or slowing things down to run the screen/roll game. A link between the soft hands of Nets center Mikki Moore and Williams' deft passing touch has also already been established. What's also clear is that Williams takes way too many three-pointers (33-of 113, 29 percent). And, rook, you're not allowed to hand-check in the NBA. Act accordingly. 7 - Craig Smith Like Millsap, Smith is a second-round pick who rebounds in bunches and is an unstoppable force near the rim. Also like Millsap, he's playing limited minutes (15.7 per game), but we're not going to penalize the kid just because he has to play behind "Da Kid" (Kevin Garnett), while all Charlotte's Adam Morrison has to do is beat out Derek Anderson for minutes. Smith is averaging 15.7 points and 11.5 rebounds to Morrison's 16.4 and 3.9 rebounds per 40 minutes. 8 - Adam Morrison Morrison is an intriguing player with a good (if near-All Star) future, but his rookie year has featured an odd mix of equal parts hubris and insecurity. He will chuck his fair share of 25-footers without regard for the shot clock or defensive coverage, but he'll also pass up as many open shots that he should be taking. And his rebounding (3.1 caroms in 31.8 minutes) is an absolute joke. He averages 13 points, but has to shoot 13.4 times a game to get there. 9 - LaMarcus Aldridge Aldridge won't destroy you in the post, but he can drive interior defenders batty with his strong touch in face-up mode both around the basket and on the perimeter. He is averaging 7.1 points (on 49 percent from the floor) and 3.9 rebounds in 19.6 minutes, and he doesn't have many plays called for him in an offense featuring headstrong guards and 19 shots a night for Zach Randolph. One has to worry about his rebounding, though. 10 - Jorge Garbajosa A glue guy nonpareil, Garbajosa isn't putting his Raptors over the top with his play, but he isn't hurting this team either -- and that's all you can ask from a rookie, even if the rook is pushing 30. He is averaging 8.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and two assists for every turnover. Still, you don't want this guy playing nearly 29 minutes a game, as he is now. As the Raptors accrue more depth, Garbajosa should see less court time. On the cusp: Renaldo Balkman, Daniel Gibson, Rajon Rondo