Without a doubt, this has been the best basketball Tyreke Evans has played in his rookie season for the Sacramento Kings

The Kings’ 20-year-old guard has averaged 19 points, 8.75 rebounds, 7.75 assists and 0.75 steals per game since March 9.  Since then, the Kings have played the Portland Trail Blazers in Portland and home games against the Toronto Raptors, the Blazers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. In that span the team has a 2-2 record.

Evans posted 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and a steal in the 88-81 loss in Portland.  The Kings were within three points of the Blazers late in the game, but the experience of the Blazers overtook the Kings – the least-experienced team in the NBA.

The team has an average of 2.2 years of experience, with Beno Udrih, Andres Nocioni and Ime Udoka having been in the league for five years.  It also features four rookies in Evans, Omri Casspi, Jon Brockman and newly signed Garrett Temple.

In the next game, Evans went off for his first career triple-double on a night dubbed "RekeROY Night," where fans rallied to support Evans for rookie of the year on a night dedicated to him.  He had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 113-90 win over the Raptors.  He became the third rookie this season to register a triple-double, behind the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry and the New Orleans Hornets' Darren Collison.

"I came out in attack mode," Evans said after the game.  "The crowd was in it.  I was going to come out there and try to bring it."

After the performance he put on that night, Evans has locked up the NBA Rookie of the Year award.

Two days later, the Blazers came to visit and gave the Kings another loss, 110-94.  Evans scored eight of his 10 points and seven of his 10 rebounds in the first 14 minutes of the game.  After that, he only scored two points and grabbed three rebounds in the second half.  The Blazers’ defense limited Evans' scoring.  He missed eight of only 12 shots on the night.

"I thought the Blazers' defense was very aggressive," Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal said.  "They took away a lot of our first options."
On Sunday, the Timberwolves came into ARCO Arena to play the Kings coming off a tough loss.  Evans was one rebound shy of another triple-double with 29 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists and two steals in the 114-100 win over Minnesota.

Evans, so far, has had a great month that rivals LeBron James' March his rookie season in 2004.  James averaged 22.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.  Evans is averaging 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game through eight games.

After hovering under an average five rebounds per game for part of the season, Evans is now averaging 20.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  Critics who have stated that Evans can't be a point guard are being proven wrong.  He is No. 16 in the NBA in assists and assists per game.

Evans has proven that he is a spectacular player and will become even better in the future.  Only 20 years old, Evans still has plenty of room to improve, but there's no doubt that he will be a great player for a very long time

Photo Credit:  Jonathan Mendick