Who Will Be the NBA Rookie of the Year in the '07-'08 Season?

It's time for the NBA to hand out their annual awards but I'm not really concerned about this year's awards I want to look into the future at next year and talk about who will be the NBA Rookie of the year in the 07-08 season.

Going into this draft all the talk is about two players, Ohio State's Greg Oden and Texas Longhorn Kevin Durant. The question isn't will Greg Oden and Kevin Durant be the number one and number two pick, it is which one will be number one and which one will be number two.

There is a reason that Kevin Durant and Greg Oden have been the consensus #1 and #2 picks since day one. In the NBA there is a lack of size around the league so when a seven footer, that isn't a total hack, comes around everybody wants him. Whatever team ends up with Greg Oden will be ahead of nearly every team when it comes to size. Kevin Durant on the other hand is a more complete player, he can score from the inside and he can shoot from the outside, he is the better all around player and whatever team drafts him is going to have a superstar on their hands.

However, I don't think either will win Rookie of the Year next season. Both will be excellent NBA players but not next year. With Greg Oden I just don't see the maturity there yet. Greg Oden last season had flashes of greatness but other times looked uninterested. Maybe it was just the college game he was uninterested in and he'll be more focused in the NBA but at 19 years old I think Greg Oden is still just a kid that needs to grow up.

Kevin Durant is a year young but I'm not sure his maturity is as big an issue although it certainly could be. My main concern with Kevin Durant is just being able to play with the much more physical NBA players. Kevin Durant needs to put on some more muscle to combat these NBA players and improve on his post play.

Greg Oden or Kevin Durant will not be the Rookie of the Year next year. That gives another team hope. Whatever team ends up with the third pick in the draft might feel unlucky because they just missed out on Greg Oden and Kevin Durant but the truth is there is a silver lining and that is they get the first shot at player that will have the biggest immediate impact in the NBA, Al Horford.

First of all the maturity is not an issue. If you look up and down the contenders for first round picks you'll see an awful lot of freshmen and sophomores but Al Horford is one of the few players who has "junior" next to his name. Don't under estimate how valuable that one extra year of school is. Plus, Al Horford was already awfully mature to begin with. While his counterpart on the Florida Gators, Joakim Noah, was the brash, loud mouthed, dramatic kid, Al Horford willingly took a back seat to Noah in the spotlight and just came to play every single night. Joakim Noah was always the guy that was talked about, especially in the NCAA Tournament in 2006, but really Al Horford has been the better player every step of the way. Al Horford is the kind of professional and unselfish player that any team would be willing to have.

More importantly Al Horford is a power forward with size, and unlike Kevin Durant, Al Horford is ready for the NBA physically. Al Horford is just a beast in the post both offensively and defensively. If you ranked all the players in the draft in their ability to post up, block shots and rebound then Al Horford would be right up there at the top in all three. Al Horford can also play great help defense, he is unselfish, he has a great basketball IQ, he has a winning attitude, and he can even handle the ball well enough to run a fast break. Al Horford is the total package. Al Horford is the NBA Rookie of the Year next season.