NBA Rookie of the Year Forecast

NBA offseason: Rookie of the Year forecast - ESPN

DeMarcus Cousins

Based on talent alone, Cousins could easily be the favorite to win rookie of the year. Just look at his Kentucky stats -- he's an efficient double-double machine who dominated college opponents as a freshman.

Still, you can't blame our panel for hesitating to crown Cousins king of the rooks. Not when he's going up against two No. 1 picks for the honor. Not when he's dealing with maturity issues. Not when he's competing with Samuel Dalembert, Carl Landry and Jason Thompson for minutes in Sacramento. And not when he's battling the likes of Duncan, Gasol and Yao in the West when he does see the floor.

But if Cousins overcomes those obstacles and plays to his potential, Sacramento could very well be looking at back-to-back ROY winners (Kings point guard Tyreke Evans won the 2009-10 award). The last team to accomplish that feat was the Buffalo Braves (Bob McAdoo in 1973 and Ernie DiGregorio in 1974).