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Trey Burke is poised to make a huge impact in his rookie season for the Utah Jazz. Unlike most rookies, Burke will, by necessity, be immediately thrust into action with the young Jazz, who only have two point guards on their entire roster. It will be a trial by fire for the 20-year old Burke for Utah, who hope to have found their point guard of the future.
I believe Burke has what it takes to not only survive the NBA, but also succeed. It will likely take him a while to transition from college to the NBA, especially being a point guard, but it seems that Burke has all the tools necessary to be the best rookie in the NBA this upcoming season.
As Burke displayed during the 2013 NCAA Tournament, he has a tremendous knack for the game, is a polished scorer and prolific playmaker who led the Big 10 in assists last season. All of these skills should translate to the NBA, where Burke will immediately be a difference-maker. At 6-feet tall, Burke may not have the prototypical attributes for a NBA point guard, but then again, neither does Chris Paul.
Still, it’s important to temper our expectations for Burke. Point guard is probably the hardest position to play at the professional level, and Burke will have some struggles adjusting to the pace of the NBA game as he’ll be playing against players the caliber of Paul and Tony Parker. Burke struggled in the 2013 Summer League, shooting only 24 percent from the field and only 1-of-19 from 3-point range. So there certainly will be growing pains.
That being said, for the reasons listed above, I still believe Burke will impress during his rookie campaign. He may start off a bit slow, but by the end of the season, look for him to be one of the front-runners for Rookie of the Year.
Justin Brown covers the San Antonio Spurs and NBA in general for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Real_JBrown, like him on Facebook, add him on Google
