He hasn't quite sunk to the depths of his injury-addled second year with the Sacramento Kings, but former Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans hasn't been making much noise in Sacto of late. Once lauded for his all-around offensive play, the guard's decision-making and seemingly stagnant growth rate have frustrated Kings fans to no end; even if they don't (and should not) blame the guard for the team's struggles. And though she doesn't quote an anonymous source in her report, Sacramento Bee columnist Ailene Voisin confirmed on Sunday that the Kings "will entertain trade offers" for the guard this summer, as he enters the final guaranteed year of his rookie contract in 2012-13. That's a sad, almost unprecedented scene. Rare is the player on a relatively cheap-o (Evans is set to make $5.25 million next year, nearly the league's average salary) rookie deal that is tossed around on the trading block. And yet, though Evans is clearly to blame for not diversifying his game and building on an impressive rookie year that saw him rank among Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James as the only rookies to average over 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists, you can blame environment as much as you can blame the individual. Evans, whose iffy on-court habits were condoned in a major way by former coach Paul Westphal, wasn't exactly brought up the right way.
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