Comparing John Wall to his peers

UK basketball alum and Wizards’ star freshman John Wall has been busy since he landed in Washington this summer. More busy, in fact, than many of his peers were when they entered the league.
The NBA has no shortage of outstanding young point guards now, Wall included. All told, there are seven point guards age 26 and under who could be considered for the All-Star team this year. Of course, it’s not fair to compare Wall to a player in his sixth year, like Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. But if you take a look at the numbers during the rookie years of these players, you can get a glimpse of just how efficient Wall has been.
Keep in mind, there are three players coached by Calipari on this list (Wall, Tyreke Evans, Derrick Rose) , and two from Kentucky (Wall, Rajon Rondo).
 
Chris Paul (2005-06) – 16.1 points, 7.8 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 2.3 turnovers
Deron Williams (2005-06) – 10.8 points, 4.5 assists, 2.4 rebounds, .8 steals, 1.8 turnovers
Rajon Rondo (2006-07) – 6.4 points, 3.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 1.8 turnovers
Derrick Rose (2008-09) – 16.8 points, 6.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds, .8 steals, 2.5 turnovers
Russell Westbrook (2008-09) – 15.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 3.3 turnovers
Tyreke Evans (2009-10) – 20.1 points, 5.8 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 3.0 turnovers
John Wall (2010-11) -15.1 points, 9.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 3.9 turnovers
 
It’s also worth noting that Wall has the highest assist percentage of any of these players during their rookie years, at over 41 percent. That’s a statistic that measures the percent of field goals a player assisted on during his time on the floor. But he also has the highest turnover percentage of any player, and his player efficiency rating (PER) of 15.6 is middling compared to Tyreke Evans and Chris Paul. PER measures the overall value of a player, and it’s designed so that 15 is an average NBA player. LeBron James has recorded a 30+ PER over multiple seasons, and Paul’s career PER is over 25. It’s the turnovers and his 40 percent field goal shooting (30 percent from 3-point range) that are holding him back.
But overall, it’s hard to argue that Wall, at age 20, isn’t performing as good or better than the Wizards hoped when they drafted him.
 
*All statistics courtesy of basketballreference.com