College Career: In a draft which featured twelve underclassmen amongst the first thirteen lottery picks, Earl Watson was a rarity. He will be perhaps the most experienced rookie in the NBA this season, after not only playing four years, but starting every game of his career -- 129 in total, the most in UCLA's storied history. As a freshman, Watson took a backseat to more heralded teammates, and in particular backcourt mate Baron Davis. His first season, Watson was nearly a complete non-factor on offense, but he more than doubled his scoring average from 5.8 to 13.3 by his sophomore year. In his junior year, with Davis gone to Charlotte as the third pick in the Draft, Watson took a more active playmaking role. While his scoring average declined slightly, Watson recorded a career high 5.9 assists per game. For his senior season, after the Bruins lost a pair of players to early Draft entry, Watson again looked to score, and averaged a career high 14.7 points while shooting almost 50% (49.3%) from the field. Pac-10 coaches recognized Watson's efforts and named him first team all-league. The career numbers are impressive. Watson is UCLA's all-time leader in steals (235), and ranks fourth in both assists (607) and three pointers (133). In addition, he is the only player to rank in the Pac-10's all-time top 10 in both assists and steals.

Shooting/Scoring: Watson entered UCLA as an offensive liability, shooting less than 40% from the field, but has developed a strong offensive game over his career. He is best from mid-range, where his jumper is particularly solid. The college three was within his range (34.1% career), but the NBA three is likely not, making the mid-range shot more important. On the drive, Watson's size can be a problem, but he is physically built and uses his strength to his advantage in the lane. His free throw shooting is a serious liability. Only once in his career has Watson shot over 70% from the stripe, and last season was at a woeful 63.6%. Unusually, however, he seemed almost automatic from the line down the stretch of tight games. Grade: C+

Floor Game: Watson is not a particularly creative distributor or creator for his teammates. His point guard style is more of the 'steady hand' approach, meaning getting the ball in the hands of the right player to make a play more than making one yourself. Think Nate McMillan or Eric Snow in terms of names from Sonic history. Unfortunately, to really do this successfully, Watson will have to cut way down on his unacceptable turnover numbers, 3.4 per game last season, which led to a middling 1.5 assist/to ratio. Grade: C

Rebounding: For his size and position, Watson is a decent rebounder. As mentioned, he is strong for a little guy, and unafraid to mix it up in the middle a little bit. Oddly, he's about equally capable on the offensive glass as opposed to on defense, which is a rarity for a guard, generally away from the hoop more on offense. Grade: B

Defense: Defense is Watson's calling card, and with good reason. His speed and quickness, when combined with quick hands, make him a fine perimeter defender. Watson was named Team Defender of the Year his first two seasons at UCLA. In a team concept, Watson is experienced in the full-court press after playing it extensively in college, and forces turnovers well in double team situations during the press. With the Sonics perhaps looking to run the press, Watson makes a good fit. His size does make him a bit of a post-up liablity, though his strength again is an asset. Watson's height would be a serious conern were he starting, but is likely not a serious problem as a reserve. Grade: B+

Intangibles: Watson is the epitome of what teams look for in terms of leadership from the point guard position. Though not always the most talkative of players, it was he who UCLA looked to down the stretch in close games for key plays and guidance. On most occasions, he was successful. He is also a solid citizen. Grade: A-

Overall: Recapping quickly, Watson is a mediocre scorer, poor free throw shooter, uncreative but steady point guard, good rebounder, and defensive specialist. Now what ex-Sonic point guard has also just been described? If you guessed McMillan, you're correct. There's long been speculation that McMillan as coach is looking for a player like himself to back up Gary Payton. Emanual Davis was the subject last season, but his merits as a point guard on offense are debatable, and he was too old to be molded by McMillan himself. Watson now becomes that project. At this point, he doesn't project to be nearly the player that McMillan was, but if he even comes close, the Sonics will be extremely happy. With Shammond Williams in the fold this season, Watson likely sits and learns from, amongst others, assistant Dean Demopoulos, who coached Watson's cousin Michael as a freshman point at Missouri-Kansas City last season. Grade: C-

December 1 Update: What a pleasant surprise. So recently a question mark to even make the roster, Watson has in November caused fans to wonder if he might not be the Sonics' point guard of the future. While Watson's defensive rep was good coming out of UCLA, who knew he was this disruptive of a force? Watson's steals per 48 numbers are astronomical, tops in the league early on. He's changed the Sonics' tempo and intensity when in the game. On offense, Watson has been more effective than expected, quickly learning how to finish amongst the NBA trees and showing surprising three point range. Earl 'The Pearl' looks like a keeper.

January 1 Update: The true test of any NBA rookie is to display consistency. Over a third of a way through the schedule, Watson's play continues to get better and better. He has truly become leader of an effective and exciting young bench unit, just as McMillan once led the reserves so many years ago. A brief turnover spell early in the month was quickly abetted, and Watson has been remarkably sure-handed.

February 1 Update: Watson hit a bit of a bump in his rookie road when Coach Nate McMillan decided that he had hit the proverbial 'wall' and cut his minutes, removing him entirely from the rotation for two weeks before he returned on the month's final day. His numbers dropped virtually across the board, perhaps attributable to the inconsistent time.

March 1 Update: Reclaiming his role as the Sonics' backup to both Payton and Barry, Watson struggled with his shot (37.1%), but was an asset offensively to the team by moving the ball to teammates better than he had throughout the season. With his defense and energy, Watson continued to be a spark off the bench for the Sonics.

April 1 Update: After Watson reclaimed his role as the third Seattle guard, the month of March looked like it would be a strong one for him. However, just two games and one quarter in, he went down on the fifth with a separated shoulder which kept him out the balance of the month. He was activated for the last three games, but played less than one minute at less than 100%.