Cleveland's Kyrie Irving and Minnesota's Ricky Rubio are the early leaders in the Rookie of the Year race. The fact that they're both point guards—a position that relies heavily on veteran savvy and decision-making skills—got us wondering about the best seasons by rookie point guards in NBA history.

We've compared Irving and Rubio to 18 other top NBA point guards to see how their rookie seasons stack up in seven key statistical categories: Points per game (ppg), assists (apg), rebounds (rpg), steals (spg), field-goal percentage (FG%), 3-point percentage (3PT) and free-throw percentage (FT%).

To determine the relative values of the rookie point guards, we've assigned each player a rotisserie-style point total based on their rank in each of the seven categories. First place in each category is worth 20, second place is worth 19 and so on down to 20th place being worth one point. Then we added each player's seven category scores to determine a final point value for their rookie seasons.

Before we get to the findings, two important caveats:

1. Our system weighs each of the seven categories evenly, e.g. first place in scoring or assists is worth the same as first place in free-throw shooting or steals. One could argue that some of these categories are more important than others when assessing the value of a point guard.

2. Oscar Robertson's stats are—quite literally—off the charts. In his rookie season of 1960-61, Robertson nearly averaged a triple-double with 30 points scored per night, a feat he accomplished in his second year (and fell one-tenth of a rebound shy of doing again in his fourth year).

But he also played in a much different era when defense was virtually an afterthought, so that's a tough standard by which to judge today's players. Also, the NBA didn't keep official statistics for steals until 1973-74, and it didn't adopt the 3-point shot until 1979-80, so it's impossible to include Robertson in those comparisons. Thus, we're looking at 20 point guards from the so-called "Modern Era," where the standards are much more comparable.

With those caveats out of the way, we bring you the top 20 rookie point guards in modern NBA history.

1. Magic Johnson, 105 points

Rookie season:

1979-80 Lakers; Age: 20

Key stats:

Johnson finished in the top 10 in five of seven categories, ranking No. 1 with 7.7 rpg and a .530 FG%, second with 2.4 spg and fourth at 18.0 ppg.

2. Chris Paul, 103

Rookie season:

2005-06 Hornets; Age: 20

Key stats:

Paul led all rookies with a .847 FT% and was fourth with 5.1 rpg and 2.2 spg while finishing in the top 10 in six of seven categories.

3. Damon Stoudamire, 100

Rookie season:

1995-96 Raptors; Age: 22

Key stats:

Another player who ranked in the top 10 in six categories, Stoudamire finished second with 9.3 apg, third with 19.0 ppg and fourth in 3-point shooting at .395.

4. Mark Jackson, 93

Rookie season:

1987-88 Knicks; Age: 22

Key stats:

Jackson came up huge in two categories, leading the group with 10.6 apg and 2.5 spg.

5. Kyrie Irving, 90

Rookie season:

2011-12 Cavaliers; Age: 19

Key stats:

Through Feb. 7, Irving stands second in FG% at .492 and FT% at .830, is third in 3-point shooting at .413 and is fourth in scoring with 18.0 ppg.

6. Ricky Rubio, 89

Rookie season:

2011-12 Timberwolves; Age: 21

Key stats:

Through Feb. 7, Rubio ranks No. 2 with 2.4 spg, third with 9.1 apg and fourth in free-throw shooting at .816.

7. Tim Hardaway, 87

Rookie season:

1989-90 Warriors; Age: 23

Key stats:

Hardaway ranked fourth with 8.7 apg and a .471 FG%, and finished fifth with 2.1 spg.

8. Tyreke Evans, 85

Rookie season:

2009-10 Kings; Age: 20

Key stats:

Evans ranks high in two key categories: No. 2 with 20.1 ppg and No. 3 with 5.3 rpg, but suffered in 3-point shooting (15th at .255) and free-throw shooting (13th at .748).

9. (tie) John Wall, 82

Rookie season:

2010-11 Wizards; Age: 20

Key stats:

Wall finished in the top 10 in five of seven categories, including fifth with 8.3 apg just shot just .409 from the field, fifth-worst among the rookie point guards.

9. (tie) Allen Iverson, 82

Rookie season:

1996-97 Sixers; Age: 21

Key stats:

Iverson led all players with 23.5 ppg and was fifth with 2.1 spg, but had the third-lowest free-throw percentage (.702).

The next 10:

11. Isiah Thomas, 78

12. Derrick Rose, 71

13. Russell Westbrook, 67

14. (tie) Jason Kidd, 63

14. (tie) Stephon Marbury, 63

16. (tie) Andre Miller, 54

16. (tie) Steve Nash, 54

18. Deron Williams, 46

19. John Stockton, 42

20. Tony Parker, 37

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-- This article originally appeared on SportingNews.com.