As a new player. PF/C is a great choice. You will be wanting to work on inside shot (IS), inside defence (ID) and Rebounding(RB). Depending on opinion, you may also want to train Shot Blocking (SB). You should rotate at 2 weeks for each skill so you build up gradually (this is slightly more efficient for training).
You are looking for players with at least average in 3 of the skills (mentioned above) to start with and it would be great if they had semi-decent handling(HD) and jump shot(JS) too. The player should really be as tall as possible and no smaller than 6'9".
Potential wise, i'd say go for the star/allstar area. You may well get a star potential for quite cheap and it'd be more than worth it. Wont reach the cap for ages anyway.
Obviously, for the other players. You want as high a skills as possible and go for older players to keep the price down.
Follow the new player guide for tips on the skills. I would say outside defence (OD) and JS may be of most importance overall.
Point Guard
(1) Handling, Passing
(2) Outside Defense, Driving
(3) Jump Shot, Jump Range, Inside Shot
Shooting Guard
(1) Jump Shot, Jump Range
(2) Handling, Passing,
(3) Driving, Outside Defense, Inside Shot
Small Forward
(1) Jump Shot, Jump Range, Outside Defense
(2) Handling, Passing, Driving
(3) Inside Shot, Inside Defense
(4) Rebounding