At the end of the day, when all the votes were cast and counted, PG Chris Paul was the only player that changed addresses over the offseason that was elected to play in the 2011-12 NBA All-Star Game, brought to you by some corporate sponsor that you, as a fan, most certainly do not care about. Now, Paul was the first of the NBA All-Stars to change teams, but he might not be the last. The rumblings surrounding Dwight Howard and a potential trade get louder by the day. It’s entirely possible that another All-Star, Andrew Bynum of the Lakers, might find himself involved in a deal for Howard. Now, wouldn’t that be something? Wouldn’t that shake the world of Fantasy Basketball to its core? The answer is, no, not really. When the dust settles, even if a few noteworthy names do end up packing their bags, stars will still be stars and their light will continue burning well into the night. Even if they’re New Faces in New Places, they are going to keep doing what they do, the only thing some of them can do, and that’s play basketball.
Dwight Howard may soon be driving someone else’s lane. Photo Credit: Keith Allison
Houston Rockets:
Samuel Dalembert was among the unsung offseason acquisitions, flying well under the radar, in part because he didn’t hold an ESPN-sponsored “decision” announcing his signing with the Rockets. Guys that turn in back-to-back seasons of averaging exactly 8.1 PPG just don’t garner that type of fanfare. Still, he’d been great all year, well, up until recently. Over his last five games, the usually reliable Dalembert had averaged just 3.2 points and 3.2 rebounds and his minutes have fallen off accordingly. Or, perhaps it’s a chicken and egg thing were the lack of MPG are taking the toll on production. Either way, it’s probably unreasonable to expect the slump to last, especially with a dearth of C-eligible options on that Rockets roster. If you need blocks (ROTO, anyone?), look to Dalembert.
Los Angeles Clippers:
All that talk of trading Mo Williams seems to have faded now that Chauncey Billups is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon (ouch!). That makes Williams a must own and brings a certain amount of attention to Randy Foye in deeper leagues. Speaking of deeper leagues, Kenyon Martin is back playing basketball in the good ole U. S. of A. Martin made his Clippers debut with two blocks and a steal in 20 minutes of game action. He’s not going to score much and may grab an occasional rebound, but a lot of Fantasy folks forget that Martin was never really that good anyway. Even at his best, he was a 16/9 guy, and while that has value, his overall numbers have always been fairly replaceable. Now, he’s older, maybe even a little wiser, but he’s certainly not better. As a backup to Blake Griffin, Martin may be a six-point, five-rebound type, or, waiver wire fodder in standard leagues.
Milwaukee Bucks:
No sooner did Stephen Jackson finally work his way out of the doghouse and on to the court (12 points, two rebounds) that he then proceeded to run to his nearest media outlet to express his distaste for playing (or, not playing) in Milwaukee. How shocking it must seem for Fantasy fanatics for a shoot first and ask questions later player like Jackson to be dissatisfied playing under a coach like Scott Skiles. This one seemed like a disaster in the making from Jump Street, and nothing that is unfolding right now should come as a surprise to anyone. At this point, a trade wouldn’t be a big surprise either, given the fact that neither coach nor player wants Jackson to continue playing in Milwaukee. There’s no assurance such a trade will occur, but it really does make sense.
New Orleans Hornets:
Jarrett Jack got off to quite a start for the Hornets, living up to every bit of draft day hype he’d garnered entering the season. He averaged over 16 points and nearly seven assists a night through January but hasn’t been himself in February, missing three games with an injury and playing sub-par ball in the rest. In the two games he has played, he’s been disappointing, averaging just seven points and dishing out 4.5 assists. The silver lining is that second year PG, Greivis Vasquez, who played last year in Memphis, has filled in admirably. Vasquez has averaged 15.0 points, 7.8 assists, and 1.2 3-pointers a night in February, making himself something of a Fantasy find. His rise to prominence probably signals the end to Marco Belinelli’s Fantasy relevance too, assuming he even had any in your league.
New York Knicks:
This wouldn’t be a Fantasy Basketball article without at least a part of it dedicated to Jeremy Lin, the newest savior for the Knicks. Sure, this is a team that gets a new savior every time something even remotely good happens (remember when the Carmelo Anthony trade seemed good?), but Lin, who played for Golden State last season, seems to have the world on a string. Lin averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 assists for the Warriors but had barely played for the Knicks before February 4. Since then, he‘s the toast of the town averaging 25.3 points and 8.3 assists over his past three contests (two starts). It remains unclear if this Harvard grad can maintain his torrid pace, but with nothing but a trash-heap of talentless rejects standing in his way in the New York backcourt, the path to success seems relatively clear moving forward. Once Anthony and Amare Stoudemire return, look for Lin’s PPG to fall off, but maybe, just maybe, the Knicks have found a competent PG.
Sacramento Kings:
There was a point in the season where the Fantasy faithful were waiting to see how little the Kings were willing to accept in trade simply to rid the team of the problem that is DeMarcus Cousins. After all, they had Chuck Hayes and Hayes was playing some pretty good basketball, a trick he’s made a career of—playing good but never great ball. Well, Cousins found a temporary cure for what was ailing him and his production soared, all at the same time that Hayes was fighting through an injury. Now that Hayes is back, he’s still not looking 100-percent healthy. In five February games, Hayes has averaged 21.5 minutes but just 1.3 points and 4.8 rebounds. Sadly, there just aren’t enough shots available to let Hayes regain his Fantasy value. For now, he’s droppable in standard leagues.
*Stats up-to-date as of 02/08/12
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