Category: Fantasy Basketball (Page 205 of 274)

      The NBA’s Top 10 Young Small Forwards

      December 15, 2008 /

      Here’s a quick list of the top 10 small forwards under the age of 26, ranked in the order of a combination of current performance and trade value (regardless of salary).

      I’ll also list the player’s age and his Player Efficiency Rating.

      1. LeBron James, Cavs
      Age: 23
      PER: 33.28
      27.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists on a 20-4 team – can you spell M-V-P?

      2. Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets
      Age: 24
      PER: 18.50
      The Nuggets are sitting atop the Northwest with a 16-7 record and with the arrival of Chauncey Billups, ‘Melo is starting to play defense, as evidenced by his career-high 8.2 rebounds.

      3. Danny Granger, Pacers
      Age: 25
      PER: 18.67
      His boards are down, but his points and assists are up. I bet that the six teams that drafted other guys ahead of him – Magic (Fran Vasquez), Clippers (Yaroslav Korolev), Bobcats (Sean May), T-Wolves (Rashad McCants), Nets (Antoine Wright) and the Raptors (Joey Graham) – are all wishing they could have that draft back.

      4. Rudy Gay, Grizzlies
      Age: 22
      PER: 16.54
      I’d like to see better assist numbers (1.7), but he’s still scoring at a terrific clip even though ROY candidate O.J. Mayo is in town. But what’s up with that three-point percentage (29%)?

      5. Luol Deng, Bulls
      Age: 23
      PER: 13.41
      It’s not good to see your FG% take a dive (to 43%) the season after you sign a fat contract. Even though his minutes are about the same, Deng’s production is down across the board.

      6. Thaddeus Young, Sixers
      Age: 20
      PER: 13.32
      Philly is asking a lot more of Young this season, which is why his run has taken a 12-minute jump. Predictably, his numbers are all up, but he’s not as productive on a per-minute basis, which has a lot to do with the dip in his FG% (-6.6%).

      7. Trevor Ariza, Lakers
      Age: 23
      PER: 19.45
      It’s not clear why the Knicks and Magic let him go – well, Isiah is to blame in one case – but their inability to see Ariza’s promise worked to the Lakers’ advantage. Defensively, he’s a terror. If he could only shoot the long ball, he’d be the answer to the team’s problem at small forward.

      8. Al Thornton, Clippers
      Age: 25
      PER: 13.37
      Thornton’s numbers are up across the boards thanks to increased minutes (+10.4) and better accuracy from the field (+2.6%).

      9. Brandan Wright, Warriors
      Age: 21
      PER: 20.80
      Wright is wildly productive in the 17 minutes of playing time he gets each night, but one wonders why Nellie is barely playing him? It’s not like the Warriors have a ton of great players; they’re 7-17 for Pete’s sake.

      10. Jeff Green, Thunder
      Age: 22
      PER: 14.47
      Green has made a big jump from his rookie season. His points (15.6), rebounds (5.5) and assists (2.4) are all up, but more importantly, he’s shooting with increased accuracy from the field (+3.2%) and long range (+13.7%). After looking like a bit of a bust last season, he now looks like he’s capable of being Kevin Durant’s sidekick for the long haul.

      Who am I missing? Before you jump all over me for leaving someone off, be sure to check the player’s age – all these guys are 25 or younger.

      Other lists:

      Top 10 Young Point Guards
      Top 10 Young Shooting Guards

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      The Top 10 NBA Free Agents of 2010

      December 11, 2008 /

      Originally published December 11, 2008.
      Updated November 12, 2009.

      The phrase “Summer of 2010” has become part of the NBA lexicon. Teams have been tripping over each other trying to clear cap space for next summer so that they can sign an impact free agent (or two). With that in mind, let’s take a look ahead at the free agent crop of 2010.

      Below is a list of the top 10 players that are likely to be free agents next summer. I’m ranking them based mostly on talent, but it’s also important to note each player’s age in July of 2010, as that will affect his value and skill. For example, a 31 year-old Paul Pierce holds much more value than a 33 year-old Paul Pierce. Get the drift?

      1. LeBron James, SF (26 years-old)
      James is the golden boy of this free agent class and is the player that every franchise would love to land next summer. He will have just turned 26 and whatever team is lucky enough to sign him will – barring injury – enjoy four or five years of the best basketball of his career. The Cavs have gone “all in” this season, signing Shaq, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon, and re-signing Anderson Varejao. In the process, they gave up whatever cap space they would have enjoyed next summer. If Cleveland’s season ends in disappointment once again, it wouldn’t be surprising if LeBron decides to take his game elsewhere. Three teams — the Knicks, Bulls and Nets — jump out as good fits. LeBron has stated that his top priority is to become a “global icon” and playing in Manhattan would serve that purpose. If the Knicks are able to unload Eddy Curry or Jared Jeffries before the trade deadline, then they’ll have the projected cap space to sign two top players on this list, and that might be enough to convince LeBron to sign on the dotted line. Plus, he’s familiar with Mike D’Antoni (via the duo’s work with Team USA) and the Knicks’ up-tempo system would be a near-perfect fit for LeBron’s skill set. The Nets offer a better supporting cast (led by Devin Harris and Brook Lopez) and the (impending?) move to Brooklyn would boost the franchise’s profile. Chicago has a number of pieces already in place (Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and Kirk Hinrich) and is bigger market than Cleveland. But would LeBron want to go to the franchise that Michael Jordan built?
      Note: Player option (PO)

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Breaking down the Jason Richarson trade

      December 11, 2008 /

      ESPN’s John Hollinger thinks that the Suns’ deal to acquire Jason Richardson is a veritable steal:

      The deal for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley and a 2010 second-round pick cost him only Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary, and it immediately restores the Suns’ flagging hopes of breaking back into the West’s upper crust. Phoenix Suns GM Steve Kerr has faced a lot of questions during his short stewardship of the Suns, but the only question to ask after Wednesday’s trade with Charlotte is whether he was wearing a ski mask.

      Raja Bell is not the player he was two years ago, so this trade is essentially Jason Richardson for Boris Diaw, so let’s take a look at each player’s numbers:

      Richardson: 27 years-old, 18.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 44% FG%, 46% 3PT% (37% career)
      Diaw: 26 years-old, 8.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, 57% FG%

      Since Diaw plays fewer minutes (24.5) than Richardson (35.1), it’s wise to compare their Player Efficiency Ratings as well. Richardson (16.97) is the 14th-ranked shooting guard while Diaw (13.47) is #48 amongst power forwards.

      Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal are a little long in the tooth, so this is a “win now” move for the Suns. The trade doesn’t put them in bad shape for the summer of 2010, when they’ll have to re-sign Amare Stoudemire and try to attract another player to replace O’Neal and Nash, whose contracts expire after the 2009-10 season.

      Richardson is a tremendous scorer and will fit nicely if the Suns try to push the tempo again. Currently, they are #14 in the league in pace, so with the arrival of O’Neal, and to a lesser extent Terry Porter, these are not the run-and-gun Suns that we saw under Mike D’Antoni. Even if they keep their current pace, Richardson is a good shooter and should thrive alongside willing passers like Nash, O’Neal and Grant Hill.

      As for the Bobcats, I’d say that the Larry Brown Era is not off to a very good start.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Grizzlies trade Crittenton to the Wizards

      December 10, 2008 /

      Loaded with point guards, the Memphis Grizzlies decided to trade one away, according to reports.

      The Wizards will receive New Orleans’ Mike James and Memphis’ Javaris Crittenton in the exchange, with the Hornets acquiring Washington’s Antonio Daniels and the Grizzlies coming away with a future first-round pick. New Orleans also received a conditional second-round pick from Memphis.

      The pick is a conditional first-rounder that Memphis had sent to Washington in the trade to acquire Spanish guard Juan Carlos Navarro in the 2007 offseason. Navarro returned to club power FC Barcelona in his native country this season.

      This looks like a good deal for both the Wizards and the Grizzlies. The first round pick was originally the Grizzlies’; here are the details:

      Washington receives a 2009 Memphis first-round pick. (protected) top 16 in 2009, top 14 from 2010-12 and top 12 in 2013. (Juan Carlos Navarro trade 081607).

      So instead of hoping for the Grizzlies to finish outside the top 12-16 over the next five years, the Wizards decided to exchange that pick for a point guard prospect (Crittenton), who is most famous for being a part of the trade that sent Pau Gasol to the Lakers.

      It’s a good trade for the Grizzlies as well because they no longer have that first round pick hanging over their heads. It probably wouldn’t have mattered for the next couple of seasons, but if the Grizzlies were to turn into a playoff contender, they would lose that first round pick once they finished outside the top 12-16 picks in the draft, depending on the year.

      However, if Crittenton turns out to be a player, Chris Wallace will have some more egg on his face.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      McHale hires himself as head coach

      December 8, 2008 /

      Kevin McHale is known as one of the worst GMs in the league. Now he has decided that he is better equipped to be the Timberwolves’ head coach.

      The Timberwolves relieved Randy Wittman of his job, though he should feel relieved after dealing with rumors of his imminent demise all season.

      Wittman hasn’t lived up to the “goals and expectations” considering the “talent” he had to work with, according to Wolves owner Glen Taylor. Those are curious claims considering what Wittman had to run out there every night courtesy of Kevin McHale and Taylor.

      Wittman could have coached Brandon Roy and O.J. Mayo. Instead, he had Randy Foye and Kevin Love. Those draft-day moves go on McHale’s ledger and perhaps it’s time for Minnesota’s favorite basketball son to answer for them. McHale stepped down from his post as VP of basketball operations to coach the Wolves once again.

      Since McHale put this team together, he ought to be the one dealing with this 4-15 mess. Other than power forward Al Jefferson, the rest of the roster is either unrealized potential or veterans, such as Mike Miller, who aren’t part of the future. Taylor sounds as if he’s not letting McHale off the hook lightly.

      “It is my expectation that Kevin will be able to get the most out of our team and our players,” Taylor said in a statement released by the team.

      The Wolves could have as many as four first-round picks next summer. Minnesota needs to hit big in the Draft and/or put together a package to ease the pressure off Jefferson, while helping the development of Foye, Love and Corey Brewer, who recently suffered a season-ending knee injury.

      “I truly believe that we have a talented group of players in our locker room who have a great amount of potential,” McHale stated. “I’m confident that we can get this turned around and get back to playing a brand of basketball that our fans can be proud of.”

      McHale has a close relationship with Taylor which is why he’s lasted this long given his performance as the team’s GM. This smells like Taylor might be getting a little tired of the losing (and/or of McHale blaming the coach for the team’s performance) so he wants McHale to step in and put up or shut up.

      What are the odds that there is a new GM and head coach in Minnesota next season?

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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