Give Me The Rock

Interesting… I opened up Juan’s analysis of the New Orleans Hornets, and it actually turned out to be a fantasy football anaylsis of the New Orleans Saints. Perhaps he was in too big of a hurry to get to Houston to watch the Dynamo play. You might think that’s racist, but I’m pretty sure it’s not racist if it’s true.

So, in any case, I have had to actually do some work to come up with your fantasy preview for the New Orleans (Rich oil barons from Oklahoma be damned!) Hornets. And here it is, starting with last year’s rankings of this year’s players:

(17) Chris Paul
(50) Peja Stojakovic
(56) David West
(143) Tyson Chandler
(149) Bobby Jackson
(233) Rasual Butler
(268) Aaron Williams
(286) Marc Jackson
(287) Desmond Mason
(304) Linton Johnson
(402) Brandon Bass
(411) Jackson Vroman
(N/A) Hilton Armstrong (C)
(N/A) Cedric Simmons (F)
(N/A) Marcus VVDS (F)

Obviously Chris Paul is the star of the team here, and he’s only going to get better. The additions of Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson and the further development of David West can only help Paul. Seeing that the Hornets will be making another so-called playoff run this year only makes things better. Paul averaged 36 minutes a game last season, and if the Hornets can remain competitve, I should think that those minutes will go up. They were only 6 games out of the playoffs at the end of last season, and that was after the wheels kind of fell off towards the end. I’m not sure that he’s quite worth a first round pick, but he will definitely be gone by the end of the second (we’re assuming a 10 team league to make the math easy).

Stojakovic got his touch back in Indiana shooting 46% in 40 games there, and with someone like Paul to distribute the ball, and with West keeping defenses honest, Peja should get a lot of good looks. He should be closer to his Indy numbers than his Sacto numbers in NO.

And David West. Wow. Going from 6 to 17 points a game is a leap. 84% free throw shooting is also good from a big man, even if he only takes 3 a game. If that doesn’t satisfy you, how about the 51% from the floor with 14 shots a game. Can you tell I like D-West a lot? Be patient about picking him, though, because whoever had him last year (like me) is probably going to overvalue him this season. He was a great pick last year because he was a sleeper. Can’t count on that happening again; but he should be able to post the same kind of numbers as last season.

Then we drop down to Tyson Chandler. Will this year be his year? Honestly, I kind of doubt it. The situation in NO is not going to be any better for Tyson than it was in Chicago. You’ve got Paul, Stojakovic, and West as the main scoring options. The other guys on the team seem to be able to pump out points but not do much of anything else (Desmond Mason, Marc Jackson, I’m looking at you). So, really, Chandler won’t have to be relied on for any more scoring than the put backs he gets from offensive rebounds. Paul, Peja, and West all rebound decently for their positions as well. That doesn’t leave a lot for Chandler to do except block shots.

I like how nobody (myself included) noticed when Rachel included Bobby Jackson in the Memphis analysis. Something about, if you want it done right… something… something… Anyway, Jackson will probably be a pretty decent bench point guard for a fantasy team. He’ll obviously be backing up Chris Paul (who hopefully won’t leave a lot of minutes on the table), but Jackson can also play a little 2, so he might pick up some time there.

Here’s where I’d DRAFT for a 10 Team League:
Paul - 2nd round
Peja - 4th round if you’re feeling it, otherwise wait until the 5th.
West - If he drops to the 5th, he’s a good pick there.
Hilton Armstrong - 10th round; he’ll probably get taken higher, since he does have a lot of potential, but I don’t think he’ll provide enough value to warrant it. There’s still a lot mroe proven players in the 8th and 9th rounds, but in the 10th you start to get into the “Okay, he could be good.” And that applies perfectly to Armstrong.
Bobby Jackson - 13th; good for a last round flier. Maybe earlier if you need an extra PG.
Tyson Chandler - 13th; if you need another Center, or some more rebounds. Despite what I said above, he’ll probably still get 9+ rebounds a game, and maybe somewhere between 5 and 9 points. His FG% will be decent, but not a lot of shots, and his FT% will be weak. He might get up to that magic number 2 in blocks since West and Armstrong can help him out around the basketball, but it’s not a guarantee.
Cedric Simmons - 13th round. He could almost turn out to be better than Chandler this season, but probably not. After another year or two, he’ll probably be rising up the fantasy ranks, even if only for his blocks. He will likely be a good complement to West and Armstrong, and push Chandler to the fringe of the rotation.

There you have it.