I’ll keep the intro short on this one. The Hawks were the suck last year with a record of a lot of losses and not many wins. Then, after not making the playoffs for like the 200th year in a row, they went out and drafted more forwards to go with the rest of their team of forwards. All those forwards were too much even for the Hawks, so they had to give one away for future draft picks so they can draft more forwards next year.
Whew. If you want to see some Hawks related media that’s interesting, check out the classic Atlanta’s Air Force video on Slam Online. Why was everyone lovin on the music videos so much in the 80’s?
And now onto the fantasy outlook for the Atlanta Hawks.
2005/2006 RANKINGS
(24) Joe Johnson
(70) Josh Smith
(85) Josh Childress
(103) Zaza Pachulia
(139) Tyronn Lue
(204) Salim Stoudamire
(215) Marvin Williams
(302) Anthony Grundy
(343) Royal Ivey
(381) Esteban Batista
(392) Donta Smith
OUT
(74) Al Harrington
IN
(107) Speedy Claxton
(227) Lorenzen Wright
(NA) Shelden Williams
(NA) Solomon Jones
BUY
Joe Johnson - He’s still only 25 and he’s improved every year. He hasn’t missed a game in the past 4 years. He should have PG eligibility in most leagues. He was the 24th best 8-cat roto player in the league last year. And he hasn’t been getting anywhere near the play of most players at his level, especially teammate Josh Smith. What more do you want in a 3rd/4th round pick?
Josh Smith – I came into this thing ready to break the hype surrounding Josh Smith (hot fantasy stud du jour) like a Russian boxer breaking the soft Americans. Last I checked, he came in at #28 on Yahoo’s big board (one behind Joe Johnson at #27) and is the 9th ranked small forward on NBA.com (ahead of Carmelo Anthony and Richard Jefferson). But then the Josh Smith Shrine convinced me that he is indeed awesome. Ok, well, I actually looked into the numbers, and in case, Smith lives up to the hype. I ran his post all-star averages through the player rater and post AS Josh Smith came out ranked at #24. Can he keep up that pace over a full year in 06/07? With Al Harrington gone, Smith will be the clear #2 option on this Hawks team, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him ranked in the 20’s at the end of the year.
Marvin Williams - the Harrington trade clears room for Williams to step up and play some bigger minutes. He’ll begin the year as the starting PF on this team. Williams had a nice little rookie year and should build on that– so who really needs Chris Paul and his “gaudy stats†and “ability to dish the ball?†Not Atlanta, that’s for sure.
HOLD
Josh Childress - Meh.
Oh, I’m supposed to provide some actual commentary? Next year, we’ll look back at this season and say that the Hawks stud forward who had a breakout year was a) Josh Childress, or b) Josh Smith? I’ll let you decide. But, it won’t be Childress. He’ll still have value as a 6 man, but I see his stats flat lining again for a third year.
SELL
Speedy Claxton - Speedy fractured his left hand and will likely be out for the next 5-6 weeks, effectively causing him to miss the start of the season. And frankly, he’d be a sell whether he was healthy or not. A lot has be made of the fact that he’ll be starting for the Hawks, but his inability to stay healthy over the course of a season coupled with the fact that his stats are pretty pedestrian anyway, and I’ll be one to stay away. I don’t mind taking risks on injury prone players who have potential (e.g., Gerald Wallace), but Speedy Claxton is no Gerald Wallace.
Zaza Pachulia – Here’s a guy who can go out and give you 12 and 8 with a fun name. Don’t be greedy, they all can’t be winners. Also, Lorenzen Wright will likely take some minutes at center from Zaza this year, pushing him to a sell.
Shelden Williams - Yahoo has him penciled in as the Hawks starting center, which is a little crazy as this point considering his unimpressive summer and smallish size. Insidehoops has him more accurately spotted as backup PF. I’m not sure where he fits in, but I’m sure the Hawks have a clear plan… right?
WATCH
Hell, I’m not going to recommend that you watch the Hawks (other than the inevitable Josh Smith highlights). However, someone that you might want to keep an eye on is Salim Stoudamire. Baring more injuries to Speedy Claxton (a possibility), he’ll struggle for minutes again. But, if he can somehow get 25 minutes, he might have a little value with those threes. Otherwise, he won’t be worth much. Lorenzen Wright also won’t be worth anything except for ruining any potential value that Zaza might have had this year. I’m amazed that the Hawks obtained Wright (originally) in 1999 for TWO first round draft picks.
Where I’d draft em (in a 10 team league)
Joe Johnson – 3rd
Josh Smith – 4th
Speedy Claxton – 10th
Josh Childress – 10th
Marvin Williams – 11th-12th
Zaza Pachulia – You might want to check him out that the end of your draft.
Here’s how I found out about it. I’m sure The Cavalier found out about it from a more reputable media source, but since he apparently didn’t read the actual article, I won’t either. I like to get my news from blogs since it makes me feel warm and fuzzy when I link to blogs. I don’t get that same feeling from linking to the Four Pillars. Or whatever they’re called.
Anyway, before I attempt to conjure up the fantasy basketball (lowercase for life) gods required to analyze this move, I will just say that Sacramento brought this on themselves. Yes, Bonzi also brought it on himself. But despite the fact that he’s playing for about 35% of his desired salary, and ignoring that I don’t really like Bonzi that much, and his work ethic and idea of self-worth are very questionable, he makes teams better, and Houston got a Deal. A deal that, as FreeDarko states, will carry them into the playoffs and beyond.
I prefer the higher quality version, but this one gets to the point quicker.
fantasy impact
The big loser here is Shane Battier. He’s usually a stat sheet filler. But with Bonzi in the business (pushing McGrady to SF), Battier’s fantasy value drops like a little pebble. Even if Bonzi and T-Mac only play 50-60 games each, that only leaves 20-30 games for Battier to break out. I’m sure he will if/when it happens… but until then, he and Bonzi will essentially be splitting time (McGrady moves to the 2 when Battier is in and Wells is out). Battier can be effective in 25-30 minutes/game, but Bonzi will probably only yield about 16, and McGrady maybe 10, meaning at most he gets 26, and that’s with Chuck Hayes, Casey Jacobsen, and Kirk Snyder getting zero apiece. I’d put him as a late round pick now.
Bonzi is going to give you double-digit scoring pretty much every time he steps on the court. His rebounds last year were pretty huge for a SG, and his steals are adequate to good for that position. He was at #61 on our rater with his performance last year, and I don’t really see him getting any worse. Before last season’s 52 games, he’s clocked in 75, 74, 74, 72, and 69 for the past five season. Those are pretty solid numbers, and he should be able to get in at least 60-70 games for the Rockets.
We’re actually getting a pretty good set of team previews going here, and since there’s no way to narrow down on two categories at once (i.e., Fantasy Draft Guide 2006 and a particular team), I thought I’d try to make it easier for people to find the preview for the team they want. Or to go through all of them, making sure they don’t miss anything. I’ll update this post (and its timestamp) as we continue to wind our way through the league so it will remain at the top (or close to) of the Fantasy Draft Guide 2006 category. There is, of course, other helpful information in that category if you just want to go through the whole thing.
Last week, I went to Home Depot to pick out some cabinet hinges (and if you think that’s exciting, you should hear what my weekends are like). After spending way too much time fumbling around the store, it turns out they didn’t have the ones I (meaning my wife) was looking for. Surprisingly, they recommended I check out Lowe’s or some of the local hardware stores for the hinges. Although no one ended up having them (it was a fun, fun day), the honesty on Home Depot’s part was appreciated. In that spirit, here is some other important information out there for all you fantasy freaks.
Although I’m partial to our fantasy team previews, there are some other good ones out there as well. For example, the Talented Mr. Roto checks in with some solid 2006-07 NBA Fantasy Team Previews. Fanball has some shorter ones up as well. I’d throw out a better link, but they don’t have a sweet index like us, and you’ve got to be quick anyway, because they like to put their stuff behind the “owner’s edge” wall (similar, yet different, to the ESPN “insider†wall). But, if you’re really interested in the Fanball previews, you can go to AOL Sports and read the same (abet uncredited) Fanball articles for free. Devilishly evil or free love from AOL? I let you decide.
Something that should be useful to everyone playing fantasy basketball: team-by-team depth charts from InsideHoops. They were last updated on September 14th, and they’re pretty good, but still, I don’t think that Delonte West will be the starting PG for the Celtics this year (I mean, they specifically went out and traded for Telfair). Plus, I know the Knicks suck, but is Jared Jeffries going to be their starting forward? Maybe Isiah does love him that much…
The mysterious shadow man now writing for About.com’s basketball site has a nice article that lists all the contract year players in the NBA this year, if you believe that kind of thing.
Also, you can check out Dear Fantasy Santa, a fantasy basketball wish list from WhatIfSports. Or not, since it was written last year. How about something from last season that’s actually worth a read? The NBA Cares Celebrity Fantasy League wrap up (aka, the celebrity fantasy league involving Bill Simmons, Bernie Mac, Pamela Anderson, et al. You might have read about it on Simmons’ site). It’s an interview with Simmons about the league where he takes some huge shots at Bernie Mac and Kenny Smith:
The major advantage for me was that nobody else in this league was getting paid to watch the games every night … oh, wait, that’s Kenny Smith’s entire job. Scratch that thought.
Or, if your inclinations lean more towards useful content, check out the slightly more up-to-date Offseason Beat from Rotoworld, although you might want to ignore the part about Josh Childress being a fantasy stud this year.
Finally, I wouldn’t forget the little guys out there. I’m impressed by the Dropping Dimes’ Draft Blog, where they are insanely going through a mock fantasy draft PICK by PICK - with a post detailing every pick. Seeing that I’m stumbling around like Dennis Hopper in Hoosiers trying to finish TEAM previews, color me impressed with that effort. And then there’s BV and DM over at Fantasy Basketblog, who are pumping out the fantasy team previews at a rate that would likely kill most small animals. I don’t know what that means, but I’m still impressed with the effort.
he [Nazr Mohammed] dropped 30 points on the Suns while picking up 16 boards.
Yeah, that makes him a sleeper. Cause dropping 30 and getting 16 against Boris Diaw and the Run’N'Gun Suns is an Accomplishment.
Guys like Rashard Lewis and Gerald Wallace don’t get the same amount of recognition as Artest in Fantasy circles, but they are just as productive as [Ron] Artest and they come with half the headache.
Gerald Wallace doesn’t get recognition in Fantasy (not the capital F) circles??? I guess maybe I only run in lowercase fantasy circles where Wallace gets the respect he deserves, and Lewis is drafted as high as Artest come October.
That said, I do agree that Ryan Gomes is a good sleeper candidate that Everyone Knows About Already. I’d actually argue that after his killer closeout last season, Gomes will probably be overrated in lowercase fantasy circle drafts nationwide.
Ay yi yi. I guess I take issue with just about everything in that article (not that I necessarily disagree with everything that is being said, but more with the fact that someone thought even half of it needed saying). But then, I have to think that someone writing these words:
The NBA is almost ready to resume play and it’s time to start getting ready for some Fantasy Basketball. That’s right, we want you to forget about the gridiron boys for just a moment and start to prepare for some hard court action.
is already a little behind the curve that we expect most fantasy basketball players to be riding.
lowercase for life.
According to the test at rumandmonkey.com, I’m Allen Iverson. Actually, I guess that’s not all that far off. Except for the hyperactive quickness part, I’m usually one of the shorter, scrawnier guys out there, and while I can sometimes take it to the hole, I also like a little stop-and-pop. He’s also #3, which used to be my favorite jersey number, before my brief 7 or 11 phase, and my new favorite 24 (to which I’d converted at least a full year before his Kobeness did). So, if AI is my true NBA likeness, I’ve decided that my new nickname should be “The Answer in the Form of a Question.”
Okay, so there’s a category over there (near the bottom where the categories are… I know a little hard to find sometimes) about GMTR leagues. This is where you can track the progress of the 4, yes unforunately 4, leagues I’ll be in this season (and if PMad wants to post about any of his leagues, they’ll be there too, I suppose).
My league participation limit is usually 2, but I joined the KFBA league in a moment of lack-of-fantasy-basketball-for-real weakness for #1. That was about a month ago. And I’d already called out Saeed from Fantasy Bull. So that hit my usual limit of 2 before the inimitables Dennis Velasco and Ryan McNeill asked me to join their experts and bloggers leagues respectively. (I don’t have a lisp, just a lot of S’s)
1. Neil Tardy (Talented Mr. Roto / NBA.com)
2. Evan Silva (Rotoworld / USAToday.com)
3. Matt Satten (Pro Fantasy Sports)
4. Nels Wadycki (Give Me The Rock)
5. Mike Slane (ElevationMag.com)
6. Skeets & Tas (The Basketball Jones)
7. Richard Christ (Fantasy Sports R Us)
8. Brandon Haraway (The Fantasy Lounge)
9. Alvin Lai (DroppingDimes.com)
10. Dennis Velasco (DroppingDimes.com)
11. Scott Sargent (DroppingDimes.com)
12. Ron Chow (DroppingDimes.com)
A little turd falls out of me every time I read that list. I’m confident I’ll be able to not come in last. And that about it.
Anyway, the real point is that my team is called Give Me WLS AM 89, and coming up with that seriously drained all the creative energy I had when it came to team-naming. But there is a rash of creativitygoing aroundthe hoops blogosphere. Since I just got the invite from Ryan (from the all new NBA.com Ultimate Fantasy Commissioner!) and he took the liberty of naming my team GiveMeTheRock.com, I’m hoping to take advantage of that creativity to help me come up with pretty much anything better than that for my bloggers league team. Unfortunately I have nothing more than a link to the site of the winner to give away. And maybe I’ll post whatever picture you want up here. Or something blog-related like that… I have nothing left to give.
So, let me just start things off - as an ex-Blazer fan - with Zach Randolph’s Hoops Family Share Plan. Go for it! Remember, you get pretty much any prize you want as long as it’s free!
