Give Me The Rock
this is fantasy basketball
This is part two of my mini-series that’s focusing on teams that were hit hard by the “Four Horsemen” (Injury, Salary Cap, Rebuilding, Bad Contracts) over the off-season.
Since I’m tired of those “Houston, we have a problem…” puns, I want to take it in another direction and say: “Houston is not so bad.” – Well at least from a fantasy perspective.
Yao Ming is gone for all, if not most, of the season due to injury; which is too bad.
Ron Artest is gone, which because of my biases against him, isn’t too bad.
Tracy McGrady is gone for most of the season, which is just like another day at the office.
It isn’t too far-off an idea to think that the Rockets may off-load his expiring contract before the trade deadline this season, so that they can get their rebuilding process underway.
Yup, Houston is actually now a potential market for some of those big names that are going to be seeking top-dollar signings this coming 2010. That’s still farther down the road. For now, let’s take a quick look at what value we can scrounge for in the crash-debris we know as the Houston Rockets’ roster.
The team’s “Big Three” is GONE, which to me is signifies the opening of a window of opportunity for the following guys to outperform their 2008-09 season’s fantasy performances:
Trevor Ariza swapped teams with Ron Artest. That’s the short version of the chapter and all we fantasyheads really need to look at. He was able to show flashes of fantasy brilliance in the Lakers’ Playoff match-up against Orlando as he showed an improvement in his outside shooting. Prior to that, he was already a popular fantasy plug-in for his steals contributions. What should we expect from him this season aside from him playing 83 minutes per game? Well, I think his steals should still be there. He really is an excellent perimeter defender. I expect Coach Rick Adelman to give him some room to shoot the trey every now and then as the Rockets will really need to spread out the defense so that Luis Scola and Luis Scola (no that wasn’t a typo!) can both do his thing in the paint and up to 14-feet away from the basket. Low double digit scoring averages for Trevor is a reasonable expectation as well. Think of him this season as an evolved upgrade of his last season’s form with the Lakers. So yes, scribble the word “Upside” on your little post-its and stick it next to his name on your print out of the Four Fingers of Fantasy Draft Guide.
Aaron Brooks. Ah, my personal favorite late-middle round combo-guard pick for this season! Don’t you dare tell your friends he’s a sleeper. Well, just in case I’m playing against them in some fantasy league. Commentary in the Houston Chronicle says that “Rockets… will look to Brooks to be an on-the-court leader.”
A few moments like these in this coming regular season would indeed be sweet to watch. We project him to chip in 14.5 PPG; 4.6 APG; 1.7 3PPG; 0.8 SPG. That’s the average from all six experts from the Four Fingers team. I’m a little bit higher on him than the rest of the guys. I’m looking at 15.6 PPG; 5.3 APG; 0.7 SPG and 1.9 3PPG. That to me looks like good value in the middle rounds. The break-out potential is there. The goal should be to get him as late as you possibly can. I just finished a 12-man, h2h mock and was able to get him in the tenth round. I think that wasn’t so bad.
Luis Scola will be the inside-scoring punch for the Rockets. I see him bringing a decent array of contributions to your fantasy team’s points, rebounds, and FG% categories. Sadly, you may have to count on Carl Landry if you’re looking for blocks. Think of Scola as a Boozer-lite of sorts, except that Luis will be available much later in the draft. 16-8 and good FG% might just suit your team fine as a third-string center or back-up PF.
Based on Houston’s latest depth charts, Shane Battier is expected to start at SG. His rebounds might go up a notch from last season, as he should be able to outrebound your garden variety SG. He still won’t be a huge scorer, but he should still be bringing his well-rounded, low-turnover game. Yahoo already has the hots for his low-TOs and so he shouldn’t be expected to outperform his O-ranking by a large margin.
Keep your eyes on Carl Landry and Kyle Lowry for deep-league value potential and keep your mice (or mouse-held hands) away from Tracy McGrady during this season’s draft. Token last pick? – Maybe. I would personally prefer to see some other team reap the benefits of T-Mac coming out like a “comeback-sleeper”. Seriously, that’s not as threatening as it may sound. Frankly I’d rather have rookie, Stephen Curry, on my fantasy team over T-Mac. But that’s me. In spite of reports from various sources that his recovery is ahead of schedule, I would still take him with a crate of salt if someone put a gun to Patrick’s head and forced me to draft T-Mac. I mean that in the nicest way. I wouldn’t draft him to save my life, but yes for Patrick I’d take one for the team.
None of the Rockets’ starters are projected to be first-four draft round material. They may, however, provide us with some pleasant fantasy surprises. “Houston, we have lift-off!”
Tags: Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola, Shane Battier, Trevor Ariza
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