Honorable Mentions: Utah and Dallas played a triple-OT game that ended with Utah winning 123-121, so it’s no surprise to see Al Jefferson (2.60) at the top of the fantasy list today. Jefferson had a beastly 28 points, 26 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in an OT enhanced 54 minutes. To which Kevin Love responded, “Hey, I do that stuff in a normal game.”

Dirk Nowitzki (2.36) played 53 minutes in the game, scoring 40 points (on 12-12 from the line), with 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Interestingly, other than Jason Kidd (1.26) who had 10 points, 5 boards, 6 assists and 4 steals in 45 minutes, no other Mavs starter saw more than 27 minutes in the game. Jason Terry (1.17) did get 54 minutes off the bench though and scored 27 points.

The Jazz meanwhile played all of their starters at least 45 minutes, so even a guy like DeMarre Carroll (0.85) – with 15 points and 6 assists – had a good game. However, it meant that Derrick Favors (2 points, 3 rebounds) still only saw 13 minutes off the bench in this one.

Jrue Holiday (2.30) continued his up and down run lately with a solid 18 points, 4 threes, 8 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks as the Sixers beat a short-handed Magic team. Andre Iguodala (1.84) – who has had his share of downs lately as well – finished with 15 points, 3 threes, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. The Sixers still have 6 games remaining this season, making a lot of Sixers worth playing despite their team wide game-to-game inconsistency.

The real Ryan Anderson (2.12) also showed up after shooting a combined 7-33 in his previous 3 games. He finished with 26 points (on 11-16 from the field), with 16 rebounds. Anderson should make a very strong play the rest of the season with Howard out, provided he can continue to shoot straight.

Jeff Teague (2.14) bounced back from a horrible game against the Raptors to have a really good game against the Raptors on the second night of a back-to-back. He finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists for only his third double-double of the year.

Speaking of bouncing back, Channing Frye’s (1.89) game went MIA over the last week, just in time to tank a lot of owners’ championship hopes. But Frye is back this week, scoring 19 points (on 8-11 from the field), with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 25 minutes of run. It’s his first double-digit scoring game in his last five.

Klay Thompson (1.71) is officially on fire. Thompson scored 29 points against the Spurs, adding 8 boards and 5 assists in 43 minutes. He’s scored a total of 77 points in his last three games and has a one-week WARP value of 1.40, which is off the charts good. I think the kid is a keeper.

Finally, the Pacers beat the Wolves 111-88 thanks to Roy Hibbert’s (1.82) 12 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks. Danny Granger (1.57) added 19, 7, and 5, while David West made it a party with 22 points and 10 boards. Hell, even Paul George (1.30) looked good in this game with 18 points, 5 boards and a couple of threes. That’s four Pacers in the top-25 performances for yesterday.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: In a matter of a few games, Nate Robinson (1.95) has gone from being buried on the Warriors’ bench behind Chris Jenkins to the Warriors’ mighty sixth man getting 30 minutes a game. Yesterday was more of the good Nate Robinson, as he got 31 minutes of run against the Spurs and finished with 30 points, 3 threes, and 7 assists. Keep riding Robinson for the rest of the season if you need points, assists and threes as long as he continues to get big minutes off the bench.

Pick Up Lines: Vince Carter (1.90) played 44 minutes thanks to the Mavs/Jazz triple OT game and saw a nice stat boost because of that: 18 points, 3 threes, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. On most nights, however, Carter will see 20-something minutes and he hasn’t been consistent enough on the court to be worth picking up.

Chandler Parsons (1.79) tied his career high with 21 points, adding 3 steals against the Nuggets. At this point, everyone has probably had a ride with Parsons and I think we have all left feeling a little under whelmed with the experience. Houston still has 4 games remaining this week, so a guy like Parsons could have value for owners looking to pick up a few games this week.

The same thing applies to Samuel Dalembert (1.29), who got the surprise start in place of Marcus Camby, who sat last night due to a sore back (the second most popular injury this year). Dalembert only scored 5 points in the game, but finished with 9 boards and 7 blocks in 24 minutes. The Rockets play again on Wednesday, and if Camby can’t go in that game, Dalembert make a nice play if you need boards/blocks.

Kevin Seraphin (1.42) – who was a one man wrecking crew against my team in the GMTR Dynasty League finals – continued to roll with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks while playing a season high 42 minutes in a win over the Bulls. Seraphin’s two-week WARP average is 0.59, which places him at #33 overall during that span. If that’s not a must start in all leagues at this point, I don’t know what is.

With Dwight Howard and Glen Davis out with injuries and Daniel Orton (0.09) not doing much in his a start for the Magic, PF Earl Clark (1.31) got 33 minutes off the bench and finished with a season high 14 points and 11 rebounds, adding 2 blocks as well. Clark could have some deep league value if Davis were to miss the Magic’s next game on Wednesday, but if Davis returns my magic 8-ball says the outlook is not good.

Gary Neal (1.30) scored 17 points and hit 3 threes in 25 minutes off the bench for the Spurs as they beat down the Warriors 120-99. No Spurs starter saw more than 20 minutes in the game, giving Neal a little more run than usual. Even with the Spurs’ big three likely to take some games off as the season comes to an end, Neal won’t see enough consistent minutes to be worth owning in most fantasy leagues.

Too little, too late for MarShon Brooks (1.17)? After a horrible run in March, Brooks finally might be turning things around. He tied his career high with 24 points against the Heat, adding 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the game. It’s his sixth straight double-digit scoring game and five of those 6 games have had positive WARP performances. The Nets have a horrible schedule the rest of the way though, only playing 4 games over the next 10 days. So stay away from Brooks unless it’s a spot start or steaming situation.

Raymond Felton took the night off for the Blazers to rest an achilles injury. Jonny Flynn (-0.65) got the start at PG in his place and unimpressive, finishing with 6 assists and not much else. Nolan Smith (0.91) on the other hand, got 33 minutes off the bench (to Flynn’s 24) and had a game, scoring 14 points and adding 5 assists and 2 steals. If Felton were to miss any additional time (and there is talk of him shutting it down for the year ::coughtankingcough::) Smith appears to be the guy who would benefit the most from the situation and be the one to pickup.

Luke Babbitt (0.59) with 18 points, 4 threes and 5 rebounds in a start for the injured Nicolas Batum and Sundiata Gaines (0.48) with 11 points and 7 assists starting at PG for the injured Deron Williams could be worth looks as Batum and Williams could potentially be shut down for the year.

Biggest Loser: Not a good night to be Russell Westbrook (-1.00). The Thunder not only lost to the Clippers, but were held to 77 points total, including 25 in the second half. Westbrook was a big reason why as he finished with 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 turnovers and shot 4-16 from the field. It’s just a bump in the road for Westbrook, although it happens to be coming at a really bad time if you are playing for a championship this week.

Jordan Crawford (-1.03) shot 2-13 from the field (15%) to finish with 9 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 turnovers. Hey, at least the assists are nice.

Darren Collison (-0.96) also made his return to the court last night after missing 4 games with a groin injury. Not that anyone would have noticed, as Collison finished with 0 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 18 minutes off the bench. George Hill is expected to make at least one more start at PG for the Pacers while Collison (slowly) works his way back.

Don’t worry Thunder, brighter days are ahead.

In the Bonus: Some childhood photos of NBA players (via fBasketballBlog on twitter). Andre Iguodala looks like a mini-me version of himself. It’s amazing.

***

Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version). They are based on the stat Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP) an estimate of the number of wins a player produces per week in H2H leagues over a replacement (waiver wire) player.

Do not miss a day of the Fantasy NBA. Subscribe to Give Me The Rock right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following GMTR on Twitter, or become a fan of GMTR on Facebook! We are so social!

If you like what you read here, come back every day for new content! And if you come back every day, please consider donating…

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Line of the Night: Jason Kidd (2.75) took advantage of Charles Jenkins to the tune of 9 points (3 threes), 10 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. It was Kidd’s first Line of the Night, and really, I wasn’t sure that he was going to play again after his 4-game absence. I don’t think anyone missed him except maybe the Mavericks. He is still ranked #74 on the Player Rater for the season, though, so I guess for the team that can stomach his 35% shooting, you’ve gotten some decent assists, steals, and threes. I honestly didn’t think I’d see him up this high again, though. Ever.

Honorable Mentions: And of course, as soon as we tell people to drop Klay Thompson (2.58) because all he does is score, KT goes for 24 points (3 threes, 5-5 from the line), 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals. So, now I don’t know what to do. Logic says that he won’t do that again, and even if he does it won’t be consistent. Still hurts though (except that I had him in my weekly-set lineup for this week and thank the fantasy basketball gods for that because I’ve also got Bargnani and Rose in my lineup in that league, so I’m hoping I can eek out an efficiency win with percentages, threes, steals, and TOs; I’m actually only down by .004% in FG% despite the way Rose shot last night [see also: The Biggest Loser]).

Greg Monroe (2.24) returned to form after a bit of turbulence with 25 points (11-14 from the field), 11 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Brandon Knight (2.06) is hanging on to his Honorable Mention spot with 55% ownership, but it’s hard to want to increase that number because of his every-other-game style of playing, even when he does go for 21 points (3 threes, 8-12 from the field), 7 assists, and 3 steals. Not quite Bizzaro World territory, but still… out of the ordinary.

Speaking of out of the ordinary! Manu Ginobili (1.81) and Tim Duncan (1.60) both played, and both played well! Ginobili had 20 points (11-11 from the line), 6 rebounds, and 4 assists while Duncan scored 28 points (10-15 from the field) to go with 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

I’ll mention two of the Big 3 now, even though their lines are not as strong as the Waiver Wire man who defeated them (see below): Chris Bosh (1.51) had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks while LeBron James (1.39) scored 30 points (3 threes) with 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Heat still lost to the Bulls, but I know that doesn’t mean anything since it was in Chicago and it was not the playoffs.

Finally, Marc Gasol (1.33) rounds things out with a nice 14 points (5-8 from the field), 10 rebounds, and an interesting 4 steals.

Injury Report: It was announced yesterday that LaMarcus Aldridge will have season-ending surgery. Obviously this makes J.J. Hickson a must add (maybe not if you’re punting rebounds, FG%, and blocks; that said, Hickson will still give you a solid contribution in Points without many turnovers and won’t totally kill your FT% because his attempts are fairly low).

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: C.J. Watson (1.63) took the reigns of the Bulls after Derrick Rose looked like he’d been run ragged by a Matador. Watson filled in for 16 points (6-10 from the field), 9 assists, and 3 steals (7% owned). The Bulls don’t play again until Sunday, so Rose should have time to rest and I wouldn’t count on C.J. for much more fantasy-relevant action this season.

Pick Up Lines: It seems like Brandan Wright (1.55) has been threatening to become fantasy-relevant for a while with Mavericks now. This is actually the first time we at GMTR have ever tagged him in a post, though. Wright is at 0.45 on the Player Rater over the past 4 games, which would be close to Top 50 if he could do it for the whole season. If you need Big Ball categories with some bonus Steals thrown in, I’d say Wright is worth a play since he’s averaged 30 minutes per game over the last 4 and last night put up 16 points (6-8 from the field, 4-4 from the line), 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks (4% owned).

We know this cannot continue, but as a Bulls fan, I’m happy to see that Kyle Korver (1.26) is getting hot right in time for the playoffs. After hitting 3 threes on Monday, Korver went for 17 points with 5 threes, on 6-8 from the field) (18% owned). He’s a pure three-point shooter, and for that reason, I wouldn’t recommend him unless absolutely the only category you need is threes.

With Kevin Love out after his concussion, Anthony Randolph (1.09) put up another big line with 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks (3% owned). Keep a very close eye on Love’s status, because it’s clear that if he doesn’t play, Randolph will get big numbers.

I’m going to file the next three guys under “Too Little, Too Late” and if this doesn’t make you a little sad, then you have missed out on the dreams and aspirations of a generation: Kenyon Martin (1.05) had 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals (4% owned); Mo Williams (0.61) scored 14 points with 5 assists (44% owned); Vince Carter (0.60) scored 12 points, remarkable only because he was 5-7 from the field (33% owned). Makes you think of those bygone days of yore.

Biggest Loser: I’m tempted to do some stupid pun like “D+D Music Factory” but maybe I’ll just stick in a picture of Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger and call it good. (Also, I think I spelled Schwarzenegger right on the first time because my browser spell-checker didn’t underline it with a red squiggle. It did for DeVito, though. Sorry Danny.) Anyway…

Derrick Rose (-0.78) took the prize with 2 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 turnovers, and the ultimate killer: 1-13 from the field (7.7%). His brother from another mother (or just another player who has the same name: Derrick Williams (-0.71) showed why he cannot be trusted even with the whole Timberwolves team injured with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 0 assists, 4 turnovers, and 1-7 from the field.

And actually, I’m going to let that ride for the picture for this post, because I think it kind of works with the Bizzaro theme that I tried to pull through…

***

Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version). They are based on the stat Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP) an estimate of the number of wins a player produces per week in H2H leagues over a replacement (waiver wire) player.

Do not miss a day of the Fantasy NBA. Subscribe to Give Me The Rock right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following GMTR on Twitter, or become a fan of GMTR on Facebook! We are so social!

If you like what you read here, come back every day for new content! And if you come back every day, please consider donating…

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How was your 2010, Paul?

Honorable Mentions: Jason Kidd (2.38) did not record is 107th career triple-double last night, but he came close with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 6 steals in a loss to the Bucks. The Mavs are leaning heavy on Kidd right now with all their injuries. It isn’t good news in real life, but Kidd has been killing it lately for fantasy purposes.

Not to be out done by Kidd, Chris Paul (1.98) had 7 steals against John Wall and the Wizards, adding 13 points and 11 assists; Also for the Hornets Trevor Ariza (1.58) played his first good game in about a week, finishing with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals. For the Wizards, JaVale McGee (1.66) finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. He’s currently second in the league with 2.6 blocks per game this season. Nick Young (1.36) led Washington with 24 points, adding 5 boards.

Dorell Wright (2.31) – the official fantasy draft day steal of the season – led the Warriors with 30 points while hitting 6-13 from three. Best of all, his FG% (currently 42%) is starting to creep into a non-embarrassing place.

The Timberwolves ran over the Nets 103-88, led by Kevin Love (1.76), who had 23 points, with 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Love double-doubled in every single game in December. After one game, he’s on pace to do it in January too.

***

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: We’ve got to go down to the 19th best line of yesterday before we hit a guy available in more than 50% of leagues. And that guy is Jose Juan Barea (1.16), who saw 36 minutes off the bench for Dallas thanks to a Caron Butler injury at the beginning of last night’s game (not to mention Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion also being out).

Barea was not afraid to come out firing in this one, going 11-21 from the field and scoring a career-high 29 points. If Butler were to miss some significant time (and that is the way it’s looking right now) the Mavs may be forced to give Barea some extra run and he’s worth a speculative add in deep leagues, but Jason Terry and Shawn Marion are really the guys who should benefit the most from Butler’s absence.

Pick Up Lines: After missing most of November and December with injuries, the Chris Andersen (1.01) we know and love is back for Denver. The Birdman grabbed 11 rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench for the Nuggets last night and has double-digit rebounding performances in 3 of his last 4 games. Add him if you’re looking for rebounds, blocks and a healthy dose of personality in your lineup.

Earl Boykins (0.92) had a great game off the bench for the Bucks, scoring 26 points while shooting 9-16 from the floor. He’s gotten some decent run while Brandon Jennings has been out and is worth a look in deeper leagues if you’re desperate for a PG.

Injury of the Night:: Caron Butler left last night’s game in the first quarter after injuring his knee and he did not return. Turning to my favorite news outlet, Art Garcia of NBA.com tweeted that Butler may have a torn patella tendon, which if true, could result in season-ending surgery. With the Mavs racking up more injuries than the cast of Spider-Man the musical, Jose Juan Barea has worked his way into the rotation. Jason Terry should also see extra minutes and a bump in value.

Biggest Loser: Michael Beasley (-1.10) put up 10 points, 6 turnovers and not much else in 33 minutes on the court. It simply looks like a bad game for the Beas after he put up two 30+ point games earlier in the week.

Caron Butler’s absence may mean more opportunity for Jason Terry (-0.91), but last night it just meant more opportunity for him to miss shots. Terry was 3-15 from the field, scoring 7 points, with 0 rebounds and 2 assists in 32 minutes. Terry is 6-31 from the field over his last two games.

On Tap: A lot of ugliness on the court today. Memphis (14-19) at LA Lakers (23-10) is the game that features the teams with the best combined record. At least we’ll get to watch the dream PG matchup of Mike Conley vs. Derek Fisher.

***

Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version).

Do not miss a day of the Fantasy NBA. Subscribe to Give Me The Rock right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following GMTR on Twitter, or become a fan of GMTR on Facebook! We’re so social!

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Honorable Mentions: A couple double-doubles from JaVale McGee (2.39): 24 points, 18 rebounds, plus 2 steals and 4 blocks; and Joakim Noah (1.94): 19 points, 13 rebounds, plus 4 steals and 3 blocks.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Shannon Brown (1.56) popped another 5 threes last night en route to 21 points. It looks like that’s something he does about every 5 games, averaging 1.9 threes on the season. That may sound like a little inconsistency, but in roto leagues, you can take it and put him at #97 on the player rater. If he’s up that high, he’s worth owning in more than the 31% of leagues that currently have him.

Pick Up Lines: After everyone (or maybe it was just us) was all over Toney Douglas (1.53) he went through kind of a rough patch like Natalie Portman and her father. But Toney returned to the free agent scene with 22 points on 5 threes and 8-12 from the field with 3 steals. And I’m sure Miss Nat P will be hotter than that in Black Swan.

Josh McRoberts (1.45) had 9 points, but he doesn’t score much. What you’re looking for is the 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Certainly a better pick up in deep leagues, Josh is worth a look if you need rebounds and defense categories.

Biggest Loser: I guess technically it’s Tyson Chandler (-0.60), but honestly, I consider him a winner just for getting 26 minutes a game this season and holding down a ranking of 71 on the Player Rater.

On Tap: It’s Party Time in ORL because the Heat are there and if they’re not going out to some clubs, then they’re not doing their jobs as the South Beach Party Monsters.

Utah will host New Orleans, giving them their first real challenge in 4 games, and giving us the first Chris Paul / Deron Williams battle of the season.

The Golden Rule: Golden State rockets into Houston like a rocket that got turned on its side on the launch pad and is headed straight for Houston. Or maybe like if you strapped a rocket to that unstoppable train with those two actors on it.

***

Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version).

Do not miss a day of the Fantasy NBA. Subscribe to Give Me The Rock right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following GMTR on Twitter, or become a fan of GMTR on Facebook! We’re so social!

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From a fantasy perspective, the fact that the Mavs are both old and established makes them a fairly boring team to review. GMTR EXPERT ANALYSIS – that Dirk fellow is going to be a talented basketball player!!! Jason Kidd is old!!! Jason Terry is one of the best 6th men in the league!!!

Unless Chris Paul magically finds his way into a Dallas uniform, Rodrigue Beaubois is the only young guy with a good chance of making some noise in this veteran lineup:

The Depth Chart

PG Jason Kidd, Rodrigue Beaubois, Jose Juan Barea
SG Caron Butler, Jason Terry, Dominique Jones
SF Shawn Marion, DeShawn Stevenson
PF Dirk Nowitzki, Alexis Ajinca
C Brendan Haywood, Tyson Chandler, Ian Mahinmi

***

In looking for any sign of age-related decline in the 32-year old Dirk Nowitzki, the only two negative things  about his game is that his rebounding rate and threes have been on the decline for a few years now. The rest of his stats remain as strong as ever – including 25 ppg with great percentages, low turnovers and still decent rebounding and block numbers. We seen at this point that Dirk is not the type of player who can lead an NBA team to a championship, but he will grow an evil goatee and continue to be one of the great regular season players and a mid first round fantasy guy.

What the hell do you do with Jason Kidd in fantasy leagues? We could just run the same prediction as the past 4 years:

“Kidd is old and this will finally be the year that his decrepit body falls apart”

Ok, lets look at Kidd’s numbers more objectively. While his overall fantasy game is as strong as ever, his game has had some minor age-related decline over the past couple of seasons (although he’s held up amazingly for his age). His rebound, assist and steal rates are now below his career averages and they all saw a small, but distinct drop off starting around 2008-09. However, Kidd has been able to maintain his fantasy value despite this decline by becoming one of the best three-point shooters in the league (43% from behind the arc last season). So as long as Kidd continues to hit 2+ threes a game at a 40% clip, he’ll be no worse than a second or third round player even if the rest of counting stats decline again this season (which is likely). But if he has a bad three point shooting season, or if he takes lesser role due to the rise of Rodrigue Beaubois (or arrival Chris Paul), then the gradual decline is going to turn into a cliff.

Caron Butler started the season on a disappointing note with the Wizards. Then he was traded to the Mavs and fared even worse statistically – averaging 15 points, 5.4 boards, and 1.8 assists in 35 minutes a game for Dallas. The problem for Butler is that Dallas is a fairly deep team at the SG/SF positions, so while he was pushing 40 minutes a game on a shallow Wizards team, 35 is the ceiling for him on the Mavs. Overall, don’t expect Butler to return to his second-round fantasy value days, but a full season in Dallas’ offense should help him mesh better with his teammates and improve his scoring numbers slightly.

Jason Terry has made a career out of being an underrated fantasy guy because he’s merely good in a lot of categories. And ‘good’ is a pretty boring thing in fantasy drafts. Not much will change for Terry this season, he is still going to be the team’s 6th man and net you some points, threes, steals with a great free throw percentage. He’ll also continue to inexplicably have PG eligibility in Yahoo leagues. One thing not to worry about: Terry’s numbers were exactly the same pre and post Caron Butler trade (I checked), which means that the team did not alter the way that they used him after acquiring Butler. Instead, the most likely scenario that could bring down Terry’s numbers is the emergence of Beaubois this season, but that is a big ‘if’ at the moment.

At this point, there are no illusions that Shawn Marion is anywhere close to the multi-category beast that he was in his heyday with the Suns. His rebounding and blocks are way down from their peak in the mid-aughts; and for a guy who use to average well over a three a game, the fact that he was only 3-19 from three all last season is the strongest sign that he’s in the Matrix Revolutions point in his career. But Marion is still worth picking up at the end of drafts and can contribute to teams as a passable rebounder and shot blocker who is running on the fumes of greatness.

Brendan Haywood was getting some fantasy attention at the beginning of last season, thanks to the fact that he was averaging a double-double on the Wizards. Then he was traded to the Mavs, split time with the succubus known as Erick Dampier, saw his minutes drop by 6 per game and his stats drop by 20% across the board.

The Damps departure could have meant good things for Haywood this year, but the Mavs used Dampier’s non-guaranteed contract to pick up Tyson Chandler (because there is nothing Mark Cuban loves more than a good center platoon). Chandler is coming off an injury plagued life, but has already expressed his willingness to come off the bench for the Mavs in a backup role. So while Chandler won’t get enough minutes to have any fantasy value this season, he’ll also take a good chunk out of Haywood’s value as well. Haywood should at least put up similar numbers to what he did last season with the Mavs – and his 8 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks a game will play as a low-end starting center.

Rodrigue Beaubois is the Mavs best sleeper candidate. The speedy 22-year old combo guard has already shown he can score in bunches (witness his 40 point game against the Warriors last March), but for now he slots in as the teams 4th guard. Or it’s possible that Marion moves to the bench, Butler to the 3 and Beaubois could start at SG. Keep an eye on the situation as we get closer to the season. If Beaubois is the starter, you are going to want to draft him.

The rest of Dallas’ bench isn’t going to have any fantasy relevance. Jose Juan Barea will play minimal minutes behind Kidd; DeShawn Stevenson averaged 11 minutes of run with the team last season; rookie Dominique Jones will have a tough time getting minutes this season at SG; and Alexis Ajinca and Ian Mahinmi are both tall.

So, for the guys we want to draft… Here’s your official GMTR Guidance (for a 12 team league):

Dirk Nowitzki: Mid 1st
Jason Kidd: 2nd if you believe/3rd would be better value
Jason Terry: 5th/6th
Caron Butler: 6th
Brendan Haywood: 8th/9th
Shawn Marion: 10+
Rodrigue Beaubois: 10+

Additional Links:

Mavs Moneyball takes a look at the Mavericks rotation and projects Beaubois to be the starter at SG, Butler at SF, and Marion pushed to the bench.

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The rumors about Chris Paul and his trade demands have spread across the internet with the speed and veracity of a California wildfire. As reported by The Associated Press, “Chris Paul has requested to be traded and the New Orleans Hornets have scheduled a meeting with the star guard on Monday, according to a person familiar with the situation.”

Paul has provided the team a short list of teams that he would prefer to be traded to, including the Knicks, Magic, Dallas, Portland and possibly the Lakers.

So, how would each of those trade scenarios work? And what are the fantasy implications of a Chris Paul move out of New Orleans? Keep in mind that almost any deal from the Hornets perspective would have to include Emeka Okafor and his $52 million contract. One of the main points of moving Paul would be to clear cap space and give the Hornets financial flexibility for 2011-2012.**

***

New York Knicks

CP3 to the Knicks would be the easiest trade to accomplish financially. Since the Knicks are still under the cap, the trade does not have to match dollar-for-dollar. Donny Walsh has publicly stated that everyone on the team except for Amare is available (that must be great for team morale), however, most trade scenarios involve some combination of Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Anthony Randolph and the walking expiring contract known as Eddy Curry. On the other side, the Knicks could take on Emeka Okafor’s long term contract. The only constraints the Knicks have is that per league rules new addition Raymond Felton can’t be traded until December 15th and they cannot include more than one of their recent Warriors’ acquisitions in any single trade until December 15th.

Fantasy Impact: Paul joining the Knicks and D’Antoni would be a fantasy boon to his stats, if is possible for something that’s already awesome to actually get awesomer. In fact I’d say it would make him the number 1 overall fantasy pick again this year. He wouldn’t have much to work with on the Knicks other than Amare and possibly Okafor, which actually sounds a lot like his life now on the Hornets. But the up tempo style of play would mesh will Paul perfectly and he’d have the chance to work the pick and roll to death with Amare.

GMTR Rates this trade: 5 out of 5 Van Horns

Orlando Magic

The Magic might now be Paul’s destination of choice because they have a better chance of winning a title than the Knicks. But think about the horrible repercussions of this trade: The NBA would have two superpowers in the state of Florida. And does Florida really deserve that?

Orlando is not as flexible as the New York in terms of salary, so most of trade scenarios revolve around trying to match salaries and salary cap relief rather than swapping young talent. Vince Carter and his expiring contract would probably be involved, along with Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat and draft picks. The Magic would try to involve Jameer Nelson in a deal since he would become expendable with Paul around, but Nelson has 3 years left on his contract and the Hornets already have a PG who would likely be better than Nelson in Darren Collison.

While Paul may prefer the Magic, I really don’t see how this would be the best haul for the Hornets. Expiring contracts, Brandon Bass and crappy fist round picks? Come on Orlando, you’ll have to do better than that.

Fantasy Impact: Paul and Dwight Howard would be good for half a dozen alley-oops per night alone. Everyone else on the team – including Rashard Lewis, Mickael Pietrus, Q-Rich and Ryan Anderson – would benefit from Paul distributing the ball. It’s a lateral move for Paul in terms of his stats. He probably is asked to do a little less scoring and more distributing on the three-happy Magic.

GMTR Rates this trade: 3.5 out of 5 Van Horns

Dallas Mavericks

Mark Cuban is already all over this, not surprisingly. The Mavs unsuccessfully tried prying Paul away from the Hornets earlier this summer using Erick Dampier’s non-guaranteed contract. With that contract now gone in a trade for Tyson Chandler, Dallas is going to find it tougher to work out a trade. According to the Bleacher Report, the Magic still have “more than $20 million in expiring contracts, young talent, cash, trade exceptions, and first-round picks to offer.”

Those expiring contracts include Caron Butler, Tyson Chandler, DeShawn Stevenson, and JJ Barea. However, per NBA rules Chandler couldn’t be traded until December included in a multi-person trade until September 13. The only real young talent the Mavs have to offer is Rodrigue Beaubois. A trade involving these players would be an epic haul for the Mavs, but it would be pathetic for the Hornets. CP3 for Rodrigue Beaubois and cap space? Nice dream.

Fantasy Implications: I guess Jason Kidd is supposed to move to the bench in this scenario? I’m sure he’d love that. But Paul would have plenty of weapons to work with, including Dirk, Terry, Marion and Haywood. Paul would probably be asked to take less of a scoring role on the Mavs, but the assists would be great.

GMTR Rates this trade: 3 out of 5 Van Horns

Portland Trail Blazers

Before it fell apart at the last minute, the Blazers almost worked out a trade for Paul before the draft which included Joel Przybilla, Andre Miller, Nicolas Batum, Jerryd Bayless and the Blazers first round draft pick. Now with additional teams joining the bidding for Paul, the Blazers might have to sweeten the deal a little by including LaMarcus Aldridge or Greg Oden or Marcus Camby. The Blazers definitely have the young talent to make this trade happen; it’s just a matter of how much they are willing to give up for Paul.

Fantasy Impact: Paul running alongside Brandon Roy and possibly Aldridge, Batum, Camby and Oden? Yes please.

GMTR Rates this trade: 4 out of 5 Van Horns

LA Lakers

The Lakers are in a position to offer up some high quality talent in return for Paul. However, it would likely be a tough sell since they would have to fundamentally alter a team that just won a championship. But to quote the great movie Tommy Boy, “you’re either growing or you’re dying, there ain’t no third direction.”

A Laker trade for CP3 would most likely involve Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Sasha Vujacic. Unforunately that means the Lakers would be trading away their great height advantage, which is a big reason they won the title this season. They also weaken their bench a good amount with the departure of Odom and to a lesser extent, Vujacic.

The Fantasy Implications: A lot of unknowns here. Paul doesn’t seem to be a great fit with the triangle offense and how much would Kobe be willing to play off the ball and let Paul control the game? The Lakers’ offensive scheme doesn’t seem like it would do Paul any favors, but people who know things think it would work.

GMTR Rates this trade: 1.5 out of 5 Van Horns

***

Just because your team is not on Chris Paul’s short list does not mean you can’t have some fun. Cue insane trade scenarios (c/o At the Hive for compiling much of this list)

Atlanta Hawks – Josh Smith, Jamal Crawford, Jordan Crawford and Jeff Teague for Paul and Okafor?

Boston Celtics – Rajon Rondo straight up?

Cleveland Cavaliers – JJ Hickson, Mo Williams and picks for Paul and Okafor? Cavs fans are so defeated right now, they can’t even imagine it.

Charlotte Bobcats – Erick Dampier’s contract, Gerald Wallace, a bunch of draft picks and whatever else the Hornets want?

New Jersey Nets – Derek Favors for Paul and Okafor?

Los Angeles Clippers – In true Clippers’ spirit, Baron Davis for Paul, straight-up.

Minnesota Timberwolves – Ricky Rubio, Corey Brewer and picks? David Kahn would never do that, he probably thinks Rubio is better than Paul.

Memphis Grizzlies – Three-way deal with the Pacers where the Hornets get Zach Randolph, O.J. Mayo, Hasheem Thabeet, Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush?

The craziest trade possible involving 4 teams that sees Paul end up on the Rockets and moves Yao to the Warriors?

***

* Remember shortly after Katrina when Chris Paul and the Hornets were the feel good story of the NBA? Yeah, that love faded quickly.

** About a year after acquiring Okafor and the team is already trying to desperately move him. Well done Hornets.

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Line of the Night: Jason Kidd (1.12) celebrated what I believe to be his 37th birthday with the Line of the Night, tallying 26 points including 6 threes, 6 rebounds, and 12 assists. And if you read on, I’ve got a birthday present for you.

Honorable Mentions: Drew Gooden (1.00) put up 26 and 20. Carmelo Anthony (0.86) ran around with Knicks and ended up with 36 points in a somewhat shameful Nuggets loss.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Brandon Rush (1.01) is owned in 38% of leagues, which probably means he’s already been picked up by anyone still paying attention. But, if you’re still looking for a SG to have an impact in your playoffs, see if Rush is available.

The Biggest Loser: Well, since Roy Hibbert (-0.71) has played well enough to boost his ownership to 60%, but a performance like last night might temper people’s expectations for next season. Hibbert spent 30 minutes on the court, going 2-6 from the field and 1-6 from the line for 5 points and 5 rebounds. He did have 2 blocks, so there’s that for your big man stats.

All Eyez On Me: Wednesday is the night when we load up on NBA games, and tonight is no exception. There’s Orlando in Atlanta, who is trying to usurp Boston’s place at the #3 seed. And speaking of Boston, they play Denver tonight, so that’s not exactly going to be easy pickins.

The Lakers are in San Antonio in a game that could mean quite a lot to San Antonio. And for once, it means that Tim Duncan will have to keep playing through the end of the fantasy playoffs.

Finally, Utah @ Toronto is another game that could influence where those teams end up in the standings.

The Golden Ticket: I’m going to count Sacramento @ New Jersey because the Nets’ opponents are hitting triple-digits in almost every game. Memphis @ Golden State is the true Golden Ticket, so keep that in mind when you’re looking at the choices for the GMTR Weekly FreeRoll.

Hump Day Girl: I could have sworn I put up a bunch of pics of birthday boy Jason Kidd’s lady-friend Hope Dworaczyk before, but perhaps I balked at the last minute. Or maybe I just got distracted by the pictures… Oh, and since we’re all now celebrating Kidd’s birthday, I’ll point out that Wikipedia says Hope is only 25.

—–

Dont miss a day of the Fantasy NBA. Subscribe to Give Me The Rock  right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following GMTR on Twitter.

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Since it’s New Year’s Eve, I’ll go out by saying that there are some subtle nuances to fantasy basketball that I still don’t understand. I believe that these aspects are mostly mental and emotional, though, which again shows why if you want to be a true winner in fantasy sports, you must set aside any sort emotion and leave your ruths at the door.

Line of the Night: Jason Kidd (1.29) getting Line of the Night last night is a small example of what I described above. Kidd had 16 assists, yes, but paired that with 14 points on merely decent 45% shooting. He did also have 7 rebounds, 2 threes, 4 steals, and a block, while only turning the ball over 2 times, so with that kind of line, I know I shouldn’t be so surprised that he was the best of 174 players last night. But I have this notion of Kidd as washed up and past his prime, which is, actually, a more apt description for Steve Nash, who currently sits at #95 on the 9-category Player Rater, compared to Kidd, who is indeed a Top 20 player (#17). If you look at the 8-category rater, Nash jumps to 38, but Kidd also moves up to #11.

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.

- The Jedi Code (Based on the meditations of Odan-Urr)

Honorable Mentions: Mario Chalmers (1.27) had a line that looks more like a LotN to my emotions: 21 points with 6 threes, shooting 78%; 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 0 turnovers.

Marcus Camby (1.09) pulled down 24 rebounds to go with 15 points, 3 blocks, and a steal.

Jason Terry (1.06) makes the list since he topped 1.0, but his 29 points on 5 threes and 52% shooting isn’t as appealing to my emotions as much since it comes with only 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal.

Andrew Bogut (0.99) was pretty close to the 1.0 mark with his 20 and 14 and 3 blocks.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Grant Hill (0.93) played 39 minutes to Matt Barnes’ 27. In those 39 minutes Hill (who is owned in 49% of Yahoo leagues, thus barely making the cutoff) had 15 and 7 with 6 steals. If you’re in a league with more than 12 teams that also happens to be in the 51% of leagues where Hill is available, he’s probably worth a pickup. Especially recommended for H2H leagues with daily lineup changes because of his inconsistency.

Michael Finley (0.80) had 4 threes, but I wouldn’t expect him to be near the top of the charts on a regular basis.

Luke Ridnour (0.79) who was one of the top players of December who might still be available in your league, is still only taken in 40% of Yahoo leagues. Last night he had 21 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 threes, a steal, and even 2 blocks. He made 60% of his 15 shots, so he’s helping you out in every category except Turnovers (he had 3).

The Biggest Loser: Francisco Garcia (-0.45) has been back since the end of November without making it onto my fantasy radar (even though I drafted him in one league). He’s owned in 54% of leagues, though, which makes him significant enough to point out this line: 23 minutes, 3 points (1/5 from the field, 1/2 from the line), 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover.

All Eyez On Me: It appears that the good holiday games were all used up on Christmas, but with Drew Gooden out, expect good things from Dwight Howard today as Orlando destroys the Bulls.

Golden State Plays: Oklahoma City. Not sure what to say about that, except if you’ve got daily changes, the Thunder players are probably good ones to make sure you’ve got in your lineup. If they had more quality run-n-gun type players I’d list some names for you. Side note: Golden Stats is only 4-16 on the road, while the Thunder are 2-14 at home, so this should be a real Battle Royale.

Dont miss a day of the Fantasy NBA. Subscribe to Give Me The Rock  right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following GMTR on Twitter.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall set me free.

- The Sith Code

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So, today we will be using ESPN’s daily leader board which has a formula at the bottom that seems to vaguely resemble John Hollinger’s Back of the Napkin Game Score calculation. I can’t be sure that these stats are absolute fantasy rating numbers, but from a quick overview, they seem to be close enough for a Sunday evening.

Line of the Night: Dirk Nowitzki (69.0) secures what I believe is at least his 2nd LotN by scoring 46 points including 10/10 from the charity stripe.

Honorable Mentions: LeBron James (62.1) just did what he does, scoring 33 to go with 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals. He was 11/12 from the line, and is at 80% on the season, which is well above his career average of 73%. If he can maintain that 80% for the entire season, he might get back in front of Kobe and Amare in next season’s mock drafts.

It was a good day for Free Throws as Vince Carter (59.5) made 14 of 14 en route to 39 points. Zach Randolph (51.7) had 30 and 13 including 2 three-pointers and 3 steals to lead the Clippers over the Rockets. Carmelo Anthony (51.7) had 27/9/6 with 3 threes. Al Harrington (51.1) is probably going to end up as the unintentional sleeper of the decade this season. Last night he had 33/6/4 with 5 threes. Could you ask for a better small ball Center?

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Checking in at #22 overall (out of a possible 196) with a score of 37.1 is Rob Kurz. He evidently plays for the Golden State Warriors. Yeah. Really. He played 33 minutes last night, ending up with 20 points and 7 rebounds. He made 3 threes, and shot just poorly enough to pass Patrick’s FG% test (he shot 63%). He is currently owned in 2% of Yahoo leagues. And I am man enough to admit I had not heard of him before right now. The only thing I can offer in the way of fantasy analysis is that the Warriors were playing without Ronny Turiaf nor Brandan Wright. Kurz had a +/- of -19, but then when you’re down by 14 after the 1st and 2nd quarters, and then 26 after the 3rd quarter, it’s hard not to have a pretty ugly plus/minus (witness Jamal Crawford and Stephen Jackson’s -25 and -26 respectively). According to ESPN, Kurz was the starting SF. I guess we’ll just have to see where this goes when Wright and Turiaf recover from the flu they probably gave each other.

The Biggest Loser: Brad Miller scored a 7.2 on the ESPN scale, but then, he only played in 15 minutes of a blowout loss to the Knicks. For someone who’s owned in 87% of Yahoo leagues, though, 4 points and 3 rebounds on 33% shooting is not cutting the mustard (or whatever other antiquated phrase you want to throw in there).

All Eyez On Me: Well, since 2 of the 4 games today are already over, I can say I’m definitely surprised that Memphis was able to pull off a 16 point victory over Miami. Other than that, I’ll just let tomorrow’s post speak for me.

Dont miss a day of the Fantasy NBA (and you can see that we mean it). Subscribe to Give Me The Rock  right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following GMTR on Twitter.

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Dallas Mavericks
Jake Kerr: Mavs Moneyball

Houston Rockets
grungedave and UofTOrange: The Dream Shake

Memphis Grizzlies
Joshua Coleman: 3 Shades of Blue

New Orleans Hornets
Rohan: At the Hive
ticktock6 & mW: Hornets Hype
Ryan Schwan & Ron Hitley: Hornets247.com

San Antonio Spurs
Graydon Gordian: 48 Minutes of Hell

Also see links to all the previews at CelticsBlog.com

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