This means that there are far less NBA games played in this week than any other during the season.

ONLY the Orlando Magic has THREE games scheduled this week. All the other teams have either one or two games on tap. That means players like Matt Barnes, J.J. Redick, Mickael Pietrus, and Marcin Gortat may have a little bit of extra value than normal in leagues of various depths; at least for this week. Stream in or grab those guards for an extra boost in threes and a few points. While Gortat may be able to add a few boards and a block or two to your team’s totals for the week. Study your upcoming match-up and if those cats are going to be tough, then consider these Magic players. These guys may be especially useful to you if your fantasy team is loaded with players who play for teams that have only one game this week.

Teams with TWO games: ATL, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, GSW, LAC, LAL, MIA, MIL, MIN, NJN, NOR, PHI, POR, SAC, SAN, UTA

Teams with ONE game: BOS, HOU, IND, MEM, NYK, OKL, PHO, TOR, WAS

In spite of having only one game this week, I would still opt to start several players due to the value of the numbers they are capable of producing in one game. I would play Kevin Durant, Steve Nash, Danny Granger, Chris Bosh, David Lee, Zach Randolph

There’s a second tier of player who I would start if DID NOT have competitive replacements playing two games this week and they are: Rajon Rondo, Troy Murphy, Nate Robinson, Amar’e Stoudemire, Antawn Jamison, and maybe Aaron Brooks (but he’s pushing it).

Along with the schedule being a bit on the wonky side, this all-star week represents a long break for many players who are in need of extra rest and will be shut down by their teams for the week.

Joakim Noah is going to get his plantar-fasciitis-afflicted feet some much needed extra rest and so Brad Miller may actually be a reasonable filler at C during these two games.

Brandon Roy will remain out. This is something I saw coming. Keep him benched.

Samuel Dalembert is currently needed by his team, but since his back is sore look for his minutes to be reduced and you may want to consider benching him in favor of a lesser center who also is playing two games for the week.

Kevin Love owners got a bit of a scare during Minnesota’s game versus Memphis, when he suffered a knee injury during the game. Thankfully he came back to the game and was still able to play. I wouldn’t be surprised if his minutes are limited this week as well. Consider Ryan Hollins for some extra boards, blocks and minor FG% boosting, if you are playing in deep leagues. He will likely remain as Al Jefferson’s partner in the T-Wolves’ starting frontcourt this week.

Kobe Bryant is an interesting case this week. He’s on player-option mode on whether he feels up to playing on his sore left ankle or not. Given what KB is capable of putting up in two games, I would say that he is a worthwhile calculated risk to start for fantasy this week.

Speaking of rest-options, Chauncey Billups was allowed to take a game off by the Nuggets this week to rest a tweaked ankle. Similar to Kobe, Billups is worth a start even if he ends up playing only one game this week. One good Billups game will still odds are be statistically superior to, say, two mediocre Beno Udrih games.

Carlos Boozer is back. Bench Paull Millsap once again. It shouldn’t be much longer until Boozer is traded and Millsap can be cycled back into starting lineups once again.

That’s it for now. Enjoy the All-star game and all the other events that will comprise the weekend. Cheers!

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Line of the Night: Dwight Howard (1.56) sought revenge for his upset in the dunk contest by throwing in 45 points and grabbing 19 rebounds against the Bobcats. He also had 8 blocks and after every one of them was noted to have said “Where’s your dunk contest now bitch??” He shot 23 field goals and made 69% of them, only to outdo himself by taking 18 free throws and making 72% of them. If he could shoot 72% for 70+ games instead of his season average of 59%, he’s erase any doubt about his ability to contribute to both Roto and H2H leagues.

Honorable Mentions: Leandro Barbosa (1.42) had the 2nd best line of the night because of good shooting and 5 steals, but the guys everyone really wants to talk about are David West (1.16), with his 37 and 17, and Kevin Durant (1.11), who had 47 points on 59% and 84%. GEICO THAT! Dwight Howard’s arch rival, Nate Robinson (1.01), at least made a case with his 32 points and 10 rebounds. Yep, smallest guy on the court with 10 rebounds. Makes Dwight’s 19 look a little less impressive doesn’t it?

Finally, Pau Gasol (0.90) had a triple-double with 12, 13, and 10.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Antonio McDyess (0.78) is only owned in 37% of Yahoo leagues, but that number is probably a lot higher than it was just 24 hours ago. McDyess started for Detroit Basketball and had 24 and 14 with 2 blocks, playing 41 minutes. Of course, he did have to go and shoot 73% which technically disqualifies him from WWLotN, so let’s just say that CJ Miles (0.73) had a decent game with 24 points.

The Biggest Loser: Boom Boom Boris Diaw (-046) had 14 points and 7 rebounds, so I’m not sure why the Player Rater hated him so much. I mean, he had 2 turnovers and missed both of his free throws, while shooting only 47% from the field… but really, Biggest Loser? He is owned in 72% of Yahoo leagues, though.

Runner up: Baron Davis (-0.42) with 9 points and 6 assists on 40% shooting with 3 turnovers.

All Eyez On Me: Dwight Howard brings his wrecking ball to bear on New Orleans’ newest Center, Chris Wilcox. Have fun with that, buddy.

It may (or may not) be your last chance to see Amare Stoudemire play as a Phoenix Sun tonight against the Clippers.

The Golden Ticket: The Lakers are in for some running tonight, so we’ll see if Kobe can shake off his post-All Star MVP malaise and actually play the game we know as basketball.

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, or join the Give Me The Rock Room on FriendFeed to get posts, Twitters, and Midnight Snacks all in one place. You can even become a fan of GMTR on Facebook! We’re so social!

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Honorable Mentions: Dirk (1.42) scored 44 points on 58% shooting (and a perfect 12/12 from the line) and had 14 rebounds. LeBron (1.39) went for the triple-double with 30/11/10 and added 3 steals and a block. Dwight (1.19) had 25 and 15 with 4 steals and a block, and even managed 82% from the free throw line (that’s 24% above his season average), to beat his 80% shooting from the field. Dwyane (1.15) capped things off for fantasy owners with 31 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks, shooting 60% from the floor and 81% from the line (with 16 attempts).

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Dahntay Jones (0.67) boosted his score by getting 5 steals last night to go with his 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. He did shoot over 70% on the night, but also played 29 minutes. Jones has been getting some more minutes since Carmelo’s injury, but hadn’t done much to speak of until last night.

He didn’t play last night, but since someone mentioned him in a comment a while back, I’ve been waiting to throw something out there until I had more evidence: Nenad Krstic. Can I buy a vowel, Pat? Nenad’s played in 3 games with OKC, and unless you are in desperate need of a PF/C, you can wait on him. Keep an eye on him, since if he had a double-double or two, I’m sure people will flock to pick him up.

The Biggest Loser: Emeka Okafor (-0.67) is owned in 94% of leagues, and while he had the lowest score according to Basketball Monster last night, it wasn’t all that damaging. He scored 13 and grabbed 9 while shooting 54%. Yes, he had 5 turnovers, and only made 1 of 4 free throws, but he only took 4 free throws, so really, is it all that bad?

I mean, JR Smith (-0.58) is owned in 69% of leagues, and last night he ended up with 7% from the field for 2 points. He did have 5 rebounds and 7 assists, though, so not all was lost. But you can see why Dahntay Jones was the man from the Waiver Wire, right?

All Eyez On Me: Tonight in the real world of basketball, the Lakers go back-to-back against San Antonio one night after edging out Houston.

New Orleans visits Dallas to see if Dirk can produce an encore performance, or if everyone’s favorite Chris Paul will increase his LotN count.

The Golden Ticket: Sacramento is at Golden State, which really probably just means that Golden State players are going to have some good lines tonight.

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, or join the Give Me The Rock Room on FriendFeed or Give Me The Rock Channel on Jaiku to get posts, Twitters, and Midnight Snacks all in one place. You can even become a fan of GMTR on Facebook! We’re so social!

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Line of the Night: In the loss, Tracy McGrady (0.90) had 28/6/8 on a very good (for him) 47% of 23 shots, adding 2 steals and a block. That’s some vintage first/second round T-Mac right there.

Honorable Mentions: He’s not Mr. Double-Double yet, but I picked him up a few days ago in the GMTR Readers League: Travis Outlaw (0.83) had 14/13/1 with 2 threes, a steal, and 2 blocks.

Hedo Turkoglu (0.79) had 20/8/3 with 2 threes, 2 steals, and a block. LaMarcus Aldridge (0.64) could have been a Bull, but instead we have Mr. Consistency and a white guy who is, I guess, still on the roster. Meanwhile, Aldridge had 25/9/2 with 3 blocks while making 63% of 19 shots.

Jameer Nelson (0.60) had 16/4/9 with a three and 2 steals on 50% from the floor.
Rashard Lewis (0.46) had 20/8/4 with 3 threes and a steal, but only shot 35% from the field and 60% from the line.
Finally, Samuel Dalembert (0.42) had 10/14/1 with 2 blocks and shot 62.5%.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Clearly if Travis Outlaw is available, he’s the go to guy for last night. He only shot 41.7%, but the good thing is that means he qualifies under Patrick’s Less Than 70% rule.

I’m going to end it there because really, the other guys who might be available only made the list because there were only two games last night.

The Biggest Loser: Stephon Marbury, who is evidently contemplating a training stint with Lincoln High School in New York. Ouch. Nothing like getting kicked out of the NBA to help coach your high school basketball team.

Really, though… my man crush Elton Brand (-0.38) went 3/8 last night for 6 points. He did have 12 rebounds, but he missed both free throw opportunities, and didn’t get a steal or block a shot. Not gonna cut it for a first round pick.

All Eyez On Me: This is the inaugural edition of AEOM. I just made it up yesterday, but Patrick agreed it was a cool idea, so here goes. Basically, I was feeling like there’s so many ways to watch basketball these days and so many games available on a typical night (even if you don’t have cable, like me), you may want (or not, in which case, you can skip down to the next section) some advice on which will be the most interesting games from a Fantasy Perspective. If this ends up being more trouble than it’s worth, we reserve the right to discontinue it at any time. That said, there’s a lot of games on tonight…

New York @ Washington: I think most people are still trying to figure out which Knicks are going to be the fantasy stars, so anytime there’s a Knicks game, it’s probably worth watching.

Minnesota @ Sacramento: The Return of Brad Miller. What’s going to happen to everyone’s favorite early pickups Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson?

Detroit @ New Jersey: AI.

Dallas @ Denver: Chauncey.

Friday’s Tiny Dancer: I watched parts of the ORL/PHI game last night on TNT’s OverTime streaming thing (there was a link from Yahoo’s NBA page – don’t ask me how to get there if you’re actually looking for it), and if you like being at the game more than watching a broadcast, this might be for you. There’s no commercials so instead they show the arena during the breaks. And by arena, I mean you get to see the dance teams in action. Last night, Philly was in Orlando (I should have stayed up for the other game, but since it was in Portland, that wasn’t going to happen). In honor of the Magic win and me watching the game in their arena…

Rachael:

And a bonus, Brittany:

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Line of the Night: Dwigt Howard (5.56) got some help from Rashard Lewis, and only missed 3 shots (FGs and FTs!) but when Keith Bogans only hits one three, and Hedo Turkoglu goes 5-14, it’s always going to be tough times for the Magic. I’m sure Dwigt would give up every LotN and Honorable mention for a win. Fantasy owners are certainly happy with 29 and 15, though.

Honorable Mentions: Yao Ming (4.96); Jason Kidd’s 3rd straight triple-double got him 4.69.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Derek Fisher (4.96) made 5 threes, and only missed 1 shot. You don’t have to do much else to be the WWLotN. I just picked him on Dec. 30th, so he might still be available in some leauges. He has been stepping up his game recently, and I’d give him a Buy rating at this point.

Rise With Us: Samuel Dalembert, Mo Williams, Luther Head, Darko Milicic, Andrew Bogut, Rashad McCants, Joe Smith

Goat of the Night: I’ll give it to Antonio Daniels even though he’s injured… or perhaps because of it. He missed 7 games, then came back and played well for 3 games before putting up 2 points, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers in 22 minutes last night.

Dishonorable mentions: Andres Nocioni was 3-14; while you should probably know who Louis Williams is by now, he went 5-16 last night with not much else going on; I hope no one is still depending on him, but Jermaine O’Neal went 4-10 with 4 rebounds.

* Yes, I spelled it wrong on purpose. It’s an office joke. Not my office, though. You figure it out.

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–

Addition by subtraction and then addition. That’s what the Magic did. They let Darko and Grant Hill go and landed Rashard Lewis. The Magic Dancers are hoping for the same kind of equation as they lost a few promising young ladies, brought back a bunch of middle of the road girls, and fleshed out the roster with what we in the business would call “upside potential.”

(Also, this blog should totally have been called Upside Potential)

Anywho, to check out a semi-retrospective of last year’s dance squad, check out Black and Blue Magic’s August Archive. You have to get about half way down and there’s a dancer tournament. It acutally starts in July, so you can go back there if you want to see more.

As for a semi-retrospective of the Magic fantasy team… check this:

Last Season’s Ratings (without TOs, with TOs):
14, 9 – Rashard Lewis
50, 98 – Dwight Howard
105, 114 – Hedo Turkoglu
113, 151 – Jameer Nelson
186, 207 – Trevor Ariza
239, 237 – Tony Battie
230, 238 – Keyon Dooling
289, 251 – J.J. Redick
255, 272 – Carlos Arroyo
292, 276 – Keith Bogans
308, 279 – Adonal Foyle
394, 383 – Pat Garrity
434, 393 – James Augustine
NR, NR – Marcin Gortat
NR, NR – Mikolan Rakovic

I put in the ratings with and without turnovers because in this case, it seems to demonstrate a pretty profound problem (hooray for consonance). If you’re drafting Dwight Howard, you know he’s going to hurt your FT% (8.1 attempts per game at 59%). But it might also help (or hurt) to note how much he’s going to kill your Turnovers, if that’s a category in your league (3.9 turnovers per game). The turnovers, though, should go down this season, because that generally happens as players get more experience and learn how to take care of the ball better.

Magic Starting Lineup:
PG: Jameer Nelson
SG: Trevor Ariza
SF: Rashard Lewis
PF: Hedo Turkoglu
C: Dwight Howard

With Ariza coming in at 186/207, there’s not a lot beyond the starting lineup that you’ll want to take in your draft. The Magic’s rookies, um, I’ve never heard of them. I’m pretty sure that any rookies who will be worth having on your team, I would have heard of them. Trust me. I don’t just follow the cheerleaders.

At least the Magic didn’t go after this guy:

So here’s where you should draft these guys:
Dwight Howard – 2nd round
Rashard Lewis – 2nd round
Jameer Nelson – late 7th/early 8th round
Trevor Ariza – last round if there’s more than 12 rounds
Hedo Turkoglu – last round if there’s more than 12 rounds

And here’s some gratuitous cheerleader pics:

–

Okay… so I’ve been waiting a while to bust out this kind of joke. Thank You Isaiah did it first with the Luolcats, and I think it’s pretty much the greatest thing ever. If you don’t get the reference, please click here. I would like to thank Rachel for giving me the opportunity to finally make use of the Lolcat Generator. I knew it had to be good for more than just cats.

If you’ve read this far, you may have noticed that I didn’t make LOL versions of the first two pictures that Rachel had in her gratuitous section. I leave that as a challenge to the reader. The first one should be pretty easy, but I couldn’t come up with anything short enough to fit on the picture. And yeah, I know the rock in mai boot one isn’t that funny. You want your money back or something?

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Getting this guy laid. The final frontier.

So many questions! But there are a few solid answers…

First: You Are Watching the Dunk Contest

Dwight Howard can sign the top of the backboard in a single leap. The Orlando Sentinel reported late last year that…

There is a spot on the very top of a backboard at the RDV Sportplex — almost 3 feet above the rim — where Dwight Howard signed his autograph during a single jump. Although the penmanship is shaky, the feat speaks volumes.

The Sentinel clearly needs to retake Sensationalized Journalism 101 again. They write a perfectly good article about Dwight Howard’s rebounding potential and skill, yet they use the above excerpt as the one line intro. If this story got to US Weekly, which I have a weekly battle with while using the restroom, the cover would be “CAN HE DO IT WHILE DUNKING?” Ladies and Gentlemen we can only pray that Dwight Howard attempts to go Terrell Owens on the backboard while dunking.

We actually have to hope that Howard tries to autograph the backboard, because the NBA outrageously shot down his request to have the rim raised to 12 feet. Marc Stein reports through some Orlando sources that…

Orlando sources report that Howard has been practicing a couple wicked maneuvers that might inject this dying competition with the ingenuity/originality it desperately needs. One is a 360 throwdown with the rim hiked to 12 feet, two feet higher than regulation. The other sets the rim at 11 1/2 feet and has Howard purportedly going between his legs with the ball in mid-air before flushing.

As a huge fan of the NBA, I am forced to openly ask… Why can’t I watch this? Would doing this sully the integrity of the fallen from grace dunk contest? David Stern, incase you did not notice, you are hosting a footrace between a 67 year old ref and a beastly overweight Sir Charles. It will be part of the festivities, yet you refuse to raise the rim for some dunks that would make the human highlight reel cringe? Additionally, Stein claims that Nate Robinson also asked the league to raise the rim! If the shortest guy in the competition, who is giving up a foot and 2 inches to Howard, asks you to raise the rim… YOU RAISE THE DAMN RIM!

This year raising the bar 11 inches and jumping Isaiah Rider?

Isaiah Rider’s body of work.

If you have three minutes to waste watch this highlight video of the whole contest, then read my comments.

- To further invalidate Robert Pack, second dunker James Robinson made the playoffs five times. Who the hell is James Robinson?

- So we realize quickly that the only people that can dunk are Isaiah Rider, Antonio Davis… did I just say that? and Shawn Kemp. Kemp lost to Rider in the finals after it was discovered that his dunk impregnated two women.

- How lame was Allan Houston’s off the head dunk… he caught it on the ground.

- The best moment of the video is at the 2 minute mark when Barkley reacts to Rider’s dunk.

So, like me you feel cheated because you won’t witness Howard going 360 tomahawk on a 12 foot rim? Well it does not stop there. On top of the rim raising fiasco, Howard’s assist man Jameer Nelson may have bailed on him. Who knows what they were practicing, but there have been no Hedo Turkoglu sightings in Las Vegas yet.

Lastly, do not forget that Gulf Shores alum Gerald Green has had ‘Highflyer’ status since his inception as a rookie last season. Gerald is the favorite going into the contest, this passage should give you a hint as to why…

…something honoring the late Red Auerbach. Could Green, who has a 48-inch vertical leap, possibly dunk the ball, retrieve a cigar from atop the backboard, and light it up on the way down?

Just the thought makes me sick with anticipation. Also, expect Paul Pierce to show up for All-Star Saturday and give some service to the Celtics future SG/SF. Odd considering that Paul Pierce hates playing for the future. He has even advocated trading the upcoming Celtics pick for veteran help.

and Second – Dwight Howard MVP

The only scenario in which Dwight Howard does not win MVP is as follows. Gilbert Arenas does some sleuthing and finds out who made up the USA basketball selection committee. He then convinces Mike D’Antoni to add all of them to his coaching staff. Cue 50 point explosion. Seriously though, Dwight Howard is this games MVP for a simple reason… He does not drink alcohol, claims to have never had a drop of it. Additionally, Dwight will get some serious play time, at least by All-Star standards. No surprise here, this announcement is just further added credibility to Shaq’s esteemed reputation.

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- Earl Boykins – Height is no measure of value as Nels reminded us. If you own Earl, then last week’s trade is your fantasy birthday.

- Gerald Green – *Gulf Shores Houston Tx Shout Out!* Gulf Shores is actually on the other side of the city from my house. But, what the hell, shout outs are always necessary for Houston area prep stars, Rashard Lewis in the House!

- Willie Green – Dear Billy King, nice one. You went from Eastern Conference champs to bottom feeders in a few years, I would compare you to the band Puddle of Mudd, but that would be an insult to one of the worst bands of the past five years. Either way, Willie Green is now the number two option, make the best of this trainwreck and pick him up. Honorable mention goes to Louis Williams, you don’t know who he is? Oh, you will in a few years, or at least in a few weeks when i write an article on him.

- Grant Hill/Hedo Turkoglu – Trevor Ariza has been riding both of them Damon Huard style for the past few months. If this injury keeps him out for any amount of time then GH and HT will be worth having in shallow leagues. The only problem both have faced is consistency, not having the youthful Ariza as an off the bench option will keep them both on the court.

Three of my favorite players of the last decade.

- Josh Childress – The afro is seeing some time at the point. Both Speedy Claxton and Tyronn Lue are out so Josh is seeing time in the backcourt. Any time is good time for Josh.

- Nick Collison – 25 and 13, still coming out of nowhere. I guess he just needed time to warm up.

Also, welcome Becks! I can’t wait to see him in action live and to jeer him, though I secretly love him.

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Danny Granger (Ind – SF,PF) Add
Marvin Williams (Atl – SG,SF,PF) Drop

Something to think about here. Williams game is going downhill, but could bounce back. Granger has been playing well in stretches, and looks like he’s got more potential than Marvin right now.

These next 3 add/drops were all by the same owner. If I can recast the order, I’d say he’s dropping Allen for Green, and Ariza for Collison there. So, there’s the Nick Collison add we were talking about yesterday. Guess it was only a matter of time before someone bit on that lure.

LaMarcus Aldridge (Por – SF,PF,C) Add
Nene Hilario (Den – PF,C) Drop

Gerald Green (Bos – SF,PF) Add
Trevor Ariza (Orl – SF) Drop

Nick Collison (Sea – PF,C) Add
Tony Allen (Bos – PG,SG) Drop

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2005/2006 Orlando Magic Fantasy Rankings
(2005/2006 per game rank in parenthesis)

(64) Jameer Nelson
(67) Dwight Howard
(71) Hedo Turkoglu
(98) Grant Hill
(162) Tony Battie
(182) Keyon Dooling
(195) Deshawn Stevenson
(245) Darko Milicic
(260) Carlos Arroyo
(266) Trevor Ariza
(298) Pat Garrity
(310) Travis Diener
(312) Bo Outlaw
(331) Anfernee Hardaway
(386) Mario Kasun
(393) Stacey Augmon

Oh yeah, this guy used to be around too.
(91) Steve Francis

You have to love the list of names above. It’s like the Magic found a way to create half their team from 2006 and half from 1996.

I’m guessing no one’s fantasy fortune was won or lost on Magic last year, unless you were leaning way too heavily on Grant Hill and Steve Francis. Howard made a really nice step forward in his second year, Jameer Nelson went ballin outta control for a while (when he wasn’t hurt), and Turkoglu filled in pretty nicely for the artist formally known as Grant Hill. Stevie Franchise started the year off slowly, threw a hissey fit, and then got traded and played even worse for the Knicks. I hear the police have a warrant out for his nickname. Oh yeah, and some very tall guy with strange yellow hair came in towards the end of the season.

STRONG BUY

Dwight Howard – Thank god they don’t let high school players into the draft anymore. I mean, these kids just end up embarrassing themselves. Howard averaged 16 and 12.5 and 1.5 last year and has yet to miss a game to during the past two years. Unless he comes down with Grant Hill disease, Howard is going to be awesome this year. Mark my words.

Darko Milicic – free, FREE! After being traded to Orlando, Darko’s stats went up by about infinity. Just think about how good he would have been if he’d actually been playing the past couple of years. But the only stat that matters to me is 2.1 blocks in 20 minutes. Per 48 minutes, that’s Kirilenko territory.

BUY

Jameer Nelson – The Magic have a lot of point guards, but Nelson got the chance to start last year and just went off. With the Franchise now gone to the nether regions of the NBA, Nelson should at least be able to repeat his good year again, crowded backcourt and all.

JJ Redick – The next Steve Kerr? Probably because they have similar haircuts (they must both go to Supercuts). I don’t have traveling correspondents like Nels, but it appears that Redick’s got a chance to jump right into the starting lineup if his herniated disc heals over the summer (which it should). He’s also got the honorary Christian Laettner invitation to Team USA in 2008. And he apparently had a 42% 3-pt percentage in college, which should translate into some threes next year. My fantasy team doesn’t care about defense, why should yours?

HOLD

Hedo Turkoglu – The Turkish Assassin looks to get the start by default, at least right now. At 30+ minutes, I can stomach his game. He just doesn’t feel like starting material to me though.

SELL

Grant Hill – The 67 games that Grant Hill played in 2004 was enough to convince me to draft him in the 3rd round of the Basketbloggers fantasy league last year. Do not doubt my powers of prediction!

Carlos Arroyo – Two years ago, he was starting for Utah, but that train has passed a long time ago. He only averaged 22 minutes with the Magic last year and there are way too many point guards on this team.

WATCH

Trevor Ariza – He has shown “some flashes of star potential”. Does that get you excited? No, not me either. Also watch for the fact that he might not even be with the Magic much longer.

Like any halfway decent fantasy owner, the Orlando Magic have identified good, young talent and jettisoned overrated “all-stars”. But, getting rid of the old guys and letting the young guys take their place means that the young guys who use to back up the old guys now are starting and have no one to back them up. Got me? That’s really good news for fantasy owners looking for guys with potential, but not so good for, you know, actual, honest-to-goodness real life NBA teams. At least this year. However, there’s plenty of sunshine headin’ their way.

Where I’d pick em (in a 10 team league)
Howard – 4th
Darko – 6th (that’s right – I just did that)
Nelson – 7th
Turkoglu – 9th
Redick – 11th
Ariza – Last round flyer
Hill – DND
Arroyo – DND

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