• Reports emerged Friday morning that Amar’e Stoudemire will miss the remainder of the regular season after he underwent surgery to repair a partially detached retina in his right eye. That’s quite a hit for the Suns and for fantasy owners. Here’s how the Suns could be planning on moving forward, according to The Arizona Republic:
THE PLAN: Run, run, run. They did not make an announcement about what the new starting lineup would be but it sounds like Grant Hill could be sliding to power forward with Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa on the wings. It’s going to mean continued time for Louis Amundson and Jared Dudley and possibly Robin Lopez too. Matt Barnes will also see time at power forward. The Suns think they can continue with the same style and even the pick-and-rolls but that the finishes just won’t be the same. They are obviously going to live and die by their perimeter shooting more often. The night of ridiculous points in the paint tallies are likely gone and Alvin Gentry has already gone to the aforementioned group and told them they will need to step their games up.
Barbosa isn’t available in competitive leagues, but he’s the clear beneficiary in that scenario. Barnes and Amundson figure to see more minutes regardless of the specifics of the team’s gameplan, so act accordingly. Shaquille O’Neal now owns the paint for the Suns and is not happy that the team was shopping him at the deadline, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to both of these developments.
• We don’t know much about Kevin Garnett‘s knee injury other than it’s being called a strain at this point and that further tests are needed. He’ll be examined by team doctors in Boston on Saturday, so we’ll know more once that happens. At the very least, he’s going to miss the remaining three games of the Celtics’ current road trip. Glen Davis is the immediate deep-league add – KG missed two games at the beginning of the month, during which Davis averaged 12 points, 8.5 boards, 1.5 steals, and 1 block in 40 minutes. Leon Powe should also be active, particularly in light of the Celtics’ upcoming matchups (@PHO, @DEN, @LAC, IND). The Celtics are already thought to have interest in either Mikki Moore or Joe Smith (assuming a buyout is forthcoming), and that interest would spike if KG were to miss any significant time.
• Pacers updates: Danny Granger will miss anywhere between 10 days and three weeks because of a partial tendon tear in the sole of his foot. And Mike Dunleavy has been shut down “for a while” because of on-going issues with his knee – all signs are pointing to his season being over. Figure on Jarrett Jack and Marquis Daniels joining the starting lineup while both players are sidelined. Jack has averaged 13.4 points, 1 three, 3.6 boards, 4.2 assists, and 1 steal in his 27 starts; and Daniels has averaged 15.3 points, 5 boards, 2.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.5 blocks in his 31 starts.
• Manu Ginobili is out for the next two to three weeks after a battery of tests revealed that he has a stress reaction in his right ankle. Clearly the situation is not ideal, but at least it’s looking like the timetable can be counted on for the most part:
Rest is the only prescription. Ginobili has already had a dose of that, having not played since Feb. 11 at Toronto. “New bone has already been laying down — they’ve seen it on the X-rays,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before Thursday’s 83-79 victory over the Pistons. “So the healing process has already begun.”
Roger Mason will be asked to be up some of the scoring slack in the interim, and certainly makes for a reasonable short-term play. In the three games Ginobili has missed in February, Mason has averaged 18 points on 39 percent shooting, 2.7 threes, 4.3 boards, and 3.3 assists in 37 minutes per game.
• Carlos Boozer practiced Friday without incident, his first since his January 9 knee surgery, but will need at least one more practice before he’s cleared for game action. That means he’s out Saturday and would return on Monday at the earliest.
• Greg Oden‘s troublesome left knee will sideline him for at least the next two games (tonight and Sunday) and an examination on Monday will determine his status for the team’s three-game road trip that immediately follows. “We’re certainly hoping that it won’t become any longer than Monday,” Nate McMillan said. “But the doctor will take a look at him again on Monday and give us an update then.” Joel Przybilla got the start Wednesday (32 minutes, 6 points, 15 boards, 2 steals, 3 blocks) and will go for as long as Oden can’t – in 14 starts on the season, Przybilla has averaged 6.4 points, 8.4 boards, and 1.4 blocks in 25 minutes.
• For a rundown of some of the behind-the-scenes activity from yesterday’s trade deadline (like who was talking but ultimately didn’t make a deal), take a look at today’s edition of HoopsHype’s NBA rumors.
F**ck, i am the first in the league, and I have Amare and Manu
I have manu too lol
I am wondering what to do with him.
Drop than pick up later a few days before his targeted return date?
Or is he pretty much done for the season?
i wouldn’t drop manu at this point. the current updates are fairly optimistic. of course, if you have no doubts that you can just pick him back up later, that’s a different story
Where would you guys place Shaq now that amare is gone?
he’s looking at a few more opportunities for boards and blocks but i don’t think it really affects him massively one way or another. i might say it makes it more likely that his value remains fairly ‘stable’
I have Shaq and was trying harder than the Suns to shop him, but to no avail. I think he will boost his numbers if he plays 32-35 mins a game, but then again the Suns might give up on trying to make the playoffs now that they’re best player is out. I say a 19pts, 10 reb, 2blk a game average looks probable. What do you guys think?
Buser,
What kind of line do you expect Marquis Daniels to have the rest of the way?
he should be in line for starters’ minutes, so those numbers i mentioned in the blurb are a fair estimate
What do you guys think of me giving up Vinny C and Shaq 4 S-Jax and Aldridge? I need help in 3pt made, 3 pt%, ast, n a lil rebounding. Would I benefit if this trade gets accepted?
These are both better players overall, you made out fine. Though your rebounding totals wouldn’t have gone up much, unless Shaq really suffers in this crazy new system the suns are implementing.
Camby out for season with right-hand hangnail
I’m getting pretty annoyed with Camby. Think he’s going to regain his fantasy relevance by the end of the season?
well i certainly don’t think an inner-ear infection is going to affect him for the rest of the season
I thought it was a paper cut… :+) I feel ya.
Buser,
I am really thinking about dropping Beasley for Marquis Daniels. I am looking to just make the playoffs, I am currently in 7th place, I have Granger, Butler, Gay, and Manu who seem to be very injury proned. This is also a keeper league. What do you think? Drop Beasley or keep him for next season. I can only keep 6 players so they were going to be Tim Duncan, Jeff Green, Lamarcus Aldridge, Danny Granger, and Rudy Gay. Beasley, Mario, Butler are up in the air for me as well.
Also, I am thinking about picking up Von Wafer too.
in a keeper league, you have to shop beasley not drop him. i’d have to think you could get something useful from a team with no shot at the playoffs this season. and is he definitely your worst player?
krstic just got a bit more interesting
http://newsok.com/thunders-nenad-krstic-to-start-at-center-against-phoenix/article/3347476
I love Barbosa.
Good riddance Porter.
Matt, is Toronto the most underacheiving team in the NBA? How are they this pathetic? How is their coach still employed??
I wish I dropped Anthony Parker for Aaron Brooks instead of Bonner…
I live in Toronto and I find the organization too impatient
The early firing of Sam Mitchell when the team was floating around .500 percent wins then trading J.O after less than one season
What an investement
And btw
according to basketball analysts at the games and in the Toronto region etc.
They beleive Triano is doing a good job lol
That’s ridiculous. The Raptors are like 13-28 since he took over. Toronto never should’ve fired Mitchell after an 8-8 start. The Raptors have too much talent to be getting blown out every other game, it’s obviously a result of poor coaching.
Nah, nobody in Toronto believes Triano’s doing well. The media here is just very, very polite.
No way Triano makes it through the off-season. Ettore Messina, here you come!
I agree though, they shouldn’t have fired Mitchell ’til this offseason, it’ll just make it more awkward when they tell Triano that he has to be an assistant again. Then he gets to live the rest of his life thinking about what a failure he was.
Why did they need to fire him in the first place? He wasn’t coach of the year a year or two ago… And haven’t the Raptors been a playoff team the last couple years? I just thought it was completely random, it’s not like the Raptors got off to a 3-13 start.
Wasn’t he*
They weren’t winning *enough* lol.
Haha, they were convinced that they should have been winning MORE, believe it or not. It was a delusion that fell on the whole city. Sam is a fine coach, some team will grab him definitely, but he didn’t suit the identity that Colangelo was trying to build. Believe me, it’s complicated if you don’t follow Raptor ball.
And yeah, the Raptors made the playoffs, but it was a fluke. It never should have happened.
That’s what I’d been saying about the Wizards. Grunfeld needs to go. You don’t take a ~.500 team and then add Juan Dixon to get better. The Clippers added three quality big men (compared to Brendan Haywood). The Wizards didn’t have a credible inside threat. Other teams in the East got better and bigger and the Wizards did nothing. And it’s not like Grunfeld was looking to shed salary with his nice contract for Gimpy Gilbert.
Do you think the Caveman will be back this fantasy season? If so, will he start?
Buser, which player should I dump Bargnani or Hawes and grab McDyess?
Personally, I think Bargnani and Hawes are both better options than McDyess.
My god, dump neither of them! Unless I’m totally wrong, Bargs and Hawes are both much more valuable than Dyess.
I got rid of hawes and grab aaron brooks and will get rid of bargnani for mcdyess. Bargnani is killing me with fg% and hawes will have good numbers without kevin martin. Ill glad with my chances with wins at fg% with mcdyess and brooks.
Without Kevin Martin..?
Without Kevin Martin back in November… now hawes didn’t have more opportunity with martin on lineup… let hope kevin martin re-injured then ill pick hawes up…
are you guys really far in the past or really far in the future? without Martin?
I don’t see McDyess’s numbers staying constant despite being named a starter. Detroit’s lineup has had how many changes in the past month? 7? 8?
Hawes is a keeper right now. Drop Bargnani for Brooks if you really feel the need. Unless FG% is all you need.
Buse, this is a great site. Sure hope you do the same for baseball…
Just when several of my players are returning or about to return – D. West, G. Wallace, R.Bell and Luke “Skywalker” Ridnour (whom I had cut, but picked up when it became apparent that he would return much more quickly then previously thought.), Garnett leaves the name with a sore knee. Well, adversity builds the man, so they say…At least I don’t have Amare.
The other day, after reading some of your comments, I cut Dunleavy, and picked up Rasual Butler as a short-term bridge. Conley was on waivers, so I waived Butler to pick up Conley. I was close to the bottom on the waiver wire, so I didn’t think that it would go through. The good news is that I wound up with Conley. The ambiguous news was that I almost sputtered out my morning coffee when I read Butler’s line from last night:.550 1.000 6 31 3 2 2 1 0. Is the fact this line was almost as good as Kevin Durant’s just an incredible aberation, or should I pray that no one notices this line in my league,(not likely) and I then quickly snatch him up, perhaps for Ridnour, if he becomes a FA?
Butler has had some nice games, but i’d think that ridnour would be a safer play than a streaky rasul. You would need to look at your strengths and weaknessess b4 making any move, but don’t expect many 20+ point games from rasul.
an aberration. don’t sweat it
Any news on Grant Hills injury ?, and how do you think he will fare at PF ?
He’s not supposed to miss any time. I think I’d rather have Barnes than Hill – if they’re running like the Suns of old, I’d suspect Barnes has a little more gas in the tank.
buser/anyone…
What’s the latest on Kaman’s return? The last I heard was this, on February 12th:
“Clippers center Chris Kaman is scheduled to return to practice, and possibly game action, next week. He’s been out since late November with a strained left arch and the reports about his injury have been dismal, but coach Mike Dunleavy finally thinks he might be close to a return. ‘We should get him back for 25-plus games,’ Dunleavy said after Wednesday’s game.”
Almost two weeks later, and no updates since. Surely he must be close…?
Yo. This is all I got.
From the article (published today):
“Kaman, who hasn’t played a game since November 26 because of a strained left foot, is still a week away from returning to action.”
currently first place in my H2H league, asking for some advice on the following trade…I give Josh Smith for Thaddeous Young…good or bad??
Bad… really bad I think unless you really need FT%
bad.
Given the lines Smith is putting up compared to what he should be putting up, I can see how you feel.
Hang on to Smith for now and ask again in a week or so. Young’s stats will be up again for the remainder of the season. I don’t really know about Smith, but I hope he finds his old tradition of the block/dunk/steal/outlet pass sequence before too long.
Thanks for the input everyone, yeah I know it is a stretch, I have just been so disapointed in Smith this year,however, when you look at his game log it really isn’t too shabby.I’m going to hang on to him, but have been exploring other trade ideas for him.
hey matt,
i am thinking of trading amare in an h2h keeper league where i am safely into the playoffs. i am thinking of offering him plus a filler for duncan and iverson. my only concern is whether TD or AI would ahut it down during the playoff period (finals will be on week 24). do you think that might happen this year?
no, simply put i don’t think that’s a major consideration for either player
Nah, Duncan and Iverson won’t shut it down til the very last game, if that even. The playoff standings are totally up in the air, and I wouldn’t count them out of playing major minutes at least until the final game of the season.
was just offered caron butler and corey maggette for my tj ford, marquis daniels and derek fisher in a very deep league. any reason not to accept this? will the wizards shut butler down at some point?
yea, i think that’s a decent trade for you. only thing is the wizards play only three and two games in weeks 23 and 24 (fantasy playoff time), respectively. looks like caron wasn’t shut down last season; his lines look pretty good besides the three games he was out in April with a bruised knee. And Maggette’s been ballin, shot callin’. Twenty-inch blades…
Where do you get info on the scheduls for fantasy playoff time?
Or did you look up each teams schedule?
Buser recommended this. It’s money.
it’s probably a good trade since you can push butler off on someone else later.
Last year, the Wizards were in the hunt, so shutting Butler down wasn’t too big of an option. This year, with the Wizards the worst in the East, it might be a good time to better evaluate some of the lesser used young guns.
With McGrady out for the remainder of the season, I picked up Von Wafer. Is he worth holding on to or should I trade him now?
For whom could you trade him? Who’s on your wire?
This trade just got accepted in my league, and it seems a bit unbalanced to me so I was hoping to get a second opinion. The teams involved are our first place and last place teams. We’re 10 team keeper league (keep 4) and I think we’re using pretty standard stats including TO and PF.
First place gives: Rip Hamilton, Iverson, Richard Jefferson
Last place gives: Andre Miller, Vince Carter, Shaq
Seems off to me, but I’m fairly new, so maybe I’m missing something.
It looks like the first place team completely robbed the second place team. Then again, Shaq’s been overachieving the whole year, and Iverson’s been totally underachieving, but still, yes, the first place team robbed him blind.
Good luck against that first place team!
Basktball monster seems to think that is a terrible trade based on the trade analysis tool… Sounds like they might be falling prey to name recognition. I agree, esp. having owned Jefferson, Iverson, and Hamilton at different points in the season. Enter the involved players in http://basketballmonster.com/tradeanalysis.aspx to check it out. Only adv it seems is points and 3′s.
I’m currently ranked 5th but will slide down after this week’s matchup due to lack of players Z.Randoplh’s suspension, Dunleavy’s injury and Salmons’ recent trade and Garnett’s injury. I dropped Dunleavy and picked up Ridnour from the FA (the owner dropped him, thinking Ridnour will miss 2-4 weeks). So to stay on the playoffs I plan to trade Garnett for Brook Lopez. Lopez’ owner is currently no.1 and 3.5, 7 games ahead from 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Should I also sell Salmons? I wondering if he will be as productive as a Bulls than being in Kings.
salmons will undoubtedly take a hit with the bulls, if only because there’s no way he’ll continue to play 37 mpg (without at least one major injury happening). if you can get big-time return, do it
Buser,
what do you think of Anthony Randolph – not as a fantasy player this year, but in terms of potential. Who do you see his game as most similar to?
It was great to see his play against the Lakers. He’s young and he messed up a lot, but he brought a lot of passion to the game… especially with his huge over the back foul on Odom.
the thing about guys coming into the league so young (randolph is 19.5) is that there is such a wide range of guesses. the upside comparisons people use are bosh (size, college stats) and odom (lefty) but he needs more polish in the post and has zero passing skills. worst case, he never really *develops* his skills and he’s the next stro show. don nelson has taken the mantle as the worst coach in the league for young players (among other things) so you just have to cross your fingers
I wasn’t paying attention when Stromile came into the league, so I don’t know about Stro’s passion. Randolph seems to want it awfully much. He brings more energy than Javale McGee and is absolutely fearless.
I also can’t think of a system where he’d be fit to start with such lack of polish.
Is it worth taking a chance on Chandler? I’ve lost boards and blocks most weeks. Someone just dumped him and I’ve got the third waiver priority. The only guys on my team close to droppable in the league I’m in are Grant Hill and Kelenna Azubuike who even during good stretches don’t give much in those categories but I’m hesitant to just outright drop one of them for a guy who is hurt, even though it seems like he’s close to coming back. I’m leaning towards Hill with the recent injury but it’ll bug the hell out of me when he has a 24 point game the day the move goes through
how many other categories do you typically struggle to win? chandler certainly won’t turn you completely around single-handedly, so it may make sense to just worry about shoring up where you have a better chance of being consistently competitive
FG% and assists. i don’t exactly struggle with assists but i’m .500 in that category. Neither guy really gives assists either. i’ve won 3s and steals every week and usually win FT% and points which are obviously categories Chandler wouldn’t help in. I’m looking at weeks I’ve lost and the difference always seems to be less than 20 except for the one team who clobbers everyone there. Then I look at Chandler’s run of double doubles right before the sprain and get very tempted…I feel like I might need someone to make up for the blocks I’m losing out on with Granger now, although that might make for a more compelling case to just punt the category completely, but the weekly difference in that category is always close too. I’m also currently in 2nd out of 16 teams so I may want to just stick with what I’ve got. I’ll watch Hill today and see if Chandler really does come back and have any kind of impact tomorrow
I made a trade two weeks ago and want anyones opinion on it. I traded Devin Harris, Ronnie Brewer, and Caron Butler for Dirk, David Lee, Dominic Mcquire and Tim Thomas. The league is 20 team h2h and is extremely deep.
Also in my other league I’m in first place and I was wondering if I should drop Mike Miller for either West or Rasual Butler.
seems like a good trade for you, particularly if you were looking to improve your big stats
and i like delonte west more than miller
Any thoughts on this trade would be appreciated.
My Loul Deng for his Baron Davis
10 team standard 9 cat h2h. I’m in 7th and struggling to compete across the board due to injuries and the guy who proposed the deal is tied for 1st and beating me 8-1 this week. I’m already 9th in fg% so I’m thinking the boost in 3′s, assists, and steals is worth it. Also I’m concerned Deng will lose some minutes to Salmons. But it’s BDiddy on the other end, who plays for a laughing stock team and could go down at any moment. So I’m hesitant.
davis makes sense if you want to punt FG%, but you’ve got to commit to the strategy for it to really work
I desperately need help in 3′s, pts, reb but cannot really trade for top players like Murphy, Okur, and Kevin Martin. Who are some lower level players that I can pick-up/trade for that can fill at least two of those categories? I can think of some obvious ones, but their values are going so high, I’m not sure I can trade for them. (like Barbosa) Are there any players I should really target? THANKS!!!
thats a tricky combination of stats. some lower-tier options that do get all three are jeff green, charlie v, zach randolph, turkoglu, and bargnani