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• Brandan Wright is expected to be sidelined for four to six months because of his dislocated left (shooting) shoulder. The injury gives a boost to Anthony Randolph’s staying power – Don Nelson called Wright the better player than Randolph early in camp – as well as ensuring steady backup minutes for Corey Maggette at power forward and Ronny Turiaf at center.
• C.J. Miles ruptured a tendon in his left (shooting) hand on Monday, will need surgery, and will miss at least the start of the regular season. No official timetable has been set, but surplus minutes will be available for Ronnie Brewer and Andrei Kirilenko while Miles is out.
• Andrea Bargnani is getting early praise for showing improvements on both ends of the court.
• Nicolas Batum has the early lead for the starting small forward spot in Portland, something Martell Webster does not appear to have a problem with:
“I hope (Batum) gets it. Honestly. To tell you the truth, I hope he gets it. I think he’d be a great starter on this team. For me, it’s just about making sure I’m ready when my name is called, whether that be starting or coming off the bench. Either way we have two phenomenal units. I’m excited to play with either one.”
• Michael Beasley as the starter at small forward for the Heat is probably the direction the team is going at this point, but his performance on defense is likely to be the clincher.
• I’m still all about Leandro Barbosa this season but he’s currently a walking ice bag and his health shouldn’t be taken for granted.
The wrists he sprained during FIBA Americas Championship play are bothering him some but now he tweaked his right hand too. He also ices his right knee after practice.
• All aboard the Danilo Gallinari potential value roller coaster. You may remember that he’s the best shooter Mike D’Antoni has ever seen. On the flip side, D’Antoni now notes that he doesn’t create his own shot and Gallinari says that it’s not his goal to start. His major competition, in the form of Larry Hughes, not only expects to start but also looks “real good”, according to D’Antoni.
• Eric Gordon’s goal is to finish in the top 10 in free throw attempts. As a rookie, his 350 attempts were good for 45th in the league.
• Caron Butler is calling the upcoming season a new beginning. He’s adjusted his diet and lost 10 pounds and has re-focused his approach on defense.
• Gilbert Arenas’ left knee is not a concern, according to Flip Saunders, but his dislocated left middle finger could be “a whole year situation.”
• While it’s not considered serious, tweaking his left ankle is the last thing that fantasy owners want to see Josh Smith doing early in camp.
• My good friend Steve Alexander (Dr. A) is hosting a fantasy hoops chat at 7pm ET today at Rotoworld.com. I encourage you to head on over.
sounds like D’Antoni had been watching larry hughes shoot immediately before Gallinari, thus lowering the bar significantly…
any time a kid says it’s not his goal to start, then you have to assume he won’t start. bump gallinari down and hughes up a bit. ideally you only use hughes in a punt FG% strategy
I’m not reading too much into all of this. Gallo is the Knicks #1 key for the future. He’ll be relevant this year.
Since we are talking about preseason, might as well mention Hughes looked like garbage against the Nets. On the other hand, Gallo started off hot and then looked to pass more when his shot was clearly off in the 2nd half (no legs yet). Had two fantastic passes to Lee as a part of his 4 assists.
i should temper my pessimism a bit, but it’s just disappointing to see him talk like that. anyway, it’s worth watching as we move along
Yeah – more than anything I’m puzzled by it. It just doesn’t sound something a young competitor like him would say. I’d be willing to bet he was “coached” to say that. I’m sure D’Antoni/Walsh sat with him and let him know he is *THE GUY* but to play along initially. He’d get plenty of court time regardless, etc.
also, looks like robin lopez is going to miss the beginning of the year, so channing frye’s early season value has probably jumped up a bit.
i’d say so. having the rest of camp to himself at the position gives him a real nice head start, too. put amundson on deep-league radars for the first few weeks anyway
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NBA&id=1494
I agree about Amundson, but I’m wondering if this opens the door to have Dudley play a little PF. Guy has put in some serious work this off season, is supposedly shooting it well from the perimeter and is a high IQ guy entering his 3rd year.
he could end up playing there some, but he’s much more effective as a SF. earl clark will also be in the mix a bit for deep bench minutes
Hi Matt. Basketball season is back. I can’t wait!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twAbpSYIFHg
I did this for fun yesterday. Tell me what you think!
I’m excited by the possibility of Amundson somehow being fantasy relevant. I can see him getting Ariza-like hustle stats.
yeah he could have his stretches. absolute garbage FT% though so be wary. as a college senior (UNLV) averaged 8.6 reb, 1.1 stl, and 1.3 blk
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Louis-Amundson-550/stats/
Haven’t you heard? Louis has been hitting FT’s at a clip better than 90%.
you have a link to that info?
“• F Louis Amundson(notes), who has a career free-throw percentage (43 percent) that makes Shaquille O’Neal look like Rick Barry, has worked hard on the flaw this summer and the early results are impressive. He was hitting both free throws and jumpers with more frequency in pickup games and during one pre-camp session, he nailed an incredible 96 out of 100 shots from the line.”
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ali4rXb2U45sSdgctNzaN0p.PaB4?slug=teamreports-2009-nba-pho&prov=sportsxchange&type=team_report
sweet
If Camby and Kaman go down simultaneously (not impossible at all), I think DeAndre Jordan will put up some Dwight Howard-esque stats. Is that worth keeping an eye on or what?
He does sound positive in preseason after a pretty good summer camp showing. It will take at least 1 injury/trade before standard leagues should possibly consider him.
yeah he’s one of those guys to keep on your watch list but rostering him without that one injury/trade isn’t going to do a lot of good for your squad
mr buser and the rest of the gang, who’s gonna have the better fantasy season this year? monta ellis or elton brand?
should be in the same general vicinity, but i’d be inclined to give the edge to brand
Yeah, I’m liking Brand and his question mark health over Monta’s mouth right about now as well.
Seriously, I do feel if Brand can stay healthy he’ll be worth his current ADP. He didn’t have that great of night tonight, but I think that will change as the season comes around.