Fantasy Basketball Advice

With under a week until the start of the NBA’s 41st season, we’re previewing all 25 teams. Whatchu say? Twenty-five teams? Yup. We’re looking at every franchise in addition to shining a light on the new Eastern Conference expansion Charlotte Hornets and Western Conference expansion Miami Heat. And if Charlotte’s more East than Miami, I’ll apparently be previewing the new United States map. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 1988-89 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Razzball‘s got all the ins-and-outs of the season covered. Who’s new to each team, who’s old (Kareem!), and how are you possibly going to compete with whoever takes Jordan with the first pick of your draft? Unless the first pick in your draft belongs to you, in which case, turn off your IBM PS/2, kick up your feet and put your fantasy roster on cruise control. Next up – The Chicago Bulls ( Home of the dunk champ, scoring champ, defensive player of the year, MVP … and absolutely nothing else).

Gained – Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue, Jack Haley, David Wood

Lost – Charles Oakley, Rory Sparrow, Elston Turner, Granville Waiters

Probable position depth -
PG – Sam Vincent, John Paxson
SG – Michael Jordan, Anthony Jones
SF – Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen, Ed Nealy, David Wood
PF – Brad Sellers, Jack Haley, Dave Corzine
C – Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue

Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – The Bulls’ slow, grinding defense resulted in the team ranking in the top six in every opponent category except turnovers, blocks and assists (they were ranked eighth in blocks, and 11th in assists). No other team halted opponent offenses like the Bulls. The Pistons and Jazz were extremely effective, but neither team used more of the clock, held the ball longer, rushed opponents into more bad shots than the Bulls. Shame there’s only one guy on this team who can put the biscuit in the basket. 

Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players   (par 0-1) – 1, Jordan
Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players   (par 1-2) – 0
Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players   (par 2-3) – 0
Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 0
Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 6, Vincent, Sellers, Perdue, Grant, Pippen

3 Concerns Heading Into the Season

1. Are Cartwright and Perdue an answer to the loss of Charles Oakley?
In a word: no. For the last two seasons Oak has grabbed more rebounds than anyone else in the league. If you combined Cartwright’s last two seasons with New York and Perdue’s last two seasons in college, their sum total combined rebounds falls 702 boards short of Oakley’s output over that same time frame. Oakley could have stopped muscling up back in January and still had more than these two guys combined. So, no. The Bulls are going to greatly miss Charles Oakley. Also, without Oakley around, I’m not sure anyone will be left with the courage to talk to Michael Jordan.

2. Will Jordan average 40 mpg/40 ppg? Will anyone else on this team stop him from doing so?
I worry that Jordan is going to be like that scene in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” (in theaters now!) where Judge Doom is in that gin joint, suspecting Roger is hidden somewhere within, tapping Shave & Haircut on the walls because ‘toons can’t resist it. He’s tapping, tapping, tapping and Roger is in the hidden room going bananas trying to resist the urge to explode into the final refrain of the song. Tap, tap, tap. Roger’s silently going bonkers and you just know any second he’s going to explode, when suddenly … he explodes through the wall, crashes everything and, relieved, screams, “twoooo biiiits!” Then Judge Doom grabs him by the neck and everything goes to Hell. After the drubbing Jordan took this offseason for being a ballhog with no shot at a meaningful playoff victory, I expect him to try to get guys involved more, pass more, defer more to guys like Sellers, sophomores Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen. But none of those three guys showed anything that would resemble a lineup that can win a championship. Sellers, Grant and Pippen combined for 25/12/5 last season. I’m sure Grant will make a slight improvement, as I’m hoping Sellers will as well. Pippen? I didn’t get a great vibe from him as a rookie, but anything is possible. 

3. Sam Vincent averaged 13/4/8 last season. Can he average 16/4/9?
Vincent is actually the guy I’m most confident will be Jordan’s number two right away. I think Perdue will eventually be a huge piece in this team’s puzzle, but Vincent will be the immediate beneficiary of a new team-oriented Jordan. The rebounds and assists will stay about the same place they did last season, but if he gets three or four more shots a game, it’ll be enough to boost his scoring by 2-3 points. I wouldn’t go reaching for Vincent, as he’s not a top 10 PG, but he’ll be better, especially with only John Paxson behind him, who hasn’t ever shown more than a solid outside jumper and probably won’t play any real role for this franchise.

Rookie Review! – Will Perdue was picked 11th overall after averaging 17.8 ppg/9.4 rbd/2.0 ast, with 2.2 bpg in his final two seasons at Vanderbilt. And frankly, he could average half that and still be putting up Cartwright numbers. He won’t start right away, but the Bulls need to replace the rebounding they lost by giving Oakley away and Perdue has a much bigger body. I like the guy as both a sleeper and an eventual second-fiddle to Jordan. Jack Haley was picked 79th overall. Considering I was picked 76th overall and I can’t take more than three dribbled without punting the ball off my L.A. Gears, yeah, I’m pretty sure you should skip drafting Jack Haley.

Fantasy Disappointment in ’88 – Bill Cartwright. 11/5/1. He was the direct tradeoff for Oak, but it won’t result in a direct trade-off in fantasy lines. He’s 7-foot-1, averages fewer than eight rebounds and one block over his career and I’m pretty sure Michael Jordan hates him already – not only would I not put him on my fantasy team, I’m only giving Mr. Bill a few more weeks to live. Ohno!

Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’88 – Really?

Fantasy Sleeper - Will Perdue. I’m huge on this kid already. If you told me this guy ends up with more championship rings than Larry Bird, I wouldn’t call you crazy. So, yeah, I’d grab him. especially in keeper leagues. I think it’ll be a slow start, but well worth the wait. If Brad Sellers can improve on last season’s 10/3/2 output, we could have a nice 1-2-3 punch with Perdue, Sellers and Jordan. The crotchety old sportswriters over at the Trib and Sun-Times can call ‘em PB & J. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself …

With fewer than three weeks until the start of the NBA’s 41st season, we’re previewing all 25 teams. Whatchu say? Twenty-five teams? Yup. We’re looking at every franchise in addition to shining a light on the new Eastern Conference expansion Charlotte Hornets and Western Conference expansion Miami Heat. And if Charlotte’s more East than Miami, I’ll apparently be previewing the new United States map. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 1988-89 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Razzball‘s got all the ins-and-outs of the season covered. Who’s new to each team, who’s old (Kareem!), and how are you possibly going to compete with whoever takes Jordan with the first pick of your draft? Unless the first pick in your draft belongs to you, in which case, turn off your IBM PS/2, kick up your feet and put your fantasy roster on cruise control. Next up – The Portland Trail Blazers (I miss him already).

Gained – Adrian Branch, Danny Young

Lost – Maurice Lucas, Mike Holton, Kevin Gamble

Probable position depth -
PG – Terry Porter, Jerry Sichting
SG – Clyde Drexler, Craig Neal, Brook Steppe
SF – Mark Bryant, Adrian Branch, Kiki Vandeweghe
PF – Jerome Kersey, Steve Johnson, Richard Anderson
C – Kevin Duckworth, Caldwell Jones, Sam Bowie, Rolando Ferreira

Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – New owner, computer mogul and philanthropist Paul Allen, purchased the Blazers from Larry Weinberg for $70 million earlier this year. Eighteen years ago, Weinberg, Herman Sarkowsky and Robert Schmertz paid $3.7 million to secure the then-expansion team.

Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players   (par 0-1) – 1, Drexler
Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players   (par 1-2) – 2, Porter
Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players   (par 2-3) – 3, Kersey
Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 0,
Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 6, Duckworth, Johnson, Vandeweghe

3 Concerns Heading Into the Season

1. If I was trying to come ensure a last place finish in my league, do I draft Bowie or Ferreira as my starting center?
Neither. Just crush the tooth with the cyanide and be done with it already. Seriously, you add Pops Jones to that mix and you have over 20 feet of terribly ineffective centers. Bowie is the one you’re going to want to draft the most because you’ll hope he’s just a slow learner. You’ll hope this is the year Bowie “gets” it. And although he’ll produce more than Ferreira, you’d have to be a lad insane to pick Bowie. Nothing is hunky-dory with this guy (I know Sam emphasizes the “Boo” sound, I did too when I saw the “The Glass Spider” tour). Oh, and I haven’t mentioned the worst of it yet. The worst of it is that Bowie’s being paid $1.08 million this year to average 9/5/2. That’s $880k more than Terry Porter.

2. Will Vandeweghe be aweghe all season, or will the injured forward make a fantasy impact at some point in the season?
He’s supposed to be out until at least Christmas and when he returns he’s still supposed to lack defensive ability or the willingness to do anything besides bailout threes and drives through the lane. I’d hope that people forget about him until after the 13th round and target him as a sleeper pick.

3. Take me through the roadmap of how Clyde Drexler can improve on his 27/7/6 line from last season.
Brooke Steppe totaled 244 mp/103 pts and Neal managed fewer than 250 points in his final year with Georgia Tech. Drexler averaged 39.3 mpg last season and he could easily clear 40 in ’88. There. It was a short road.

Rookie Review! – Mark Bryant (no.21 overall), Rolando Ferreira (no. 26 overall), Craig Neal (no. 71 overall). Bryant is the only one of Portland’s rookie trio worth considering. He has a decent outside shot and is as good a bet as Branch to take the starter’s minutes at the three while Vandeweghe is laid aweghe. The other two players? Honestly, I’m pretty sure Weinberg’s crew drafted them as a prank to the new owners. Senior Week!

Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 – Kevin Duckworth. I more or less think it will be business as usual for Portland’s top three. They haven’t made any significant improvements and have lost Mo Lucas for good and Kiki Vandeweghe for a third of the season. This should be where Duck waddles to prominence. He’ll be 24 this season, entering his third year. He should be comfortable, ready. He leaped from 5/3/0 as a rookie to 16/7/1 last season in just 29 mpg. He’ll average 34-36 and improve mightily, right? He should make another jump to 21/10/2 by this rationale. But I just don’t see it. I don’t think he’s a double-double guy. He’s not athletic enough. He doesn’t block, doesn’t steal, he got outrebounded by a guy 12 years his senior on a per-minute basis. He’s a big body, but it’s an unathletic body. I don’t think he’ll necessarily regress, but a lot of people are expecting him to make a leap I just don’t see the guy making, mostly because the guy doesn’t leap all that well. That’s the problem.

Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 – Clyde Drexler. If you have to ask … well, you shouldn’t have to ask.

Fantasy Sleeper - Kiki Vandeweghe. If you want to argue a better sleeper pick than Kiki, go ahead. But I have three rules when drafting fantasy players from Portland: 1) This is not Sam Bowie’s year. It will never be Sam Bowie’s year. 2) Never own a Blazer who doesn’t start. Your team will never recover. 3) … Unless you’re passed the 13th round and Kiki Vandeweghe is still available.

With fewer than three weeks until the start of the NBA’s 41st season, we’re previewing all 25 teams. Whatchu say? Twenty-five teams? Yup. We’re looking at every franchise in addition to shining a light on the new Eastern Conference expansion Charlotte Hornets and Western Conference expansion Miami Heat. And if Charlotte’s more East than Miami, I’ll apparently be previewing the new United States map. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 1988-89 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Razzball‘s got all the ins-and-outs of the season covered. Who’s new to each team, who’s old (Kareem!), and how are you possibly going to compete with whoever takes Jordan with the first pick of your draft? Unless the first pick in your draft belongs to you, in which case, turn off your IBM PS/2, kick up your feet and put your fantasy roster on cruise control. Next up – The Dallas Mavericks (… and no one else, as there is no time).

Gained –Morlon Wiley

Lost – Jim Farmer

Probable position depth -
PG – Derek Harper, Steve Alford, Brad Davis
SG – Mark Aguirre, Morlon Wiley
SF – Rolando Blackman, Terry Tyler
PF – Sam Perkins, Herb Williams, Detlef Schrempf
C – James Donaldson, Roy Tarpley, Uwe Blab, Bill Wennington

Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – Usually teams leading the league in rebounds don’t also rate as well in efficiency categories like turnovers and personal fouls. Just as usually when a girl is pretending to ignore you in a bar, she’s actually just ignoring you. But every once in a while the girl’s playing hard-to-get and the team with the second fewest personal fouls and third fewest turnovers grab more than 3,800 rebounds. Go figger.

Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players   (par 0-1) – 1, Aguirre
Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players   (par 1-2) – 4, Harper, Blackman, Tarpley
Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players   (par 2-3) – 0,
Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 0,
Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 6, Donaldson, Perkins

3 Concerns Heading Into the Season

1. Is Rolando Blackman a fantasy third option or just a third option for the real-life Mavericks gang?
Talk to most Mavs fans and they’ll tell you three things: 1) Ro’do ain’t the Mavs’ best player, 2) but he is their favorite player and 3) they’re drunk. Take that however you’d like, but a 19/4/4 guy with great percentages will be gone by the 40th pick whether you grab him or not. If he’s available after the 30th pick, Roll on ‘Do.

2. Detlef? Deadlift? Deadleg? Deadweight?
I actually kinda like the guy. I think he plays well when he’s on the court (as opposed to the players that play better off the court. I’m lookin’ at you, Magic Johnson. Play on, playa). I just don’t think he’s getting much p.t. on this team. And if I hadn’t already decided on a different fantasy sleeper, I might consider Shrimps. But I have, so I won’t.

3. The Kareem is dead. Long live Roy Tarpley?
I don’t think you can make a statement, end it with a question mark and treat it like you’re awaiting information. I’ll answer you anyway, but you italics gotta get it together. Tarpley averaged six more points and five more rebounds than he did his rookie season. Growth like that doesn’t happen everyday … unless you’re Ben Johnson. What? I kid, I kid. I shouldn’t joke about drug use. What does substance abuse have to do with Tarpley, anyway? I expect big developments from Tarpsicord, maybe not Kareem big, but pretty big. He averaged 13/11 last year. I’m predicting 18/12 this year I’m also predicting that in six or seven years, I’ll look back on this Tarpley and marvel at how far he’s come.

Rookie Review! – Morlon Wiley (no. 46 overall). You’d hafta be a real morlon to take the 46th pick in this draft for your fantasy team. (Wordplay courtesy of Henny Youngman)

Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 – Sam Perkins. Big Smooth, by most accounts, took a step back last season despite being healthy and given more than 32 mpg to shine (33.3 to be exact). I think Tarpley’s got a big season coming. Big enough to make everyone overlook Perkins. It’s like being back in college, huh, Sam?

Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 –Mark Aguirre. His only discernible backup is rookie Morlon Wiley. Blackman might slide over to the two for stretches, but as long as Aguirre is healthy, there’s no reason to think he won’t average more than last season’s 34 mpg, in addition to his 25/6/4

Fantasy Sleeper - James Donaldson. Dropped a 7/9, with 1.3 bpg line all last season. Not a bad get with your final pick. When Donaldson dies, this will be the line they etch onto his gravestone. But Donaldson’s averaged 9.1/8.0, with 1.5 bpg for his career, Adam. Why would they etch an incorrect line onto his gravestone? I don’t know, disembodied voice. Why don’t you quite hasslin’ me?!

With fewer than three weeks until the start of the NBA’s 41st season, we’re previewing all 25 teams. Whatchu say? Twenty-five teams? Yup. We’re looking at every franchise in addition to shining a light on the new Eastern Conference expansion Charlotte Hornets and Western Conference expansion Miami Heat. And if Charlotte’s more East than Miami, I’ll apparently be previewing the new United States map. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 1988-89 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Razzball‘s got all the ins-and-outs of the season covered. Who’s new to each team, who’s old (Kareem!), and how are you possibly going to compete with whoever takes Jordan with the first pick of your draft? Unless the first pick in your draft belongs to you, in which case, turn off your IBM PS/2, kick up your feet and put your fantasy roster on cruise control. Next up – The Denver Nuggets (where the stars are gonna take us to Rainbow Bright’s Walter Davis’ big, shining light … which was not intended to be a cocaine reference, but if it plays, roll with it).

Gained – Walter Davis, Elston Turner, Jerome Lane, Eddie Hughes

Lost – T.R. Dunn, Mike Evans, Maurice Martin, Michael Brooks

Probable position depth -
PG – Fat Lever, Eddie Hughes
SG – Michael Adams, Walter Davis, Bill Hanzlik
SF – Alex English, Elston Turner, Jay Vincent, Jerome Lane
PF – Wayne Cooper, Calvin Natt, Wayne Englestad
C –  Danny Schayes, Blair Rasmussen

Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – The Nuggs never turned the ball over, picked opponent pockets like a pack of Calcutta gypsies and averaged more possessions per game than any other team, but still couldn’t get out of their own way last year. They attempted the most shots in the league but only made the 16th highest percentage of them, whereas they had the best free throw percentage, but got to the line less than all but four other teams.

Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players   (par 0-1) – 1, Lever
Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players   (par 1-2) – 2, English
Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players   (par 2-3) – 4, Adams, Davis
Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 5, Schayes
Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 7, Vincent, Natt

3 Concerns Heading Into the Season

1. This team got outrebounded more than any other last season? Will that change?
Nah. When the second-best rebounder on your team is a 6’3″ PG, your team just isn’t going to be a force on the boards. In fact, with Greyhound Davis set play a huge chunk of minutes, his pair of rebounds per game suggest Denver will rebound less in ’88 than they did in ’87.

2. With Greyhound Davis pulling into the station, are Adams and English in for weaker seasons?
More English than Adams, but that has more to do with Alex English being older than Lotus software. He’ll be 35 this season, and between speed and weary bones, my guess is Denver brought in the equally aged Davis as old man back-up. Like when you’re bummed because your grandfather died, but only for a couples days because your grandmother is still around.

3. Will Natt/Turner provide enough of a rebellion to put a hurt on the English?
Okay, so I’ve clearly tipped my hand here that I think Alex English is going down this season. He’s only missed five games in his last eight seasons; smart money says he breaks down eventually and smarter money says it will be this year. That doesn’t make sense. Maybe not, but neither did

Rookie Review! – I always like when athletes have names that suggest they were destined to do what they’re doing and a basketball player named Jerome Lane fits the bill as well as anyone. The problem is, the 23rd overall pick gives the Nuggets more of what they don’t need: an undersized player with a lot of O and no D. There just won’t be room for Lane, even if two guys go down.

Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 – Alex English. He’s old. You watch. The Blade is gonna be duller than Dukakis in ’88-89.

Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 – Fat Lever. He averaged 19/8/8, with nearly three steals a game last season and if English has the disappointing season I think he will, even if Adams and Davis pick up most of the slack, I think we’ll see something like a 22/9/7 season from the guy, which would put him in in the general vicinity of a Magic Johnson-type PG value.

Fantasy Sleeper - Calvin Natt. As power forwards go, he’s small, he’s slow and he’s been injured for the vast majority of the last  two seasons. But before those two seasons, Natt was an 18/7/2 guy who took opponents by surprise. Why not a comeback? The opportunity’s there. He’s only 32, which makes him younger than Cooper, the only guy likely to earn more minutes than him at the four. If he’s on the board 130 players into your draft, I’d consider him.