Fantasy Basketball Advice

With the lockout likely to linger well into October and perhaps into November, trying to preview the season of 30 teams that might not actually have one seems about as worthwhile as raking leaves on a windy day. But I love raking and the wind only makes it last longer. We here at Razzball have you covered, even if you didn’t want to be covered. That’s love. You’ll appreciate it when you’re older. Look at it this way, the only way any of this stuff can be disproven is if the season starts. So go ahead, NBA, make me a fibber! I dare you. Until then, consider this fantasy basketball gospel. Don’t even bother reading anything else – dem’s all lies. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 2011 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Who’s starting? Who might surprise you? And who might make you want to hurl yourself off a bridge in a few months. Enjoy! Next up – The Phoenix Suns ( …and it is the ruin of many a poor boy / in the house of the Phoenix Suns ).

Gained – Markieff Morris, Gani Lawal (sorta)

Lost –  …That Lovin’ Feeling, In the World (feat. Bon Iver), and Vince Carter (probably)

Probable position depth -
PG – Steve Nash, Aaron Brooks*, Zabian Dowdell
SG – Jared Dudley, Mickael Pietrus
SF – Grant Hill, Josh Childress
PF – Channing Frye, Hakim Warrick, Markieff Morris, Gani Lawal
C –  Marcin Gortat, Robin Lopez, Garrett Siler

* free agent

Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – The Suns allowed the second-most opponent defensive rebounds and total opponent rebounds. The Suns also allowed the fourth-most opponent offensive rebounds. For what it’s worth, the Suns led the league in opponent rebounds before Gortat started earning major minutes (the Polish Hammer was the only Sun to average more than 6.7 rpg).

Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players   (par 0-1) – 0
Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players   (par 1-2) – 1, Nash
Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players    (par 2-3) –0,
Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 3, Gortat, Frye
Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 6, Dudley, Hill, Brooks

3 Concerns Heading Into the Season

1. Should my drafting finger be shaking when I take Steve Nash this year?
Only if you have Parkinson ’s disease. Anyone nervous about drafting Nash will undoubtedly look at his age (36, going on 37) and they wouldn’t be foolish for doing so. Nash was alive for the disco revolution. Not only was he alive, he owned rhinestone pants. They were little pants, but still… And speaking of still butts, Nash’s never is. His butt is always moving. Offseason, preseason, postseason, dude is conditioning. He may be almost 37, but he’s probably as in-shape as most of the league’s 31-32-year-olds. He’s got the trick back, but he hasn’t missed more than seven games in a season since 2001 and he’s led the league in assists two years in a row. I won’t draft veterans with my first pick on general principle, but going in the second round of a deep league draft seems about right.

2. Should owners really be excited by a Polish center named Gortat?
Not at all. Gortat sounds like a fish sandwich that somehow incorporates mayonnaise. What fantasy owners should be excited about a 15/11/1.2 bpg center who’s been working with Hakeem Olajuwon during the offseason. Marcin, Hakeem. Hakeem, Marcin. I’d like to think with all the players meeting with Olajuwon in their off time, that The Dream has fortified himself in a grand temple awaiting each new pupil like Pei Mei in ‘Kill Bill, Vol.2.’ I’d also like Olajuwon to pluck LeBron’s eye out of its socket. I’ve forgotten what I was saying … oh yeah, Gortat’s a top 10 center.

3. Sometimes I worry Aaron Brooks’ oddly shaped head will force him to tip over during a fastbreak; how many opportunities will I have to worry about that this season?
I think Brooks will have a week, maybe two in which to shine, but not much more than that and I’m not even convinced he’ll shine in that week, maybe two. I picked Goran Dragic as a sleeper to target last year, because I greatly underestimated Steve Nash’s bionic ability. This season, I’m fully predicting that Nash plays another 75+ games (or whatever the equivalent of 75+ games will be in this almost assuredly lockout-shortened season). Now that I’ve predicted Nash will have a huge year, I’ll avoid drafting him at all costs and pick Brooks three rounds sooner than I should. Either I’m right or I’ve made a steal in the draft. I’m also predicting Aaron Brook’s head forces him to tip over no fewer than three times – lockout or no lockout!

Rookie Review! – Markieff Morris. We’ll call this the Suns’ “I’m-pretty-sure-FroPez-isn’t-going-to-pan-out” pick. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure this pick won’t pan out either. He’s a bruiser, who repeatedly has “can finish at the rim” listed as his best trait. That’s a layup, kids. When the best thing a scout can identify about you is that you can place a small object inside a larger object from a very close distance, then the second best thing I can say about you is I’m letting other teams draft you.

Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 – Channing Frye. Frye had a terrible start to last season, but a strong finish and ended up in 2010 generally about where he left off in 2009. He’s a 7-foot three-point shooter who only grabs 6-7 rebounds a game and barely blocks one shot per contest. He’ll get his minutes and shot opportunities, but I don’t think we’re going to see a huge leap in ability (or any leap for that matter). At 28 years old, he is who he is. And the only way he’ll be on my team is if I have a handful of guards who grab more rebounds, block more than their fair share and shoot a high percentage to make up for all that one loses with Frye.

Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 – Steve Nash. If I’m honest with myself, I don’t see Nash leading the league in assists again this year. But if I’m honest with myself, I also have to evaluate my affinity for wearing ladies underwear. What I’m saying is, who needs self-honesty?

Deep Sleeper – Jared Dudley. I’m not even sure how deep of a sleeper he’ll be come draft day. He went widely unnoticed in most leagues in the final 20 games of the season. It’s hard to tell if that will carry over to this one. He averaged 26 mpg, 11/4/1, with 2.4 stl+3ptm last season, which is okay. Upon closer inspection, Dudley Do-Right did pretty damn right in his 15 games as a starter, averaging 34 mpg, 16/6/2, with 3.2 stl+3ptm. With Vince Carter gone and Mickael Pietrus generally underwhelming, this looks to be the uproarious, and drunken shenanigan-filled year of Dudley’s more!

With the lockout likely to linger well into October and perhaps into November, trying to preview the season of 30 teams that might not actually have one seems about as worthwhile as raking leaves on a windy day. But I love raking and the wind only makes it last longer. We here at Razzball have you covered, even if you didn’t want to be covered. That’s love. You’ll appreciate it when you’re older. Look at it this way, the only way any of this stuff can be disproven is if the season starts. So go ahead, NBA, make me a fibber! I dare you. Until then, consider this fantasy basketball gospel. Don’t even bother reading anything else – dem’s all lies. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 2011 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Who’s starting? Who might surprise you? And who might make you want to hurl yourself off a bridge in a few months. Enjoy! Next up – The Milwaukee Bucks (Or as the Timberwolves call them, “the Timberwolves of the slightly south”).

Gained – Stephen Jackson, Beno Udrih, Shaun Livingston, Jon Leuer, Tobias Harris

Lost – Corey Maggette, Ersan Ilyasova, Chris Douglas-Roberts (pending finalized Italian contract)

Probable position depth -
PG – Brandon Jennings, Beno Udrih, Shaun Livingston*, Keyon Dooling, Earl Boykins*
SG – Stephen Jackson, Michael Redd*
SF – Carlos Delfino, Tobias Harris, Darington Hobson*
PF – Drew Gooden*, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute*, Jon Leuer
C –  Andrew Bogut, Larry Sanders, Jon Brockman

Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – Worst PPG, ORtg and eFG% throughout the league. This might have had something to do with only two of the team’s top seven scorers shooting better than .436 from the field. Welcome to Milwaukee, Stephen Jackson! The team’s terrible offense was particularly disappointing when you consider the Bucks were the only team ranked in the top 10 in DRtg not to make the playoffs … and Milwaukee was ranked fourth!

Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players   (par 0-1) – 0
Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players   (par 1-2) – 0
Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players    (par 2-3) – 3, Bogut, Jackson, Jennings
Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 0
Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 6, Delfino, Gooden, Udrih

3 Concerns Heading Into the Season

1. How much will Bogut’s elbow affect his performance?
Less than it did in 2010, more than it did in 2009. Bogutron recently said his jelly arm would remain gelatinous for the rest of his career. Nothin’ worse than Jell-O that hasn’t set. But the proof’s in the pudding; he led the league in blocks per game and averaged 13/11 despite playing injured all season. He won’t be injured this year, so much as permanently less-than-healthy. That brief window of top 5 center is over, but he’s still a top 75 pick.

2. Does Jennings make a leap as a 22-year-old, or does his value take a hit because of Udrih?
He missed 19 games last season and chopped off his flattop fade, which ranked right below Kevin Love keeping his boyband beard as the worst personal grooming decisions of 2010 basketball. The good news on Jennings is that he improved his game by most accounts, improving from a .371 FG% as a rookie to .390 last season, he stole more, blocked more, scored more, rebounded more, turned the ball over less and got to the line more often. His assists were down and even fell lower than Udrih’s last year (4.8 as compared to 4.9). Fewer than five assist  from your PG ain’t good, but neither was Milwaukee’s shooting last season. It would be hard for the Bucks to squander as many of BJ’s assists in 2011 as they did in 2012 and I’d expect a graceful leap from this Buck this season. Udrih can start for at least half the teams in the NBA, including the Bucks, but he won’t be starting as long as Jennings is there. This is Jennings’ team as long as he continues improving.

3. Is it fair to label Stephen Jackson as the most talented player that hurts his teams more than he helps them?
Sure, but to be even fairer, Jackson was in a terrible situation in Charlotte. He’s a natural ball hog on a team that needed him to produce a ton. Ball hogs don’t need to be turned loose, they need to be corralled. So ain’t it lucky that Scott Skiles has one of the biggest lassos in the league? Yes, I think Jackson will butt heads with Skiles (when was the last time Stephen Jackson was happy? I mean, besides last week’s premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy?”), and yes I think Jackson’s counting stats will take a hit on a team with more talent than the Bobcats. But dude turned the ball over more than three times a game last year and shot .411 from the field. Look for him to have an overall better year, as this is the best team he’s played for in years.

Rookie Review! – Tobias Harris (no.17 overall) is only 19 and is too slow to guard quality SFs and too small and light to bang around with PFs. He’s playing behind Carlos Delfino and, at times, Stephen Jackson. Also, imagine how pitiful it’s going to sound when Skiles bellows at a guy named Tobias. There’s no way to watch an adult named Tobias get scolded and maintain complete respect for him. And it’s only worsened if Skiles nicknames him “Toby.”  Then there’s Wisconsin’s Jon Leuer. He has a decent shot … not at making this team’s roster (he’s in trouble there). I mean his outside jumper is not the worst thing I’ve ever seen.  

Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 – Carlos Delfino. He’s a multi-tooled forward who has fallen farther than he should in previous seasons’ drafts. That being said (and this is where yo know I’m about to say something negative), Square Delfino missed 33 games last year and doesn’t do anything well enough to justify taking him before the 12th round. He has many tools, but they’re all a little rusty.

Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 – Andrew Bogut. This is a tossup. You say Jackson or Jennings, I won’t eat your lunch for it. I might make fun of you for eating only carrot sticks and a Lunchables, but I won’t eat it. I see a better year for all three of these guys, but among them, the biggest improvement should come from Bogut, whom I would have preferred to have owned at the end of last year too.

Deep Sleeper – Beno Udrih. If Jennings gets hurt again, Beno will prevent the stink.

With the lockout likely to linger well into October and perhaps into November, trying to preview the season of 30 teams that might not actually have one seems about as worthwhile as raking leaves on a windy day. But I love raking and the wind only makes it last longer. We here at Razzball have you covered, even if you didn’t want to be covered. That’s love. You’ll appreciate it when you’re older. Look at it this way, the only way any of this stuff can be disproven is if the season starts. So go ahead, NBA, make me a fibber! I dare you. Until then, consider this fantasy basketball gospel. Don’t even bother reading anything else – dem’s all lies. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 2011 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Who’s starting? Who might surprise you? And who might make you want to hurl yourself off a bridge in a few months. Enjoy! Next up – The Atlanta Hawks (Ugh. There’s no way this team looks like this come Opening Day.)

Gained – Keith Benson, the first Hispanic owner in NBA history

Lost – Josh Powell, Hilton Armstrong, Pape Sy (I had to look that up)

Probable position depth -
PG – Kirk Hinrich, Jeff Teague
SG – Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford
SF – Marvin Williams, Damien Wilkins
PF – Josh Smith, Keith Benson, Magnum Rolle
C –  Al Horford, Zaza Pachulia, Jason Collins, Etan Thomas

Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – The playoff fifth-seeds were ranked 29th in Blk, Stl, ORbd, FTm/FTta and ranked 28th in minutes and TRbd, proving once again that they can make the playoffs all they want, there is still absolutely nothing likable about the Atlanta Hawks.

Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players   (par 0-1) – 2, Horford, Smith
Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players   (par 1-2) – 3, Johnson
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, Teague, Crawford, Hinrich

3 Concerns Heading Into the Season

1. Who is the starting PG of this team?
Today? Hinrich. But  Teague’s 12/2/4 line in last year’s playoffs convinced me that Teague’s biggest problem is confidence. The Hawks tried Teague out as a starter during the preseason because no one in their right mind wants Mike Bibby starting for them. Teague choked. Bibby was sent packing and Kirk Hinrich came in, Teague still failed to show us anything. It wasn’t until Hinrich went down with an injury and there was no one left to run the point that Teague exploded for a 19/3/4 four-game stretch against the Bulls in Games 2-5. Hinrich is more likely to be used as trade bait at some point this season than remain the team’s starting guard. Even if he stays, Jamal Crawford isn’t likely to, and Hinrich will see a lot of time at the two. Either way, if deferring to the established guard is Teague’s MO, it’s not likely to work in 2011, because there isn’t likely to be an established guard to defer to. If I were drafting today, I’d grab Teague before Hinrich and hope that someone gets traded or let go. You have to figure one of the two will happen. Much like watching two drunks throwing punches, you can only sit back and hope that at least one of them sticks.

2. When will the Hawks rid itself of Marvin Williams and tell all the kids he went to a nice farm upstate?
10/5/1, 1.5 stl+blk+3ptm averages from the second pick in the 2005 draft. This was the third best season of Marvin Gaye Williams’ six-year career. Anyway, by the time you start thinking about drafting a fifth SF in your fantasy draft, there will be plenty of rookies with upsides compelling enough to draw you away from Williams.

3. Can we only award two points for every three-pointer Josh Smith makes so maybe he’ll stop taking so many of them?
I know, I know. Smoove sank a career-high 51 treys while maintaining a career-high .331 3P% last season. Doesn’t matter. Shizz messed up his game. When Smith is motivated and energized, he’s like an well-raised toddler who loves eating fruits and vegetables. Post All-Star Break Smith was like watching that same kid visit with the dirty neighborhood kid who owns all three Jackass movies and doesn’t seem to have any parents. All of sudden that kid comes back with a Fruit Rollup weaved into his hair, scorch marks on his shoes stinking of fart. Before the All-Star Break, Smith made .348 percent of his three-point attempts. After the All-Star Break, he only sank .282 percent.  He’s fun to own, but only when he’s energized and threes usually mean he’s not energized.

Rookie Review! – No. 48 overall pick Keith Benson is the only rookie that made a dent in Atlanta’s lineup and really, unless Atlanta’s lineup is made of tin foil, I’m not sure Benson is heavy enough to make a dent. Basically, the kid is a waif with arms like Super Ropes. The thing with lanky arms is that they’re usually attached to lanky men who aren’t powerful enough to put them to good use. Benson has a soft touch around the rim (which he’ll never get close to because he’s too small to earn position), a long wingspan good for shot blocking (in theory – most of his college competition came at the hands of a weak Summit League schedule). Basically, if this kid can gain 30 pounds of muscle and know how to incorporate it into his currently lithe game, maybe then he can play more than 10 mpgs behind Josh Smith. Stay away until that day.

Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 –  Joe Johnson. He’s still a top 10 SG and this team’s third-best player, but he’s no longer an elite guard (I limit my elites to five) and I’m not sure the word about Joe Johnson’s slow downward spiral is out yet. Everything declined for the Armadillo Cowboy last season: His percentages, his counting stats, his scoring dipped by three points a game in 2010 right along with his minutes. His PER was the lowest its been since his final season with Phoenix in 2004 and his ORtg saw it’s lowest fall since 2003. He’s not old exactly, he’ll only be 30, but Johnson is aging in dog years. Come the spring, he’ll be playing like he’s 37 … a good 37, but still.

Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 – Al Horford. He’s not playing more, he’s playing better. His PER has gone from 15 in 2007 to 17 to 19 to 21 last season. He improved his scoring and passing whilst maintaining the exact same turnover average an minutes played as the year before. Did you like the addition of “whilst?” It’s classy.

Deep Sleeper – Jeff Teague. I think we’ve spoken about Mr. Teague enough here today.

With the lockout likely to linger well into October and perhaps into November, trying to preview the season of 30 teams that might not actually have one seems about as worthwhile as raking leaves on a windy day. But I love raking and the wind only makes it last longer. We here at Razzball have you covered, even if you didn’t want to be covered. That’s love. You’ll appreciate it when you’re older. Look at it this way, the only way any of this stuff can be disproven is if the season starts. So go ahead, NBA, make me a fibber! I dare you. Until then, consider this fantasy basketball gospel. Don’t even bother reading anything else – dem’s all lies. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 2011 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Who’s starting? Who might surprise you? And who might make you want to hurl yourself off a bridge in a few months. Enjoy! Next up – The Indiana Pacers (First Peyton Manning goes down and now you have to read about THIS team? My bad, Indy. My bad.)

Gained – George Hill

Lost – T.J. Ford (if you count that as a loss), Brandon Rush (probable), Josh McRoberts / Solomon Jones (one is likely to leave)

Probable position depth -
PG – Darren Collison, George Hill, Lance Stephenson, A.J. Price
SG – Paul George, Mike Dunleavy
SF – Danny Granger, Dahntay Jones, James Posey
PF – Tyler Hansbrough, Josh McRoberts
C –   Roy Hibbert, Jeff Foster, Solomon Jones

Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – The Pacers drew the fewest number of fans with 555,077. That’s an average of 15,548 fans per game, or 1,743 fewer fans per game than the NBA average and 6,244 fewer fans per game than league-leading Chicago Bull.

Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players   (par 0-1) – 1, Granger
Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players   (par 1-2) – 2, Hibbert
Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players    (par 2-3) – 0
Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 4, Collison, Hill
Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 6, Hansbrough, George

3 Concerns Heading Into the Season

1. How much will George Hill muck up the value of DarCo, George and Stephenson?
That’s a question with two answers. The first answer is that Hill will muck things up for the Indy guards about as much as he did for the San Antonio guards – not at all. The second answer is there’s far less to muck up with Collison, George and Stephenson than Parker and Ginobili. I like Hill on this team. His role should be similar to San Antonio’s, but more fruitful given the players for whom he’s coming off the bench. I’m less convinced of Hill’s potential coming into this season than I was a year ago, and having a hyper-intelligent Spurs franchise send him packing doesn’t do anything to dispel that feeling, but the minutes will be there in Indiana. He’s averaged 28.6 mpg in his last two seasons. He’ll average at least 30 on this Pacers team.

2. Jeff Foster looks like Freddie Mercury, right?

Right. And considering he’s been on the Pacers in all 12 of his professional seasons. Did they just forget he was there, or what?

3. Sell me on Paul George.
Larry Bird called George “one of the five best young guys I’ve been around in all my years in the game.” In other news, Larry Bird may be suffering from long-term memory loss. And also maybe short-term memory loss (depending on the term). And also, I’ve done a bad job selling Paul George.

Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 –  Tyler Hansbrough. People went psycho over T (see what I did there?) toward February’s end and throughout March of last season. He was averaging 30 mpg, 17/7/1 and ceased having dizzy spells. That’s a huge post-trade deadline pickup. The problem is, it was only a 20-game span over the course of his two-year career. Current rumors that the Pacers are interested in David West (or, at the very least, some other big name PF) doesn’t make me feel great about how the Pacers feel about Hansbrough. He’ll get his shot at starting and averaging 30+ mpg, but I’m not reaching on him.

Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 – Danny Granger. This is a soft buy, which I imagine is like paying for something in dollar bills that were run through the washing machine a few dozen times. Them dollars are like silk, bro. If Hibbert hits the top floor of his game this year and proves more valuable than Granger, I wouldn’t be shocked. If Solomon Jones does it, I’ll be shocked.

Deep Sleeper– Lance Stephenson. George is your deep sleeper, Stephenson is mine. Potato-potahto. tomato-tomahto. Stephenson-Steppin, son! On the Indy guard depth chart, I’m putting Collison first, followed by Hill, George, Stephenson, Dunleavy, Price. In keeping with the “Larry Bird Says” theme, the Pacers’ GM said Stephenson “is [the Pacers'] best player.” So just to recap: Bird has one of the five best young guys in basketball and he doesn’t consider that guy his best player. Nor does he consider the team’s best player Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert or Dahntay Jones. Screw it, might as well draft Stephenson in the second round!

With the lockout likely to linger well into October and perhaps into November, trying to preview the season of 30 teams that might not actually have one seems about as worthwhile as raking leaves on a windy day. But I love raking and the wind only makes it last longer. We here at Razzball have you covered, even if you didn’t want to be covered. That’s love. You’ll appreciate it when you’re older. Look at it this way, the only way any of this stuff can be disproven is if the season starts. So go ahead, NBA, make me a fibber! I dare you. Until then, consider this fantasy basketball gospel. Don’t even bother reading anything else – dem’s all lies. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 2011 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Who’s starting? Who might surprise you? And who might make you want to hurl yourself off a bridge in a few months. Enjoy! Next up – The Utah Jazz (I was just going to marry this preview with a couple other team previews, but those other previews thought such an arrangement would be immoral).

Gained – Enes Kanter, Alec Burks

Lost – Kyrylo Fesenko (who, in turn, lost the meniscus in his knee last week), Kyle Weaver

Probable position depth -
PG – Devin Harris, Earl Watson, Ronnie Price
SG – Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks, Raja Bell
SF – C.J. Miles, Andrei Kirilenko,
PF – Paul Millsap, Derrick Favors, Jeremy Evans
C – Al Jefferson, Enes Kanter, Mehmet Okur, Francisco Elson

Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – The Jazz led the league in personal fouls (1,865 or 22.7 PF per game) and subsequently allowed the most opponent’s free throws. Millsap, Jefferson and Miles each had 220+ personal fouls last season. No other team had more than two players that handsy in 2010-11.

Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players   (par 0-1) – 0
Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players   (par 1-2) – 2, Jefferson, Millsap
Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players    (par 2-3) – 3, Harris
Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 0
Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 7, Hayward, Miles, Favors, Kirilenko

3 Concerns Heading Into the Season

1. How many Utah frontcourtsman does it take to screw up the Jazz?
Heading into the still locked-out season, this is most certainly Utah’s biggest issue: who is going to play and what are they going to do when they are playing. Frankly, Jefferson and Millsap are the only two solid bets for solid production and even Millsap has found himself on the trading block throughout the summer. Favors was raw enough last year (and not in the Eddie Murphy sense of the word … unless you’re referring to Murphy’s facial skin after kissing that tranny a few years back. Then raw may be appropriate. To recap: Darrick Favors in 2010 was more like Eddie Murphy’s whisker burn than his classic comedy special) that I think it’s going to take another full season before we see something useful from him. Kanter might be more rough this year than Favors last year and no one else should play more than 10 mpg. They might, but they shouldn’t.

2. Is it bad that I still think Deron Williams is this team’s starting PG? That’s bad, right?
Only if it means you’re hoping to get 20/4/10 from your Utah point guard instead of the 16/4/6 you’re more likely to get from Devin Harris

3. What are the chances fantasy owners get the “2011 Eurobasket Tournament AK-47″ instead of the “old ‘n’ busted Andrei?”
I’d be more worried about Kirilenko returning to the NBA than playing well in it. At this point, what you’re getting with Kirilenko is the same thing you’d get with a 10-year-old thoroughbred: A beautiful mane, mood swings, brittle bones, and a high unlikeliness that it will make it all the way around the track.

Rookie Review! – I already went over Enes Kanter here. Wait, no. Not there. –> here. And as for Alec Burks, the No. 12 overall pick, who by most accounts, is an athletic shooting guard whose athleticism and shot might not immediately translate to the pros. He doesn’t have a good outside jumper and he’s skinny. And what’s worse, Burks landed on a team with all sorts of players who have kinda adopted a mindset that if they want playing time, they’ll have to learn a second and third position. Favors, Kirilenko and Hayward might see action at the three. Miles might see action and the two. Millsap might see action at the five and Okur might see action. The more malleable these guys become, the less I see Burks having a solid footing on this squad. He’s quick and has a creative ability when he’s airborne, but so much of that has been predicated on him having the ball in transition. Go ahead and change the predication in “Burks is draftable” to “is not.”

Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 –  Mehmet Okur. What makes an injury-prone, 6-foot-11 center who’s barely averaged 7 rpg in his career and isn’t even the best Turkish center on his own team more attractive? Remind everyone that he’s going to turn 33 this season.

Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 – Al Jefferson. It’s been a while, so perhaps you forgot what Howlin’ Wolf did to opponents after the All-Star Break last season: 22/11/3, shooting .518 from the floor and blocking 1.8 shots per game. Who knows what happened to him in February. Maybe he didn’t get along with Deron Williams. Maybe he was less distracted with ski season coming to a close. Maybe he sucked up any residual talent Okur still had in him like John Coffey did with “badness.” At any rate, Jefferson started all 82 games last season and should go somewhere before the 30^th pick in the draft as Utah’s top offensive option.

Deep Sleeper – Gordon Hayward. The starting shooting guard for the NBA’s Names-That-Don’t-Match-Faces squad was highly underrated in the final stretch of last season. He averaged 36 mpg and laid out a 16/3/3, shooting .581 from the floor and averaging almost two threes a game. No one really talked about it. I picked him up on two teams last year and won both of those leagues. That’s only a coincidence in the sense that there were co-incidences. One was me picking up Hayward and the other was me winning the leagues because of it. While I don’t think Hayward averages 58 percent shooting all season, with Burks, Bell and maybe Miles offering only minor assistance at the two-spot, I can easily see Hayward playing 32+ mpgs all year and ending up somewhere around 13/3/4.