It happens to a lot of players, veterans, rookies, players on 10 day contracts, international players, it does not matter. Somehow, someway Kat Stacks always finds her way into their hotel room.
Joking, but not about Kat Stacks’ skills.
It does not matter what type of player you are, even the good ones can have a bad season, but the good players always bounce back. For instance, we still consider Hedo Turkoglu a very good NBA player and he will be a big reason why Phoenix is again one of the premiere teams in the NBA. Another example is Michael Beasley, but for the opposite reason.
We mentioned how we expect Hedo Turkoglu to have a very good season, perhaps even getting close to 20 PPG thanks to Steve Nash. Nash makes everyone better on his team and Hedo has a lot more talent than the mediocre Grant Hill, Channing Frye, and Jared Dudley. He does a lot of things well on the court, including grabbing rebounds, facilitating the offense, and will likely hit around 40 percent of his threes. Hedo is gonna have a great season.
Devin Harris had an incredible 2009 when he averaged a career high 21.3 PPG, 6.9 APG, and over three RPG but he struggled last season. Any season after his 2009 campaign would pale in comparison, but he still had a down season as he also struggled to stay healthy. Harris should have a much better season as his supporting cast improved with the additions of Derrick Favors, Anthony Morrow, Troy Murphy, Jordan Farmar, and Travis Outlaw. The Nets have the ability to resemble a big league team this season and Harris should have a great all around year.
Chris Paul broke a lot of fantasy owners’ hearts last season by playing only 45 games, but he will be fully healthy and happier with a better supporting cast. The Hornets do not have the most talented roster in the West but they still have Paul and made some improvements. Trevor Ariza will be happy to run with CP3 and both should benefit from one another. 20 PPG and 10 APG, with a few steals per game, and a handful of rebounds is not too much to ask for from the former #1 fantasy pick.
The aforementioned Trevor Ariza had a breakout season last year, but he was a big time chucker in Houston with poor shooting numbers. He was one of the top priorities in Houston’s offense last year, but he will be the third option this year, which means better and smarter shots. He will still stuff all the other stats (SPG, RPG, APG), and although he might have less than 15 PPG, he will have better season this year than he did last.
Al Jefferson had his worst season in the last four years in 2010, but please remember who he played for. Jefferson called the Jazz a Bentley and the Wolves a Toyota and will surely have a better year in 2011. Deron Williams will make the big man very happy and create plenty of scoring chances for Al-Jeff, and he might get back to his 20 and 10 days averaged in ’08 and ’09.
Gilbert Arenas – Yup, remember him? Gil should be fully healthy after nearly sitting out the last three seasons. The Wizards drafted John Wall and are more than willing to let him become the new face of the franchise, but Gil will not go quietly and will still lead this team in scoring. Arenas’ APG will likely go down as he will play a lot without the ball in his hands because of the rookie. The days of Gil putting up nearly 30 PPG are long over, but his contract is not even close to being done, and while the Wizards will be looking for a trade partner, Gil will be shooting his way out of town. Horrible joke.
Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva both signed lucrative long-term deals with the Pistons last year, and both had miserable seasons. BG averaged a career low 13.8 PPG, including career lows in FG% and 3P%, and says he surgically repaired ankle will be completely healthy next year. Gordon will have a big time bounce back year, and average close to 18 PPG, even with a very crowded backcourt in Detroit.
Chuck V will be playing a lot in the frontcourt but will need to haul in a lot more than 4.7 RPG if he wants to see close to 30 MPG. He has never seen more than 27 MPG since his rookie season, and is coming off his worst season of his career while averaging 11.9 PPG and a career low 4.7 RPG. He was healthy for nearly the entire season, and will see heavy minutes in the diminutive Detroit frontcourt. The Pistons gave him a lot of money last year and will keep giving him a lot of opportunities and Chuck should have a solid season.
