Sport Chit Chat

Rewind the clock to two years ago, just after the first round of the NBA playoffs. Baron Davis, Steven Jackson, Andres Biedrins, Monta Ellis, Don Nelson and the rest of the G-State Warriors were arguably the most exciting team in the NBA playoffs to watch. Not only were they exciting, they were pretty good too. Shot the lights out and pretty much manhandled Dallas in a historic eighth seed knocking out a first seed first round elimination. Eventually the Warriors lost to the Jazz, but not until after Baron Davis embarassed Andrei Kirilenko.
Fast forward just a bit to last year. Baron Davis is entering a contract year, Don Nelson isn’t sure if he’s going to coach, but all these things don’t matter. Golden State plays their same exciting brand of basketball and grabs 48 Ws (Good for 4th in the Eastern Conference mind you). Sadly however they don’t make the playoffs, finishing 9th, two games behind the defensively challenged Denver Nuggets. This is where things start to turn real sour. First, Baron Davis decides to bolt to Los Angles where he can work on his film career. Second, they can’t get Elton Brand, or Gilbert Arenas. Third, they sign Corey Magette. Yes, it is a bad thing. Though Magette may seem to fit their style of play, he’s not the best outside shooter and his defence is suspect. If he can play hard for 82 games, then he just might prove me wrong. But me-first guys like him rarely do.

Now comes the most devastating part of it all. Monta Ellis, fresh of recieving a six year extension that made him a very rich man, sprained his ankle and tore his deltoid ligament during an off-season workout. Due to this, he’ll miss the next three months, and won’t be able to start basketball workouts for at least another six weeks. Take it from someone with a history of ankle injuries, he’ll never feel the same. There are worse injuries in sports, but in basketball with so many pinpoint cuts and turns, it’s probably better that Ellis takes his time recovering so as not to jepordize his career.
Poor guy, but this is even worse for Golden State. Monta Ellis was expected to be THE key contributor this season. Ellis put up 20.2 ppg, 5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists last season all of which were career bests for him. He was showing steady improvement, and it seemed as he got better so did the team. A real franchise player if there ever was one. Now, Golden State turns over the keys to their newly acquired point guard, former UConn Huskie and New Jersey Net Marcus Williams (formerly Jason Kidd’s understudy). Williams is more of a pass-first player, and there is absolutely no way he can match Ellis’ offensive output. For a team that relies on mismatches on the offensive end, and outscoring their opponent every night, this could be quite the problem.
Well, thats all for me. Until next time.
-Zackdaddy

Championship Impact: This trade does not have much immediate impact on either team. We can’t possibly know for New Jersey as that pick could end up being anyone. As for the Warriors, this does not help them with winning a championship THIS season, but it could help them inch closer to one of the final Western Conference playoff spots. It will be tight this year as Portland, Dallas, Denver, L.A. Clippers & The Warriors will all be fighting tooth and nail for the final West playoff spots. With Marcus Williams around it makes the Warriors second unit much stronger and who knows how helpful a solid second unit can be.

Long Term Impact: Here is where I see the most benefit for the Warriors. With Devin Harris taking the brunt of the PG duties Williams’ services became expendable. Williams still has a lot of potential and with the run and gun Warriors that skill could be realized. Down the road, this trade will be great for the Warriors as it is possible that Williams is a true starting PG in the NBA. I personally see Monta Ellis as more of a two guard and although he will start at point this season I don’t see him as a good distributor. Williams could be the Warriors PG of the future and all it cost them was a pick.

Fantsy Impact. This trade does not have much fantasy implication. It does however, ensure that Devin Harris will not have to battle for time and may not even average high 30’s in minutes player. Although Global Basketball News points out that Williams fate was sealed when the Nets traded for Keyon Dooling. Look to draft Harris as a decent 2nd PG and solid 3rd point guard (depending on league depth). As for Golden State, anything is possible with Don Nelson at the helm. Williams should be the back-up PG this season but could be in and out of the rotation if Nelson likes C.J. Watson instead. I think he should be ok as long as he stays in Nelson’s good graces. Keep Williams on your watch list in case of any injury to a starter in the Warriors back court.

Hello all!  This is Maxmillien, the fantasy guru at your disposal and I’m here to talk some NBA.  We’re in the middle of free agency and many signings and trades have occurred and it’s time to prepare for next season and consider the championship and fantasy ramifications of some of the major moves thus far.  Here goes…

Toronto trades Rasho Nesterovic, T.J. Ford, Maceo Baston & 1st round pick Roy Hibbert to the Indiana Pacers for Jermain O’Neal and 2nd round pick Nathan Jawai.

Championship Impact: This trade definitely makes the Raps more of a contender but by what degree is yet to be seen.  JO has not played more than 50 games in any of his last 4 seasons and his out-of-high-school, banged up body may prove to be a problem.  If he remains healthy however, the Raps will have a formidable front court to go up against the likes of Orlando, Boston and now Philly.  As for Indiana, I think they improve slightly but they are still ways away from contending in a growing Eastern Conference.  This could put them into 7th or 8th in the East but that may be a stretch at best.  T.J. and Granger will have to vastly out perform themselves to make the Pacers a playoff team.

Long-term Impact: Here I think the advantage is about even.  On the one hand, the Pacers receive Ford, a young growing PG who can at times, score at will.  But how long will his spinal condition hold up.  I mean really, do you want an undersized, shoot first PG with a degenerating spine as the foundation of your franchise.  On the plus side, the Pacers do receive F/C Roy Hibbert out of Georgetown.  I don’t ever see him becoming a dominant offensive force but he will prove valuable as a defensive body inside the paint.  Perhaps resembling a worse version of Dikembe Mutumbo.  As for Raptor land, they get a young but banged up O’Neal.  He may prove to be useful in th short term but his long-term value stems from this contract.  In the 2009-2010 season O’Neal will become an expiring contract of over $20 Million!  Now we have seen that expiring contracts are amazing trade bait so the Raps will have all opportunity to trade O’Neal and receive some real value.  Additionally, the summer O’Neal expires is the summer Wade, Lebron and Bosh become free agents.  The Raps can either trade O’Neal to someone clearing space to make a play at Lebron or hold onto him and make signing franchise player Chris Bosh much easier.  Finally, not much is known about Jawaii, other than the fact he is big and Australian.  The Raps were weak on the boards last season and so he will for sure help on the defensive end against Eastern forwards like Howard, Brand, KG and Big Z.

Fantasy Impact: This is also hard to predict as we don’t know how minutes will shake down and who will get injured as both T.J. and JO are injury prone.  Here I think there is a big advantage to T.J. who can finally become a unanimous starter and receive consistent minutes.  Exect T.J.’s numbers to go up as he will be looked at to run the offense and score.  Last season he averaged 11.6 pts and 6.1 assists with 1.3 steals and those numbers will rise for sure.  It should be noted however, that the Pacers also added PG Jarret Jack and he will for sure push Ford for minutes at some time this season.  Ford may prove to be a solid 2nd or 3rd PG on any fantasy team depending on how deep your league is.  As for JO, anything is possible.  Sharing the paint with Bosh could be either good or bad.  He averaged 13.6 pts and 6.7 boards last season and may very well surpass that.  (As an avid Raps fan I hope he does for our teams sake).  However, he will not revert back to his 20 pts, 10 board days.  I expect him somewhere in between at about 15 pts and 8 boards.  All the other players here will be fantasy none factors.

Philadelphia 76ers sign F/C Elton Brand

Championship Impact: With one signing the 76ers have become a championship contender, no questions asked.  With  a starting five of PG Andre Miller, SG Andre Igoudala, SF Thaddeus Young, PF Elton Brand and C Sam Dalembert the 76ers are ready to compete in a growing Eastern Conference.  They now match up great against any East teams including Boston and Orlando’s Big 3.  With Brand and Sammy D patrolling the paint, Igou slashing and Miller distributing the 76ers finally have a team that can compete and possible do some real damage.  My only worry here is their bench.  This season Boston showed that you need a bench to help you win a championship.  Although they have Willie Green, Louis Williams and Reggie Evans, the 76ers may be one or two bench players away, but that’s not to say that they won’t add some players in the near future or at the deadline.  Eastern Conference, beware of the 76ers!

Long-term Impact: Brand signed a HUGE deal and will be in Philly for 5 years, earning $82 Million over that span.  The 76ers are good now and with a fairly young nucleus will be good for many years to come.  If they don’t challenge this year, then 2 or 3 down the road the 76ers are looking very good.  Brand did however, only play 8 games last season and is coming off surgery, hopefully for the 76ers sake this injury is behind him.

Fantasy Impact: Only playing in 8 games last season I will use his 06-07 numbers of 20.5 pts and 9.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks as a marker.  I expect Brand’s offensive numbers to be close to this.  As he is on a better team with more weapons it is possible that he will receive less touches though.  Additionally, with Sammy D as the paint patroller I don’t think Brand will rack up the same blocks numbers.  Maybe no longer a 1st or 2nd round pick, Brand is still an ok number 1 forwards and a VERY solid number 2 forward on any fantasy roster.  And if he retains his F/C eligibility, his fantasy value will only increase. In conclusion, expect the offense to be about the same but the defensive numbers may dip slightly from his MVP caliber season.

Golden State Warriors sign G/F Corey Maggette

Championship Impact: I would say little to none.  Minus Baron Davis, add Maggette is not a great off season swap.  Davis is a team leader, all star PG who had his best season in recent memory last year.  The addition of Maggette does give the Warriors another offensive swing man to run the floor but he does not put them over the top in a VERY deep Western Conference.  Barely missing the playoffs last year, the Warriors will probably struggle again as Portland will be much better and have a healthy Greg Oden in the middle.  Look for the Warriors to be fun to watch as always but not a Championship contender.

Long-term Impact: Maggette signed a 5 year deal, which means he’ll be in Warrior orange for some time.  I think he’s a little over paid at $10 Million a season, but in the age of inflated contract it’s not the worst contract.  Maggette’s problem is he has never shown that he can take over a game and the number 1 guy on a team.  He won’t be that in Golden State as this is now Monta Ellis’ team.  Unless the Warriors make another big play for another player look for the Warriors to hang around 7-10th in the West for this season.

Fantasy Impact: Here is where Maggette’s real value will blossom.  Usually stunted on the LA Clippers, Maggette will be given all opportunity to shoot, drive and score at will.  With the Nelly-Ball offensive on his side, and a Coach who insists that ANY shot is a good shot, look for Maggette’s fantasy numbers to balloon.  Averaging 22.1 pts, 5.6 boards, 2.7 assists and 1 steal last season, I expect Maggette’s numbers to increase to about 25, 6, 3 and 2.  Most importantly for Maggette’s fantasy value however, is his ability to get to the line.  Averaging 9.7 attempts per game at an 81.2% clip, Maggette is one of the most potent FT shooters in the league.  If you have Free Throws Made in your league, grab Maggette!  My only point of warning would be that coach Don Nelson loves to shuffle his line-up constantly and if Maggette slumps at any point he could be coming off the bench in favour of anyone from Matt Barnes to Marco Bellinelli!

That’s all from me for now, but come back to Sports Chit Chat soon when I give out my MLB All-Star Break Awards!

P.S.  Check out Shawn Alexander’s full NBA overview of teams, fantasy implications and projected line-ups at http://www.rotoworld.com/content/Home_NBA.aspx

-Maxmillien