Two players sign contracts

Sonics re-sign Ronald "Flip'' Murray

In NBA

The Seattle SuperSonics re-signed restricted free agent guard Ronald "Flip" Murray to a one-year contract Tuesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "We're excited to have Flip back next season," general manager Rick Sund said. "He adds explosiveness to our backcourt and is versatile enough to play both guard positions." Last season, Murray's third in the NBA, the former Shaw University player averaged 7.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 49 games.

Bobcats re-sign Wallace

The Charlotte Bobcats re-signed forward Gerald Wallace on Tuesday to a three-year contract. Wallace averaged 11.1 points and 5.5 rebounds last season while starting 68 of the 70 games he played. His average of 1.6 steals a game ranked ninth in the NBA. Wallace was drafted by Sacramento with the 25th overall pick in 2001 and spent three seasons with the Kings. The Bobcats selected him in the expansion draft last season.

Team analysis LA Lakers

What can you say about the Lakers? Kobe is a fantasy first round pick, Odom is valuable as a F but the rest? Mihm will start along with Kvame Brown and Mckie and all could have value next season but I guess they won´t be picked until the last rounds of your draft. I can see Mckie having value as a big PG working with Jackson who has a history of using tall, older guards in his lineups. If he delivers something like he did some 2 years ago or so then he would be a nice sleeper. The biggest question will be Kvame. Will he finally start to deliver on his potential or is it another bust year. Stay tuned. Depth chart:

PG - McKie/Vujacic/Bobbitt
SG - Bryant/Profit/Wafer (unsigned)
SF - Odom/George/Walton
PF - Brown/Cook/Jones
C - Mihm/Medvedenko/Bynum

Team analysis LA Clippers

Offseason moves so far include adding Mobley and Cassell who both will start and losing Jaric and Simmons. The new guys are going to be more selfish and shoot the rock more than Jaric/Simmons so the fantasy value of Brand and Maggette could suffer. Other starters will be Kaman, Brand and Maggette with the highest fantasy value going to Brand, followed by Maggette with Mobley and Cassell being valuable but just how valuable remains to be seen. 2 seasons ago Cassell was king, last season he was the joker so it´s really hard to project which Cassell will play for the Clippers. Kaman is the wildcard with amazing potential for fantasy in blocks, rebounds. Pick him with a late pick if he is available or take a chance on him with a earlier pick. I like taking risks so I hope I will get him next season. Livingston is also a sleeper and if Cassell acts like a headcase he will have fantasy value. I hope he will even start but it remains to be seen and you should watch the starting lineup on opening night.
Depth chart:

PG - Cassell/Livingston
SG - Mobley/Ross/Ewing
SF - Maggette/Singleton/Korolev (unsigned)
PF - Brand/Wilcox
C - Kaman/Rebraca

Team analysis Indiana

Back with more and this time it´s the Pacers. Last season was the brawlseason and this year Indiana will be happy to avoid any such distractions and lengthy bans that came with it. Fantas wise there are a number of players with value but Jermaine, Artest are the topdogs on this team and should both be gone in the first 3 rounds of your draft. With Reggie Miller retiring you will see Stephen Jackson get more minutes then before so he will be picked somewhere between 5-6 rounds I believe. It will be very interesting to watch how FA pickup, combo guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, who went Jordan on the Euroleague by winning the last three championships will fare during the coming season. HE might be a average, backup resource for your team in the coming year or possibly a star, it´s hard to say depending on how Carlisle sees fit to use him. Starting him as the PG with Jackson, Artest, Jermaine and Jeff Foster filling out the other starting places. Not a bad lineup at all and probably good enought to go to and lose the eastern conference finals vs the HEAT.

Wildcard for next season, Jonathan Bender again. Who knows, this kid might just start to live up to his potential.

Pierce to the Rockies?

Paul Pierce is supposed to be heading to Denver for Andre Miller and Nene (possibly some other players included as well). Insidehoops is reporting this and I have to say that I am sceptical, I mean another PG for Boston? It does make sense that Denver wants to get rid of Andre Miller since they do quite well without him (Boykins is really something else plus Earl Watson has arrived) plus they are in big need of a solid SG. For Boston they want to get rid of Pierce due to his attitude of late but are they really not able to get more than Nene plus trade bait Andre Miller out of this? Could this be a part of a 3 way trade where a PG is going from Boston for draft picks?

How about the recent stories about Tony Allen, Boston´s SG for the future? Things sure look interesting in Boston and the fantas impact should be significant with Pierce probably becoming less valuable as well as the young PG duo of Boston losing value (but I guess I have already written them off regarding fantasy value in a previous post so, who cares).

"A Chicago man, shot during an Aug. 28 incident he said was instigated by Tony Allen, yesterday filed a civil suit against the second-year Celtics guard. Marktwain Johnson, shot in the left side and arm early in the morning of Aug. 28 at Chicago's White Palace Grill, claims the unidentified shooter – an alleged member of Allen's entourage – responded after Allen pointed to Johnson and told the man to ``(Expletive) him up.''

Nigel Odum, a companion of Johnson's who also filed a civil suit against Allen yesterday, claims he was then punched by Allen. Odum was treated for a fractured left eye socket.

(Tony) Allen was later seen running from the restaurant shortly after 3:30 a.m. According to a source close to Allen, the Celtics guard has been advised by his attorney, Michael Zaslavsky, not to cooperate with police. He has not been named as a suspect and is reportedly back in the Boston area. Chicago police, however, may be waiting to interview Allen during his return for an Oct. 15 preseason game against the Bulls. Gordon said his case is bolstered by the fact that the entire incident was caught on tape by a restaurant video camera.

Allen, who will make just over $1 million this season, has reportedly told friends that the incident did indeed stem from a trash-talking argument with Johnson two weeks before the shooting that may have grown out of hand.

Most of the people in the restaurant, including Johnson and Odum, were celebrating the new contract of Celtics rookie Will Bynum, a high school teammate of Allen.

Cleveland make an offer for Brazilian guard

Brazilian guard Marcelinho Machado has received an undisclosed offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to sources close to the situation. Machado was named Most Valuable Player of the recently completed Tournament of Americas, which Brazil won. He averaged 23.2 points in 10 games, and was named to an all-tournament team that included NBA players Leandro Barbosa (Phoenix) and Francisco Garcia (Sacramento, rookie).

Atlanta sign a Center Esteban Batista from Uruguay

Seems like they might have signed someone who will provide competition for the starting Center role with Pachulia. Esteban Batista from Uruguay averaged 18pts and 15rebs in the FIBA 2005 Americas Championship, he´s 22. Atlanta fought off the Warriors for his signature.

Breakout year article from nbadraft.net

Nice overview from nbadraft.net today here. I tend to agree to most of this analysis, not all. The breakout players are:
1. Stro Swift, fantasy managers have been waiting for a breakout year from Stro and this year will be it but I tend to agree with those that say that it will take time for him to be effective due to the fact that van gundy tends to put a lot of focus on new players being introduced gradually (learning the defensive sets etc.). Look for Swift to have a great second half of the season, perhaps allowing someone else to draft him and then trade for him when that person gives up on his slow start.

2. Luke Ridnour, true, no Daniels will give Ridnour more value. He is never going to be a great scorer and that means that Flip will share some of those minutes when scoring is needed but Luke is a solid PG who will give you assists (around 7 a game) along with 11 points and 1 3pts a game or so.

3. Caron Butler, no doubt he will enjoy being on a team that needs his scoring (no Kobe will be nice for his developments). He will be over 20PPG next season along with nice stats for rebs and ast and steals. A solid 4th/5th round pick if you can get him there. On yahoo he is a SF so that hurts him but not many SF´s will have better stats than him.

4. Shaun Livingston, agreed will have a solid breakout season even though Cassell is now around.

5. Raja Bell, a question mark and a gutsy predition to put him nr. 5 on this list. Will he start and get the minutes at Phoenix? Jim Jackson, Nash and Barbosa are the only other Guards (maybe James Jones will play some 2 as well) so yes Raja will probably have fantasy value but how much is hard to say at this time. Watch the preseason games plus the first nights of the season just in case he is available after the draft. Don´t get too excited and pick him in the first 8-9 rounds of your draft, he is not worth that IMHO.

6. Andre Iguodala, he had a nice season last year and is poised for another similar season. No breakout for him.

7. Zaza Pachulia, will get more minutes but is a rather uninteresting player from a fantasy perspective.

8. Sebastian Telfair, agreed and he should be higher on this list due to the fact that he is basically going to get a massive amount of minutes, he will hurt you in turnovers and shooting % but should get nice scoring, assists.

9. J. R. Smith, agreed will have his breakout season next year. Very inconsistent last season and will continue to be but should improve in all areas and should be gone in the 7th round or so of your fantasy draft.

10. Kwame Brown, no. He is a dud and will not improve in any major way at the Lakers. If he had problems with Jordan he is going to have problems with Kobe.

Other names Travis Outlaw (Portland), C - Chris Kaman (LA Clippers), (Sacramento), F - Nick Collison (Seattle), G - Juan Dixon (Portland), F - Mike Sweetney (New York), G - Tony Allen (Boston), F - Dwight Howard (Orlando)

Well how can Dwight Howard have a breakout year after last season?? Dixon, Outlaw I agree with, Sweetney, Collison and Allen I dont agree with. Kaman is going to be huge. The last 2 weeks of last season he posted these numbers, 17-9 pts/reb along with over 4 blocks pr. game. Wow.. this guy can be HUGE next season and should be close to top of this list from nbadraft.

Sophomore players stepping up.

How about these guys from last years draft?

1st Dwight Howard I expect him to get about 18-11-1.5 blocks to go with it. Great numbers, great player who is going to go around 3rd/4th round in most drafts.

2nd Emeka Okafor Rookie of the year, plays center position in most leagues. Predition 17-12-2.4 blocks. Worthy of a 3rd round pick, possibly even 2nd round since he is eligable for Center.

3rd Ben Gordon Sixth man of the year last year, sixth man again this year with more minutes but only very limited fantasy value. Stay away or pick late rounds, unless there is an injury to the other guards.

4th Shaun Livingston (LAC) Started slowly last year, had injuries but finished the season (the last 2 weeks) with something close to what he hopes to be his stats for next year, 11.5 pts 4.5 reb 7.7 ast 1.0 steal. It ranks him I guess about 15-20 among PG´s for the coming season, not bad at all and he has the upside. Negative point, doesn´t hit any 3´s so you need to look for them elsewhere.

5th Devin Harris Got an opportunity at the beginning of last season but then Terry took over. I don´t expect any changes next season, Harris doesn´t have value.

6th. Josh Childress Plenty of upside, negative fact that Joe Johnson is in town and he will not help the fantasy contribution of Josh. With about 14-8 along with a 1.5 steals and 3 ast he will be on someones roster in most fantasy leagues. I say go for him around 6/8th round if he is still there available depending on your needs.

7th Luol Deng, fighting with Nocioni for minutes. Not valuable for fantasy in the coming season with 10-5 as pts/rebs and little else to show for it.

8th Rafael Araujo Marshall and Murrey are both gone so I guess it´s possible that Araujo gets some more minutes with Bosh on the frontline. How much is a question but it won´t be enough to take him into fantasy land. There were some experts hoping for something from him but I guess those hopes are no longer existent, bold projection, Araujo is never going to be useful for fantasy team managers.

9th Andre Igoudala Here is a guy who made an impact last season and he will be picked in most big leagues next season. He is playing with Iverson so when Iverson gets injured Igoudala´s stats improve (along with the other PHI players). I predict 13-6 pts/reb with 4 ast, 1.5 steals to go with it, not bad for a player picked around 7-8th round.

10th Luke Jackson Injury destroyed his season last year so the next one is going to be like his rookie season. Don´t know what to expect but it won´t be enough to justify a draft pick.

13th Sebastian Telfair Will be starting PG next year for POR, will deliver good value with many turnovers for the young Blazers team. Will be similar to Livingston in value and stats (and draft round)

15th Al Jefferson A future all star in the making (most of these players are, ok) will be 15-10 with a block as well. Will see continued improvements for years to come. Will go around 7-8th rounds due to the fact being PF.

17th Josh Smith This guy is amazing, truly amazing. Blocks, rebounds and scores (and dunks) way beyond his age and position. Will be around 16-9 with over 2 blocks and a steal a game and will go early due to the excitement of owning this up and coming star. How early will people pick him? I say 5th round he is gone.

20th Jameer Nelson When given the minutes he showed that he is going to be around for a while. Does a lot, scores, 3´s, steals and is a good backup to have if taken around 8/9th round or so. Projection 15-4-5 pts/reb/ast with 1.5 3´s/steals for good measure. Doug Christie is gone and Dooling is in so in total it should have no big effect on minutes since Nelson played on the court with Francis last season.

Thats it I believe. Did I miss someone? The West/Allen cancel out eachothers value at Boston but I think I caught everyone else who might have some value next season. Give me feedback if you think I missed something.

Team analysis Houston

Tmac and Ming are 1 and 2 round picks in most fantasy leagues but the big problem with Houston is the lack of the third option. Bob Sura, Juwan Howard, David Wesleyand new additions Stromile Swift, Derek Anderson are not good enough to support the two superstars and they are fringe fantasy players at best. Not much else to say about the Houston team. Other than the superstars, stay away from picking players from the Houston Rockets.

Team analysis: Cleveland

Lebron is a fantasy superstar and he should continue to improve next season. He is young and will learn in the coming seasons that great personal stats aren´t always what ´s needed to win games, sometimes players need to give up the rock a little more, bring others more into the game to win and get into the playoffs. Next season is too early for this though and he will continue to get more of everything. Am I being a little harsh? 7 assists a game or so is not the hallmark of a selfish player you say and your right. How about this for a statline during the last 2 weeks of the playoffs. 34pts, 2.6 3´s 11 rebs 7.8 ast 2.5 steals and 0.8 block average. Now tell me how is it possible that this player isn´t picked nr. 1 in every fantasy draft in the world? I guess it will be due to the fact that he is listed as a SF. Despite that many fantasy managers will pick him nr. 1 overall and I am pretty sure they will not regret it.

Larry Hughes has joined after a superstar fantasy season of his own at Washington. He will suffer fantasy wise though as he won´t get the shots he got used to last season. Donyell Marshall has also joined but has limited or no fantasy value at Cleveland. Illgauskas is a fantasy star, top 5 center and he will continue to deliver in points, rebs and blocks.

Who is going to play the point this year with Mcinnis gone? Lebron again or will Damon Jones sign or will they trade Gooden for a PG. We will watch and see what happens. Maybe they sign Payton :)

Team analysis Chicago

What a surprising season last year. Team of rookies making it into the playoffs with 47 wins and home court advantage. Not much activity this summer except resigning Duhon and Chandler, the team is together and should be even stronger. Fantasy wise you have 3 good guards who give you benefits, Duhon, Gordon and Hinrich but only Hinrich who really gets the minutes to contribute significantly. Chandler has just signed a contract and I am going to say he is going to get more minutes and more value next season. That said, he is a rebound and block specialist with limited value on offense. Then again with Gordon on your team, you have a player who can score well over 20ppg if given the minutes and is actually ranked 11th in point per 48 minutes with close to 30. Will he get the minutes? No, I don´t think so since I think it´s going to much of the same in the coming season as the last one. Deng and Nocioni split the minutes at the 3 and as long as they are both healthy they will reduce each others fantasy value down to a very late round pick.

Team analysis Charlotte

Charlotte did a fairly good job last season with 18 wins and Okafor as rookie of the year. No major roster changes, good rookies are coming into the picture but they won´t contribute to your fantasy roster next season unless some injuries occur to the starting 5 of Knight, Bogans, Wallace, Okafor and Brezec. Felton will get good minutes , maybe up to 20 a game but May will get less. Okafor is going to be huge next season, no doubt about that and he could register something close to what he did in December where he got 18pts-13reb which would rank him about 3-4 among fantasy centers. His back was not a problem last season as many feared and I am sure that he is stronger physically after having had one full season at NBA level. Other fantasy players on this team are Wallace and Knight but neither of those should be taken high since Knight ´s value is decreased due to Felton and Wallace blocks and steals better than average but otherwise is just one of so many GF´s out´s there.

Team analysis Boston

It´s the Rick Kamla review again. Highlights are his Jefferson projection of 13.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks next season, doable for sure. Steady decline of Pierce with the bold projection that he might be traded to Denver for Nene plus other players. Fantasy players on this Boston team are Pierce, Jefferson and Lafrentz. Walker is gone and Payton is not returning, the team is getting a lot younger and inexperienced so we should see the young players getting the minutes they need to develop but not enough to contribute to your fantasy team. Sleeper of the year on the Boston team is Jefferson for sure but most fantasy team owners won´t be surprised by that.

TEAM analysis Atlanta

I wish I had the time (and I was paid the money) to do a detailed analysis of every team in the league from a fantasy perspective but I don´t so I have decided to review other people´s analysis and add my own opinion on it. I´ll start with the reviews from Fanball, Rick Kamla is a great resource so I will follow this one up with a review of his analysis.

Atlanta, worst record last year in full rebuilding mode have added Joe Johnson to their roster along with some solid draft picks and zaza pachulia as a starting center. 4 players on this team have fantasy value if JJ plays the 1, Josh and Josh in 2-3 and Harrington the 4 position. Hopefully Yahoo will give him that F position that he lacked last year (I should know since I traded for him). Overall great info from Rick, like the info about defense first minded head coach, for me that is not the greatest strength of this group of players he is given, which can be a good thing I guess for their development but at the same time will limit their enjoyment and interest in staying in Atlanta for a long time together (the Josh/Josh pair especially).

Negative´s from his analysis, none really. He is spot on about Williams not contributing much this first year, something that was also evident from his poor play during the summerleague. He is very coachable and will be great in 2-3 years time but next year is not a year you want him on your fantasy roster.