Saturday, November 28, 2009

Fantasy Basketball Week 5 News and Notes

Just as it looked as if Allen Iverson had launched his last ill-advised three-point shot, rumors begun to circulate that A.I. may spurn retirement for a return to Philly.


The Iverson retirement/unretirement news comes on the heels of the surgery that repaired the fractured jaw of starting Sixer point guard Lou Williams. A final curtain call may be in the cards for AI after all, as the Sixers suddenly are faced with life without Williams. It will be about two months that Williams will be sidelined, forcing Philly to turn to rookie Jrue Holiday as the stopgap. While Holidaycertainly has the potential to fill-in admirably for the injured Williams, the return of AI is definitely intriguing. It's too soon to tell how this will all unfold from a fantasy perspective, but both Holiday and Iverson are worth a roster spot if you have one available. AI was dropped in my league last week after word spread that he would hang 'em up. As of 3:41PM Eastern time on Saturday, he has not yet been claimed.

This week saw the return of Mike Dunleavy to the 6-8 Pacers, around the time that a Danny Granger sprained MCL scare surfaced. Luckily for Granger owners (myself included), the sprain kept him out of the lineup just one night. This injury to the offensive leader of the Pacers should be closely monitored however, as Granger could aggravate the injury and end up on the shelf for awhile. I'm not looking to move Danny just yet, but I remain concerned. As for Dunleavy, he'll carry decent value as long as Granger is healthy, and significantly more if Danny goes down for any length of time.

In Cleveland, Lebron James continues to fill up the stat sheet, as Shaquille O'Neal returned to the court after missing six straight games due to a bum shoulder. LBJ has been brilliant thus far, as expected, posting 29.44 points per game, 7.75 assists per game, and 6.81 rebounds per game. While Shaq was on the mend, J.J. Hickson did an outstanding job picking up the slack, and would be a great reserve for Shaquille owners that carry a deep bench.

On the West Coast, as Clippers fans continue to wait for the debut of top pick Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby fantasy owners could care less about the rookie power forward. Both Kaman and Camby are enjoying strong fantasy seasons in the absence of Griffin. The young Kaman is averaging over 20 points per game, to go with almost 9 rebounds and a block and a half per contest. The veteran Camby is predictably not doing much scoring, but is logging 30+ minutes, on the way to almost ten boards, three assists, two blocks, and over a steal per game.

Kaman's production won't suffer much when
Griffin joins the lineup, aside from perhaps his scoring. Camby on the other hand, is undoubtedly going to surrender a bunch of minutes to the rookie, leading to a drop-off in production across the board. The oft-injured Camby has been a beast on the boards so far this season, and is relatively healthy. There's only one thing to do with Marcus if you own him.....trade him NOW!!!

Chris Paul remains sidelined, with no timetable for a return, so rookie Darren Collison has become a viable point guard, garnering enough floor time to consider grabbing off the wire. If CP3 experiences a setback, those that gambled on Collison could be rewarded handsomely. Paul's absence from the Hornets lineup has also seemed to open things up for once prolific scorer Peja Stojakovic. The Croatian veteran may be worthy of a flier if you are in need of points or three's.

See you next week.


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