Now that Thanksgiving is almost upon us, I thought it might be a good idea to look back at the first month of the NBA season and give thanks to those folks who have been helpful to fantasy owners. Not just the studs, but also perhaps some role players and maybe even some guys who don’t even get on the court. So without further ado, let’s give our thanks …

… to Tim Duncan, for hitting his free throws. Listen, we don’t expect to see Timmy stay at his current levels, but nonetheless you’ve got to enjoy it while you can. As we’ve discussed, Duncan has been anything but consistent with his free throws from year to year, so there’s a chance he could set a career-high this year, but even if he doesn’t, this hot start means that at the very least he shouldn’t be the huge liability he has been in the past.

… to Mike Fratello, head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, for pulling the Grizz out of the fantasy abyss. As DM talked about over the weekend, there are some coaches who are just incredibly frustrating to fantasy owners, who never give enough minutes to good players, or are inconsistent with their lineup from night to night. Nowhere was this more prevalent than in Memphis, where notorious fantasy killer Hubie Brown was loathe to give even 35 minutes to his clearly-best player, Pau Gasol. Not anymore. Now, Gasol is living up to his potential, as are other Grizzlies (most notably Eddie Jones).

… to Baron Davis, for two reasons. One, for actually staying healthy for almost a whole month. Sure he missed a game early in the year, but he’s come back (not something he usually does), which is cause for celebration right there. Two, for being not quite as good as when he was in New Orleans. The scoring and threes are down, and his FG% is absolutely horrendous. What this means for fantasy owners is next year, when you’re sitting at the end of the second round of your draft, or even the beginning of the third, and Davis is sitting there staring you in the face, you can safely pass him over.

… to Raja Bell, James Jones, Kurt Thomas, and all the other non-Matrix and non-Steve Nash Phoenix Suns, for actually hitting all those open jumpers that Nash sets up for them. When the Suns traded away Quentin Richardson, I wasn’t the least bit worried about Nash’s value. Losing Joe Johnson, not a huge deal. But losing Amare Stoudamire? Different story. I don’t have numbers on the percentage of Nash’s assists that went to Stoudamire, but I’d bet it was a whole lot. Fortunately, all of the other guys on the Suns are picking up the slack, at least from the perspective of allowing Nash to maintain his numbers.

… to Isiah Thomas, for not being afraid to admit a mistake – or at least for allowing Larry Brown to show him what a mistake he made with Jerome James. What looked like a fantasy disaster heading into the season, with James, Eddy Curry, and Channing Frye all jockeying for position, has actually worked out quite nicely – and unexpectedly - with Frye perhaps having the most value of all three. Most GM’s would have trouble allowing their coach to essentially bench a major FA acquisition before the preseason, but that’s exactly what seems to have happened. James has been even less than a non-factor in New York, and in fantasy leagues.

Thanks!