We all have players we like and players we don’t like. We’ve joked here in the past about the Eddie Griffin Memorial Never Draft List (now, sadly, aptly named), and while the following players weren’t necessarily on that list for this year, they were certainly players I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick up. But sometimes a new season means a new player, and the following guys are doing their best in the very early goings to change my opinion of them.

Mike Dunleavy
What the hell is going on in Indiana? A 3-0 start with two games of at least 119 points? It might be too good to last, but you can’t ignore the fact that Mike Dunleavy has looked fantastic over the first week of the season. You can pick your reason – no more weight of expectation from being a high draft pick with the Warriors, a friendly system put in place by Jim O’Brien, no other go-to scorers on the team – but Dunleavy’s getting it done in a variety of ways. He’s attempted exactly 17 shots in each of the first three contests and has made it to the line 17 times. He’s not just settling for long jumpers, but is using his quickness to take defenders to the basket. He’s also grabbed 9 boards per game and always throws in a few assists. For the first time in his career Dunleavy has a defined role and he seems to be in his comfort zone. This is one late-round flyer that could very well end up providing solid mid-round value.

Brendan Haywood
It’s been an ugly start to the season here in Washington. It’s been so bad that there’s really no debate that Brendan Haywood has been the best player for the Wizards. Nevermind the fact that it’s not one of the Formerly Big Three, but Haywood has been a perpetual tease throughout his whole career. Here’s what you could count on him for: fighting with Eddie Jordan, fighting with Etan Thomas, taking 9-10 seconds to make a post move after catching the ball, missing free throws, calling him Brenda, making “when will Brendan regain full use of his hands?” jokes, etc. But with Etan out for this season with a heart ailment, Haywood finally has the center position to himself. Jordan still doesn’t completely trust him, as he’s yet to top 32 minutes even though he’s clearly the team’s top offensive and rebounding weapon. But that’s been enough time to put up some eye-popping numbers, particularly on the offensive glass. Haywood has grabbed 41 boards through three games with a whopping 25 of them on the offensive end. Lord knows he’s had plenty of opportunities as Gilbert, Caron and Antawn have laid the foundations for many a house with their bricks so far, but Haywood’s rebounding strength is his long arms, not positioning, which is why he’s more effective on the offensive glass. You can’t argue with a line of 10 and 13.7 with 3 blocks, and with the Wizards roster unlikely to change at all, it’s really not out of the question that Haywood can maintain something around 10/10 with 1.8 blocks.

Hedo Turkoglu
The common thinking was that the Rashard Lewis signing would render Turkoglu obsolete for fantasy purposes. But when Tony Battie went down with a season-ending injury, the Magic decided to go with a starting frontcourt of smooth-shooting big men in Lewis and Turkoglu and it seems to be working out for everyone involved. Lewis is fitting right in and Turkoglu looks more comfortable than he’s ever looked in the NBA. I was there in person to see him dismantle the Wizards – a team he’s owned over the past few seasons, and yes, that’s very depressing – and this wasn’t just a case of him hitting open jumpers. When rookie Dominic McGuire was matched up on him, Turkoglu abused him by taking him to the basket off the dribble. He was finding the open man instead of forcing bad shots and ended up with 8 assists. And his attempts from long range were all wide open – again, thank you Wizards – but he’s connected on 53% so far and has looked good doing it. Stan Van Gundy is using a short bench, as neither J.J. Redick or Trevor Ariza seem any real threat to steal playing time from Turkoglu in the near future.

Tracy McGrady
If I can just vent for a second, here’s why the #11 pick in the draft was a terrible place to be this year. The first 10 picks go as planned – LeBron, Garnett, Marion, Kobe, Dirk, Nash, Arenas, Amare, Yao, Pau. So there I am at 11 without any real sure thing. I went with Chris Paul, who I love this year, so not that bad. It got bad at the third round, though. After Deron Williams and Baron Davis start off the round, there are 9 picks until it gets to me. I spot 8 players that I’d love to grab: Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Michael Redd, Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups, Boozer, T-Mac, Gerald Wallace. And, of course, those are the 8 to get drafted, leaving me to choose from the likes of Caron Butler, Emeka Okafor, Kevin Martin, Jason Richardson, Kirk Hinrich, etc. A clear step down. My point – it’s not really even a point – is that while I’ve been very down on McGrady the past few years, I still would have loved to have grabbed him at the end of the third round. Games like Saturday remind me why I was down on him in the first place – 8-for-23 outings really do so much damage – but those first two games saw him being aggressive, getting to the line and asserting himself as a dominant offensive force. It is worth noting that he has just a single steal and no blocks, but if he keeps playing 38-40 minutes per night he’ll contribute enough in those categories.