Carlos Boozer will be a game time decision Monday Feb. 23. he said that his knee feels the best it has since he injured it Nov. 19 and was forced to miss roughly three months due to the injury. He had surgery to remove loose cartilage in his knee on Jan. 9 while resting from the original injury that was a strained tendon in his lower quadriceps.


Don’t expect too much from him as the Jazz will most likely limit his minutes when he comes back. With Paul Millsap playing great and Andrei Kirilenko back from injury, there is no reason to rush Boozer back into the lineup. Especially since the Suns lost Amar’e Stoudemire for the rest of the season with a detatched retna that required surgery. That will take some of the pressure off.

With the trade of Brad Miller and John Salmons to the Chicago Bulls, the Kings have some players that will be in line to get some serious playing time. Francisco Garcia jumps out when thinking of someone who might benefit from this trade. Over the last three games Garcia has averaged just under 15.7 ppg, just 4.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.7 spg, 2 3ptm and 2 bpg. He has shown that he can run the point, play the 2 guard or even the 3. he is a jack of all trades and with consistent playing time down the stretch he should produce some very nice numbers.


Drew Gooden when healthy is a nice source of rebounds and a decent source of scoring. he doesn’t offer much more but he is a threat for a double-double almost every night.


Andres Nocioni will see playing time at the PF position and will be used to spread out the defense. He is having a terrible year but maybe a change of scenery can inject some life into him. Truthfully, he really isn’t worth owning in very many leagues.


Jason Thompson is a player that will get extended looks for the remainder of the season. The Kings will want to see what he really can do since Gooden will be gone next year to free agency. Thompson could be in line to raise his scoring and rebounding along with his blocks if he does in fact receive an increase in minutes down the stretch.


Spencer Hawes should receive a boost in minutes also. That would be nice for his owners because he is already a decent source of blocks and those will only go up with more playing time. All of this depends on how much PT Gooden sees. He is in a contract year and will demand to play but the Kings need to see what their younf big men are capable of. So, I think they will use the rest of the season as a tryout for next year.

Let’s take a look at some of the players that will have a serious chance at improving in the second half of the season. This is going to be a list compiled of players that have been underachieving, injured or will be starting or seeing more minutes in the second half. i’m not going to talk about players that had great first halves and will continue to do so because we already know that Kobe and LeBron are studs and they will continue to be studs.

Ramon Sessions- If you haven’t noticed by now, I am a huge Ramon Sessions fan. With Luke Rinour out for a few more weeks with a broken thumb, Sessions is in prime position to steal the starting PG role away from Ridnour. Even if Ridnour returns as the starting PG, Sessions will have a spot at SG waiting for him and Charlie Bell will go back to the bench. Sessions has not disappointed so far and it doesn’t look like he will anytime soon either. As a starter he is averaging 18.3 ppg, 4 rpg, 7.8 apg and 1.9 spg. He is a fantasy savior in the making. Everyone thought that he would be doing this from the start of the season but Ridnour showed that he could still play and Sessions didn’t really impress anyone. Not the case anymore. Sessions is a solid option in any format as a PG or as a SG but he does seem to play better as the floor general. Read the rest of this entry »

When will Gilbert Arenas return to the basketball court? That is the question that a lot of people are asking. Well, right now there is no answer to that question. No timetable has been set as to when he might return. Now, let’s say that he does return this season. What can we expect to get out of him from a fantasy standpoint? To be brutally honest, nothing.

If he actually decides to play at all this season, it will be in the manner that Elton Brand did last year. It will only be for a week or two and that means he is worthless when it comes to fantasy leagues. There really isn’t any reason for him to come back at all this year, fantasy or reality. Why take a chance at aggravating the injury just to play a few games for a team that is one of the worst in the league? Odds are he will shut things down for the rest of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t be surprised if you see a player on your fantasy team that has an injury that he would usually play through, sitting the bench this week heading into the All-Star break. Coaches of NBA teams will be more likely to rest nagging injuries this week due to the extra rest from the All-Star break. Players like Manu Ginobili, Chris Paul, Rudy Gay and Chris Bosh will most likely be sitting out this week. This will give these superstars almost an entire week to recover from tiny sprains and strains.


It sucks for your fantasy team but it makes total sense for the real teams. Take a look at your roster and see who has been slowed by a sore ankle or a tender knee. If they are a big time player, there is a good chance that they won’t dress for games or might see a drop in minutes to be on the safe side. Or if they are a player that is the future of the team and they don’t want to take any chances, they will probably sit also. Plan accordingly when setting your rosters this week.

With news coming out of Milwaukee that Luke Ridnour has suffered a broken thumb during Thursday’s practice, Ramon Sessions should be close to being universally owned within the next few days. Ridnour has played well for the most part but has recently been taking a downturn statistically. With Michael Redd out for the season with a knee injury, Sessions stepped into the starting lineup and succeeded.

Sessions has the potential to score 15+ points, 8+ assists, 3+ rebounds and get 2+ steals on any given night. He has shown that with consistent minutes he is a very stable option at the PG or SG positions. I would pick him up immediately Read the rest of this entry »

It is looking more and more like the Phoenix Suns might be considering star PF Amar’e Stoudemire. Stoudemire has shown that he is not happy with his lack of involvement in the offense. After their last game against the Warriors, he had this to say about the lack of pick and roll plays setup just for him. “It is harder,” Stoudemire said. “When you’re in the flow, everything flows. When you’re not, sometimes it’s hard to get involved.”


With an option in his contract allowing him to opt out for the 2010 free-agency pool, he will most likely take advantage of the teams that don’t get LeBron James, Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh. The Knicks would be the perfect destination for Stoudemire and it makes sense for both sides. The Knicks could offer a package built around David Lee to land Stoudemire. That will give them value in return for Lee that won’t spill over into the “Summer of LeBron” in ‘10. Stoudemire would be reunited with D’Antoni and the offensive attention that he so desires. The Suns would be able to sign Lee at a fraction of what Stoudemire makes and would probably get some decent draft picks out of the deal. There is no reason for a deal like this to not happen.


These next few games leading up to the All-Star break will determine a lot for the Suns on whether or not they will actually break up their team even more. They have a 3 game road trip against Detroit, Philly and Cleveland before they head into the break and those 3 games will tell us whether the Suns will be active or not. If Stoudemire ends up in New York, you can bet his fantasy value will go through roof. If you own Stoudemire keep your fingers crossed and if you don’t own him, try to get him on your team because if is traded to NY he will be unstoppable once again.

All-Star PG Jameer Nelson left Monday’s game in the 3rd quarter after dislocating his right shoulder. He will have a MRI performed today to see just how bad the damage is. “I’m (in) some pain in the front (of his right shoulder),” Nelson said. “I mean, I’m in a sling right now and I’m not moving, but it’s not throbbing. I want to just focus on the MRI results tomorrow. This is the first time that I have injured this.”


This is not good news for his owners who have been enjoying a breakout season from Nelson. Most of you probably picked him up off of waivers so it won’t hurt quite as bad if he is lost for an extended period of time. I would wait until after the MRI results come in before I dropped him but if you are looking for someone to add to replace him, look no further than Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies.


Conley has been handed the starting job in Memphis now with Kyle Lowry injuring his ankle. Memphis Head Coach Lionel Hollins has committed to an uptempo style of game and this will benefit Conley in a big way. He will hurt you in points and FG% with his limited jumper but the upside for assists and steals is worth it. See if he is available in your league because if bad news is to follow Nelson’s MRI, you aren’t going to want to wait long on picking up Conley.