FREE AGENT AND TRADE ANALYSIS 8/21/00   The Cleveland Cavaliers signed free agent point guard Bimbo Coles. Seems like a minor transaction on the surface but could have some fairly significant fantasy ramifications. First of all, who will now compete for playing time with Jason Terry in Atlanta? Last season Coles prevented Terry from having fantasy value much of the time but now the Hawks have not only lost Cole but have been unsuccessful in getting another point guard such as a Howard Eisley. All of this suggests Terry will have much more playing time and fantasy value next season. In Cleveland, the signing of Bimbo Coles, a career back up point guard, suggests that Brevin Knight will either miss some time because of his knee surgery or may even possibly get traded. This could clear the way for Andre Miller to be the full time point guard in Cleveland increasing his fantasy value. Golden State lost Donyell Marshall and Jason Caffey but acquired Danny Fortson in a trade. Fortson should be the starting power forward for the Warriors. Last season Fortson was injured and then did not get much playing time for the Celtics. Next season he should see a substantial increase in fantasy value with Golden State as he gobbles up rebounds for them. The Dallas Mavericks acquired Howard Eisley in a trade. Last year Steve Nash became productive for the Mavericks at point guard at the end of the season as they went through a stretch of winning games. Nash was poised to finally break through with some fantasy value this season. Eisley left Utah because he wanted more playing time. Apparently he feels he can get that in Dallas. This could mean that Nash is the fantasy loser in this deal. I don't see Eisley as the fantasy winner since he has shown to not be productive on a per minute basis and Nash should provide enough competition such that he does not get significant playing time. For other fantasy sleepers order the , HoopsKlyce Preseason Player Rating Report now available. Previous Article Next Article Copyright © Hoops Klyce 2000 - All Rights Reserved Website Designed by Lelnet Failed to execute script '../cgi-local/ax.cgi': Win32 Error Code = 2