THE NEW RULES AND LATE AUGUST TRANSACTIONS August 28, 1999 The NBA is considering making changes in the rules and how the game is called (enforcing existing rules) which will promote higher scoring games. The basic idea behind these rules is to lessen the contact which exists in the NBA game so that the game moves a little faster. The anticipated change in the way the game is played should have an impact on the fantasy values of players. The elimination of hand checking, holding, and forearms to the back at the half-court line should elevate the fantasy value of the quicker players, in particular point guards. Players such as Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Jason Williams, and Daryl Armstrong should benefit from these rules. A quick player who also shoots well from the free line should get a double benefit since increased trips to the line should result, at least initially while players adjust. Some of the quick rookies such as Baron Davis and Jason Terry should have an easier time adjusting to the NBA under these new rules. Players who are foul prone or back players down to the basket will be less effective under the new rules. A proposed change is a five second rule which gives a player five seconds to get rid of the ball once they are below the foul line. This will affect players like Charles Barkley and Mark Jackson. Some of the foul prone players who do no adjust to how the game is called will be spending more time on the bench. This might affect players such as Danny Fortson, Bryant Reeves, Maurice Taylor, Shawn Kemp, and Juwan Howard. The closer calls may make the steal a more valuable fantasy statistic since there may be fewer steals as players fear playing aggressive defense. This should elevate the value of the players who are able to steal the ball without getting into foul trouble. Player who should benefit from this aspect are Eddie Jones, Jason Kidd, Doug Christie, and Gary Payton. The HoopsKlyce Player Rating report will consider the impact of these rules on the fantasy value of players. On to the transactions. Milwaukee signed J.R. Reid to a 3 year, $6.6 million contract. Reid will compete with Danny Manning and Robert Traylor for playing time. I don't anticipate Reid will get the 30+ minutes he needs do have fantasy value. Seattle signed Emanual Davis to a 2 year contract. Davis played 45 games for the Rockets in the 97-98 season before going overseas for a year. He should have almost no fantasy value as a reserve in Seattle next season. Seattle signed Fred Vinson to a 1 year, minimum contract. Vinson had been performing well for the Sonics in their summer league. He should not be drafted to a fantasy league but he might be worth looking for in the box scores to see if he can compete at the NBA level. The Minnesota Timberwolves have re-signed free-agent point guard Terrell Brandon to a long-term deal. Terrell should have good fantasy value in Minnesota but the impact of this deal is to relegate rookie William Avery to a backup role with little fantasy potential his first season. Had Brandon gone elsewhere Avery might have had sleeper potential. An arbitrator in England has ruled that Alek Radojevic, taken 12th overall in the NBA draft by Toronto, no longer has ties to a team in Yugoslavia and is free to join the Raptors. Radojevic is a 7-foot-3 center who played at Barton County Community College last season. He averaged 15.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots in 38 games with the junior college team. He might be worth considering as a fantasy free agent pickup if he gets some playing time. With Kevin Willis continuing to miss games with injuries as he has in the past, Radojevic should have some opportunities. The Cleveland Cavaliers kept forward Cedric Henderson on the team, signing him to three-year deal. Henderson averaged 9.7 points and 4 rebounds last season. Henderson will compete with recently signed Lamond Murray for playing time at the small forward position. I expect Murray to win this battle and leave Henderson with little fantasy value. The Golden State Warriors re-signed center Erick Dampier to a multiyear contract. Last season, Dampier averaged 11.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. I have been trying to find details of the contract to see if it has performance incentives. If so, that should help his fantasy potential. Dampier has the skills to be a productive fantasy player although he turned in a sub par performance last year in a contract year. Center Will Perdue signed a contract with the Bulls rather than return to San Antonio. Last year Perdue played limited minutes as a backup but he should get substantial playing time in Chicago, most likely as the starter. His greatest fantasy asset is rebounding although he has shot blocking skills that weren't too apparent last season as Duncan and Robinson took care of those chores for the Spurs. The addition of Perdue along with the drafting of Elton Brand probably puts an end to the chances of Dickey Simpkens being a playable fantasy player as a Bull next season. The San Antonio Spurs filled the vacancy left on the bench by Will Perdue leaving, signing free-agent forward Samaki Walker. Walker is a former lottery pick with rebounding and scoring potential who has missed substantial portions of his first three NBA seasons with injuries. I would recommend avoiding him because of his prolific injury history. With the departure of Perdue and the probable absence of Sean Elliot, it will interesting to see it either Walker or Malik Rose can become viable fantasy players. Vancouver sent Steve Francis and Tony Massenburg to Houston for forwards Othella Harrington and Antoine Carr and guards Michael Dickerson and Brent Price. Orlando sent Don McLean and a future first-round draft pick to Houston and got from the Grizzlies Michael Smith, Lee Mayberry, Rodrick Rhodes and Makhtar Ndiaye. The Rockets also owe the Grizzlies one first-round draft pick over the next three years. Francis should start at point guard in Houston. I don't think this trade will affect Francis's fantasy value since the Rockets have this spot available for him. Tony Massenburg will have the opportunity to have fantasy value when Charles Barkley or Olajuwan go down with injuries although he will compete with Don McLean also. In Vancouver, Harrington and Dickerson should be full time starters. This should translate into a substantial jump in fantasy value for Harrington who will be able to score, rebound, and block some shots. Orlando once again brought on a boatload of worthless to mediocre players. They have now brought in over a dozen players in trades to their team in addition to those remaining from last year. What a mess. Vancouver signed free agent forward Dennis Scott. He will probably get limited playing time as a backup to Abdur-Rahim. Veteran center Olden Polynice agreed to a deal with the Utah Jazz. Until this signing it appeared as if Greg Ostertag would be the only center in Utah but this signing could have them both sharing time leaving each of the centers with little fantasy value. I will follow this situation in training camp. 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