2/23/06
The Cavs acquired Ronald Murray from Sonics for G Mike Wilkes.  Murray, an offensive minded player has a good chance to earn around 25 mpg from the Cavs (until Larry Hughes returns) and is the type to be able to put up some numbers in such a short time.  There is a remote chance he will get more than 25 mpg but don't count on it.  He will likely most significantly cut into the playing time of Sasha Pavlovic would have been getting nearly 30 mpg over his last ten games.

A number of players were involved in a in nine-player trade between multiple teams.   All of the players involved were complimentary players on their team.  Reggie Evans was traded from Seattle to Denver.  In Seattle he did not have a role but in Denver will have an opportunity to give the Nuggets some much needed rebounding support.  Evans has been averaging 17 rebounds per 48 minutes this season.  Denver's front court includes Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby who frequently miss games.

2/22/06
Steve Francis was traded for Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza.  Francis will likely take a big bite of the Jamal Crawford's and Quentin Richardson's playing time.  Ariza had only played in two of the Knicks last ten games.  He will certainly get more playing time in Orlando and may be worth grabbing in deeper leagues.  Francis had commanded 37 mpg in his last 10 games with Orlando.  Someone (perhaps also Keyon Dooling) will benefit from his departure. 

With Robert Swift out (with no return date set) with a broken nose, Chris Wilcox could see his transition into the Sonics rotation accelerated.  Tonight he had 16 pts, 7 reb, and 1 bl in 28 minutes. 

Rookie Marvin Williams had his fourth straight game in double figures scoring tonight with 17 pts, 5 reb, and 2 st.  Recall he was the second overall pick in the 2005 draft and has the potential to emerge on a bad team without much to do but play their young talent.  Box Score

Over his last four games Greg Buckner has averaged 34 min for the Nuggets and has been a valuable source of steals averaging 3.75.  Yesterday he had 19 pts, 7 reb, 2 st, and 3 st.  However in yesterday's game he bumped knee's with Marcus Camby and remarkably it was Buckner, not Camby, who left the game hurt.  Buckner is listed as questionable for his next game on Friday.

In the two games before the all star break Adonal Foyle averaged 38 minutes and 4 blocks but the return of Andris Biedrins and Troy Murphy has taken away his opportunity to play.  He got only 14 minutes yesterday.  Biedrins returned after missing his last two games to have 12 pts, 8 reb, and 2 stl in 26 minutes.  He is an intriguing prospect for the stretch run who is making a remarkable 69% of his shots from the field.

Bruce Bowen has hit 15 three pointers over his past 7 games including 5 yesterday.  For the season he is making 1.4 treys per game on 47% shooting. 

Utah is currently two games out of the last playoff spot in the West.  While they are in contention, Jerry Sloan will likely give preference to veterans such as Milt Palacio in the backcourt over rookie Deron Williams.  Over his last five games Palacio is averaging 34 min, 13 pts, 4.6 ast, and 1.2 stls.  He does not have three point skills.

A. Johnson has been playing well for the Pacers as of late scoring over 19 in three of his last four games and also contributing assists and threes.  J. Tinsley remains out with a sore elbow without a targeted return date.

2/15/06
The Pistons traded Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo for Kelvin Cato and a first round pick.  Depending on the health of Nelson and the future of Steve Francis, Arroyo could end up with some opportunities in Orlando.  But the intriguing prospect here would be Milicic who most certainly will be given a shot to show what he can do in Orlando. Story

Regarding the Radmanovic for Chris Wilcox trade - I see an opportunity for Wilcox to get more playing time as in Los Angeles he was stuck behind Brand and Kaman. 

2/14/06
Perhaps hidden in the Portland's sloppy Box Score from yesterday (9 players with 17 minutes or more) was the fact that Darius Miles returned.  Before yesterday in CBS Sportline leagues he was available in around 40% of the leagues.  He returned earlier than anticipated due to an injury to Theo Ratliff. Miles was productive in 23 minutes, scoring 14 points with 9 rebounds.

Charlie Villaneuva has benefited from the departure of Jalen Rose as a starter averaging 15.6 pts, 5.6 reb, 1 bl, and 1.2 treys over his last five games.  He has shown the ability to make contributions across the stat sheet.

Anthony Carter is the latest to receive favor in the Timberwolves backcourt stopping some of the momentum achieved by Marcus Banks.  Carter played 27 minutes yesterday with 10 pts and 6 assists.  I do not expect Carter to be a consistent player though.

Over his last five games, Kirk Snyder's playing time is 10 minutes above his season average.  In addition to his fantasy strength of scoring he has shown some abilities in the assist category having averaged 4.4 apg over his last five games (included one 12 assist game that you should not expect to see again).

The arrival of Jalen Rose has squashed Qyntel Woods' previously budding fantasy value.  The eventual return of Marbury will likely do more damage.

2/7/06
Trenton Hassell has been averaging over 30 mpg this season on the strength of his defensive skills.  He has been a player though whose value on the court does not translate to the stat sheet - that was until the fall of Marko Jaric.  Getting point guard minutes in place of Jaric recently has been Anthony Carter and Marcus Banks.  Both are point guards who tend to shoot first.  That has presented an opportunity for Hassell to be more of a playmaker in addition to playing defense.  In his last three games he has averaged 6.7 assists and over his last five games he has also scored 11.8 ppg.  These are improvements over his season averages of 9.5 ppg and 2.5 apg despite getting similar playing time.  Note Hassell's 10 assists yesterday came in a victory over the Suns.

The four players the Timberwolves acquired from the Celtics combined to score 44 yesterday led by Marcus Banks who continued his emergence on his new team with 19 points and 2 steals off the bench.

Andris Biedrins notably had 6 blocks yesterday and over his last five games he has averaged 23 minutes which is double his season average.  In these five games he has averaged 7 pts, 6.6 reb, and 2 blocks.  He is a consideration in deep league for teams that need a power forward and/or blocks.  In some leagues he may also qualify as a center.

2/5/06
In his first game with New York, Jalen Rose played 41 minutes at SF and had 16 pts and 11 assists.  Note that Stephon Marbury did not play in this game.  This first game would indicate that the Knicks potentially plan on giving him a bigger role than I would have thought possible considering the current make-up of their roster.  A victim of Rose arriving (at least in the first game), was Qyntel Woods who was taken out of the starting lineup and did not play the same number of minutes as he had been recently.  Given the history of the volatility in the New York lineup, there is no certainty that Rose will continue to see these kind of minutes.  Also, how the Knicks adjust with Marbury returning should certainly drop Rose's minutes and assists.  Marbury is considered day-to-day and may be out until the all-star break.  Box Score

2/3/06
The Knicks traded Antonio Davis to Raptors for Jalen Rose and a first round pick.  Before the trade Rose had started seven games for the Raptors.  Over his last five games he had averaged 34 mpg which was 7 minutes more than his season average.  Look for Rose's playing time to take a hit in NY.  Considering he has become a one dimensional player, it is likely he will be dropped in many fantasy leagues as a result of this trade.  Rose will contribute to the likes of Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford having sporadic value. 

Qyntel Woods continues to look as a prospect as he has been starting in the NY front court, an area that NY has few viable options.  Owners of Channing Frye should hope Larry Brown decids to give him sustained minutes as he is really the best young player on their roster.

Rose had been starting at SF for the Raptors.  Antonio Davis will likely play center or backup Chris Bosh.  The person who assumes Rose's minutes may have some fantasy upside.  Owner's of Charlie Villanueva can hope that he is the one that gets the extra playing time.  As of late he has been productive.  But it may be a platoon led by fellow rookie Joey Graham. 

2/2/06
I had dismissed Marcus Banks as not having much potential despite his recent trade to the Timberwolves but he has brought some attention to himself by a nice performance in his first game where he had 20 pts and 6 ast in only 20 min (against his former team) and then followed it up with 30 minutes of playing time in his second game.  In that second game the starter Marko Jaric appeared (from the box score) to have had some foul problems.  Banks plays next on Friday against the Trail Blazers.  It could be that his run fizzles out or he could build on what he has initiated so far.  He also poses a potential threat to those who own Marko Jaric.

Jeff Foster got his first start yesterday since December 30^th.  He finished with 13 rebounds which represented a season high.  With Jermaine O'Neal out a couple months, that is what he has the potential to contribute to fantasy teams - rebounds - and on some nights points if he gets lucky.  Those who had O'Neal on their team might want to grab Foster immediately and hope to salvage some of O'Neal's lost rebounding value.  Others might want to wait and see how he does in future games.

Over his last six games as a starter Robert Swift has averaged 10 pts, 9 reb, and 1.33 bpg.

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