OFFSEASON TRANSACTIONS Jul 22, 2001   Here are some quick comments on recent transactions in the NBA. The impacts noted in the article will be reflected in the player ratings in the HoopsKlyce player report. Sacramento traded Jason Williams and Nick Anderson to Vancouver for Mike Bibby and Brent Price. Jason Williams should see more playing time while Mike Bibby should not be near the 40 minutes he played for the Grizzlies. Bibby may get pressed by Bobby Jackson for playing time just like Jackson put the squeeze on Williams minutes but Bibby will still see 30+ per game. Williams will be backed up by Brevin Knight who shouldn't steal too many minutes from him. The fantasy winner in this deal is Jason Williams. Phoenix sent Jason Kidd to New Jersey for Stephon Marbury. Other players were included for cap purposes. Basically Kidd and Marbury should have similar values at their new destinations. Players around Kidd in New Jersey should enjoy seeing the ball a little more often. This would help the likes of Kenyon Martin and Keith Van Horn. Todd MacCulloch will see a big jump in playing time as the new center for the Nets. Big Mac has a nice offensive touch and should average 10+ pts playing alongside Kidd. Penny Hardaway has played in a couple summer league games and is on course to return. Adding Marbury to team means quite a few extra shots from the guard positions for the Suns. Luckily for Shawn Marion's fantasy value, Cliff Robinson was given to the Pistons for salary cap reasons, otherwise his scoring probably would have fallen. The addition of Cliff Robinson to the Pistons and the drafting of Rodney White may reduce the amount of scoring from Jerry Stackhouse. At least that is what the Pistons are hoping for. Eddie Robinson will sign with the Bulls. He may end up in starting lineup along with Ron Mercer. The impact of this signing is too put a question mark on how much playing time Ron Artest will get. Certainly less than he would have gotten if Robinson had decided to stay in Charlotte. Robinson will certainly play more but whether it will be enough for him to have fantasy value is uncertain. Jamal Crawford suffered an injury that I understand is serious although I don't have an official report. The Bulls signed Greg Anthony. If Crawford is out, Anthony should have fantasy value as the starting point guard for the Bulls. Anthony averaged 14 pts, 7 ast, and 1.7 steals as a starter for Vancouver one season. Patrick Ewing and Horace Grant will sign with the Magic. The impact of these transactions will probably be to wipe out the chances of Bo Outlaw being an effective fantasy player. Clarence Weatherspoon will sign with the Knicks. This should be the end of him having much fantasy value as he competes with Larry Johnson and Kurt Thomas for playing time. It also puts the breaks on the thought that Kurt Thomas will log heavy minutes for the Knicks. Mitch Richmond will sign with the Lakers. I doubt Mitch Richmond has much left in his bad knees but he should have enough of an impact to take away most of Rick Fox's fantasy value as Kobe slides over to small forward some of the time. Samaki Walker signed with the Lakers. He may be the best natural power forward on the Lakers roster and might get some playing time if he proves he has some game. He will certainly be given a chance, but don't expect too much; the Spurs did not feel he was worth keeping around. Previous Article Next Article Copyright © Hoops Klyce 2001 - All Rights Reserved Website Designed by Lelnet Failed to execute script '../cgi-local/ax.cgi': Win32 Error Code = 2