By Jeff Andriesse
Rotowhine.com Editor
June 27, 2008
The flurry of activity on NBA Draft Day has me a little wobbly. Starting with the Jermaine O’Neal trade, and ending this morning when I found out about the O.J. Mayo-Kevin Love swap and nearly drove off the road, the fantasy implications from June 26, 2008 will be far-reaching. Let’s break down the trades and make some mental notes for next season.
Toronto trades T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the No. 17 pick in the draft (Roy Hibbert) to Indiana for Jermaine O’Neal
The Pacers officially gave up on O’Neal yesterday, and ended up getting quite a bit in return. They added Ford and Jarrett Jack (so long, Jamaal Tinsley) and took Roy Hibbert to help with the loss up front. Brandon Rush was added to the mix during the draft and will back up Mike Dunleavy and Danny Granger on the wing. A starting lineup of Ford, Dunleavy, Granger, Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster/Hibbert doesn’t scare too many people, but Jim O’Brien will enjoy running and gunning with this group. Murphy playing a lot of center is a distinct possibility. Ford should play the bulk of the minutes at the point, but Jack is also proven and a split situation will be a fantasy headache in the same mold as Ford-Calderon in Toronto. Speaking of Toronto, Calderon obviously benefits the most from this situation. He should be a top 5 fantasy point guard next year and one of the first to go off the board after Chris Paul and Deron Williams. I don’t really see a Jermaine O’Neal revival happening in Toronto, but at least he’ll give Chris Bosh some help underneath. If O’Neal can stay healthy, this could be a quality playoff team. The jury is still out 4-6 weeks with a sprained knee.
Milwaukee trades Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons to New Jersey for Richard Jefferson
A coup for the Bucks, who immediately wet their pants by drafting Joe Alexander to um, back up Jefferson I guess. The team’s only legitimate frontcourt players are Charlie Villanueva and Andrew Bogut, so unless the Bucks plan on making more moves, they will continue to be soft. Still, Jefferson, Michael Redd and Mo Williams makes an intriguing trio. Not to mention Ramon Sessions, who produced one of the single greatest “out of nowhere” fantasy months in roto history to close out the season. The Nets are clearing cap space for LeBron James in 2010 and should be awful next season. New Jersey did well in the draft with Brook Lopez and Chris Douglas-Roberts in the second round. Devin Harris should see his stats go up across the board in a full season on the Nets, while Vince Carter remains a radioactive fantasy pick under any circumstances. Will Carter be motivated next season when he’s trying to prop up a lineup that includes Yi, Desagana Diop and Stromile Swift? We’ll see what LeBron, through Jay-Z, wants to do with Vince. If he doesn’t want him as a teammate - and why would he? - Vinsanity could be the next to go.
Minnesota trades O.J. Mayo, Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner to Memphis for Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Jason Collins and Brian Cardinal
We know Memphis wanted to unload Cardinal’s contract desperately, but did they really want to do it this desperately? This trade is curious on many levels, but coming after the Pau Gasol disaster, we can no longer give Chris Wallace and his owners the benefit of the doubt. Will Memphis even save any money on this deal? Now they have a lineup of Mayo, Mike Conley, nine other point guards, Rudy Gay and… who? Darko Milicic? Is Marc Gasol ready? Darrell Arthur? Hakim Warrick or (gulp) Walker at the four? Will they actually miss Cardinal? Don’t forget, the Grizz added Mayo and still have Conley, Kyle Lowry, Javaris Crittendon, Juan Carlos Navarro and now Jaric at the guard spots. Someone is going to get traded, and it better be for some frontcourt help. I shudder to think what their next trade is going to be. Meanwhile, Kevin McHale is looking like a genius. He takes Mayo two picks ahead of Love and then is able to snag Mike Miller. Love will complement Al Jefferson well, Miller will solidify the three spot and the ‘Wolves will have a healthy Randy Foye in the backcourt along with a (hopefully) improved Corey Brewer. There isn’t a lot of size or defensive ability up front on this team, so they will still struggle, and Sebastian Telfair is the only true point guard on the roster, but fantasy-wise we are giddy about Jefferson and Foye. I’m also in the minority who thinks O.J. Mayo is going to be a bust. I could see him shooting about 32 percent next year trying to carry a 10-72 Memphis team.
Other draft thoughts:
Miami did well to secure Mario Chalmers via trade in the second round. As for Michael Beasley - hey, he gives them a scoring presence up front, and if Shawn Marion stays they can complement each other decently. Dwyane Wade is the key anyways. He could have a monster season and be available a little later than usual in a fantasy draft.
The Clippers took Eric Gordon, and hopefully he can put an end to the tiresome Cuttino Mobley era in L.A. Mobley was one of those ‘tweeners who was good every other game. Hopefully the Clips work Gordon and Al Thornton into the lineup full-time for some much-needed energy. Point guard is still an issue if Shaun Livingston is a shell of himself. Elton Brand is back for a full season, which will blunt the impact of Chris Kaman’s other-worldly numbers accumulated in ‘07-08.
If I had to pick one franchise I’d not want to be a fan of right now, it might be Charlotte. What are they doing?
Boston took J.R. Giddens and traded for Bill Walker. Are these signs that James Posey is going to jet? As a C’s fan, I really hope not. By the way, I’m licking my chops for the upcoming fantasy season for Rajon Rondo.
Finally, what are the Bulls going to do with their glut of guards? Kirk Hinrich is the obvious pick to be moved, but he could also slide over if they decided to trade Ben Gordon. Either way, teams now recognize that Chicago has to make a move. Am I being too simple, or should the Bulls not have traded one of these guys before the draft? Now they don’t have a lot of bargaining power, and Gordon may bolt as a restricted free agent. The Bulls need to do whatever they can to get a low-post scorer like Elton Brand. Even with Rose at the point, this is a medium-to-long-range jump-shooting team and it could be another long year.
