2012 Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Advice & Analysis
 
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If you didn’t see the Nets' game versus the Central Division leading Chicago Bulls on January 5th, then you would have been surprised to learn that the Nets actually won that game. You would be even more surprised when you saw that Kris Humphries had put up 20 points and 11 rebounds, along with two assists, a block and a steal. Humphries managed to do all that on 10 of 15 shooting in 38 minutes of play – a solid stat line by any standards. 

The main question here is whether or not Humphries is a legitimate fantasy contributor.

The 20 points was a season high for Kris, but consider that he had done so despite not starting the game. Derrick Favors, who had started, played only nine minutes because of foul trouble. Although Favors has a promising career ahead of him, it is doubtful that he will dramatically alter the way that his rookie season has been going: 6.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game.

Not many rookie big men are ready to contribute right away and while head coach Avery Johnson is promising longer minutes to Favors, this doesn’t mean that Humphries will find himself out of the Nets rotation. As much potential as Favors might have, it is rarity for an NBA big man to become a solid contributor in his first season because of the adjustment period that is needed in order to acclimate to the style of play. The adjustment period is even more so exacerbated by the tendency of college underclassmen to declare for the NBA draft.

Today’s rookies just aren’t physically mature to compete with seasoned NBA veterans so don’t expect Favors to burst out on the scene any time soon…but he will get there eventually. For now even if Johnson sticks with Favors in the lineup and gets him to play consistently above the 18.4 mpg that he has been averaging, don’t rush to pick him for your team just yet because he won’t be performing on a consistent basis just yet.

The Chicago Bulls game might have been an anomaly for Humphries because of the sub-par performance from the Bulls’ Carlos Boozer who only scored 12 points, grabbed nine rebounds and did not play the whole fourth quarter. But certainly Wednesday’s game had been an Eastern Egg of sorts for Humphries and the fantasy owners that had him on their squads.

Of course all this talk could be put to rest if the Nets finally work out a deal for Carmelo Anthony that would most certainly involve parting ways with Derrick Favors. But for now Humphries will have to take whatever he can get and make the most of it. 

Don’t think that Kris has no value because he’s not putting up more than 10 points per game. Think of him as a ‘poor man’s, albeit maybe a very poor man’s, Marcus Camby.

Written by Artem "Professor Dunk" Altman exclusively for the www.thefantasyfix.com You can follow Artem on Twitter.com/ProfessorDunk

Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Sports Advice, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Artem Altman, Professor Dunk, Kris Humphries, Derrick Favors, New Jersey Nets


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For Hedo to go home he’d probably would have to get a plane ticket back to Turkey or at least his first N.B.A. home of Sacramento. Let’s just keep things simple and call Orlando Hedo’s home, because the Magic appear to be the team that he’s most comfortable with. Hedo is so comfortable that his days in Toronto and Phoenix are a mere memory.

Don’t be fooled by Hedo’s season averages: 10.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 2.9 apg. In seven games since being traded Hedo is averaging 12.9 ppg, 4.9 rbs and 5.0 ast. While his numbers are better than they were with the Raptors and Suns, they are lower than what he averaged in 2008-09, his last season with the Magic. Turkoglu’s numbers should eventually return to what he averaged in his last season with the Magic, 16.8 ppg, 5.4 rbs and 4.9 ast.

Hedo is already putting up more shots then he did in Toronto and Phoenix, but he is still below ten shots per game, but the upwards trend will continue because Hedo hasn’t put up less than ten shots per game since his days in Sacramento and then in San Antonio.

With Marcin Gortat and Rashard Lewis gone, Hedo will be forced to play a little more at the four. But don’t count for a great increase in rebounds because he is more likely to play a stretch four and draw his man away from the basket for a mid range jumper (45 percent from the field), shot over bigger and slower defenders that cannot get to him in time (40 percent from beyond the arc) or simply take them off the dribble. Oh yes, he can still get the ball to Dwight Howard down low.

While Hedo is probably already owned in over 90 percent of all the leagues, you could still buy low and get him in a trade since he’s underperforming in a lot of categories. But this is due to change as season wears on. Act now because this sale won’t last long.

Written by Artem "Professor Dunk" Altman exclusively for the www.thefantasyfix.com You can follow Artem on Twitter.com/ProfessorDunk

Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Sports Advice, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Artem Altman, Professor Dunk, Orlando Magic, Hedo Turkoglu
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Starting the season at 9-23 the New Jersey Nets are almost past the woeful number of games that they won all of last season (12). While New Jersey isn’t a team that should be counted on to make the playoffs, there are a few players that are worth considering adding to your fantasy squad.. along with some that aren’t.

An average of 17.2 ppg and 6.7 assists and 1.0 steal is great for fantasy basketball, but not great for an elite NBA point guard. You can’t blame Devin Harris for putting up these numbers because often times he’s forced to take the lead of a team with only five players averaging more than ten points per game. Harris often finds himself driving to the basket for a score and not distributing the ball. The offensive load forces Harris to jack up more shots and thus inflating his scoring average.

Harris is shooting 45 percent from the field and is taking 12.2 shots per game. That field goal percentage is Harris’ highest since joining the Nets, but is scoring four points lower than he did in 2008-09 at 21.3. The drop in scoring could be partially attributed to him taking two less shots per game (while also playing less minutes), despite shooting over 30 percent from beyond the arc. This could also be the byproduct of Harris not having a great shot selection. 

Because Harris tends to hold on to the ball a little longer than he should it makes him susceptible to turnovers at a rate of 2.9 per game.

This season has been a season of lows for Brook Lopez in a lot of areas with scoring being the only bright spot. While Lopez is averaging a career high 19.3 ppg (22nd in the league), he’s averaging a career low of 6.2 rebounds. Kris Humphries is averaging 9.2 despite only playing 24.9 minutes per game. The seven-foot Brook has posted double digit rebounding figures only twice this season and the last time this happened was on December 1st. Only in one of those games Brook managed to get a double-double, a far cry from 33 double-doubles last season.

Playing without Vince Carter has definitely hurt Brook since teams are now more apt to double team him without a consistent outside threat for him to pass to or another big man that would keep the defenses honest. Note that the only Nets player in the top 100 NBA three point shooters is Anthony Morrow; he’s #32 on the list with 41 percent from beyond the arc.

Despite playing only 25.1 minutes per game Kris Humphries is the type of player that warrants fantasy consideration. Kris makes up for his scoring deficiency, 8.0 ppg, by pulling down 9.2 rebounds per game, which is good for 14th in the league despite playing less minutes than the 13 players ahead of him. Add to that 1.1 blocks a game and 53 percent from the field. Although Kris is shooting 69 percent from the free-throw line, this shouldn’t really effect your teams overall percentage since he’s shooting less than two free-throws a game. As long as he’s starting games (24 out of 32 this season) and putting up double-doubles (nine so far this season) you should expect steady numbers.

If the Nets are able to land Carmelo Anthony, a long shot by any standards, without losing Devin Harris, such a situation would actually benefit Brook’s stats by giving defenses a shooter to worry about. However, Harris’ scoring would certainly go down a bit as he would have to adjust to Melo and Brook being the top two scoring options for the Nets.

It looks like Anthony Morrow has finally acclimated to playing in New Jersey since being traded from the Golden State Warriors. He's been steady source of 12 points, but this is not enough for him to be a must have player except in deep leagues.

Morrow has scored more than 16 points nine times this season, which means he’s having a problem with staying consistent. Morrow could one day average around 14-16 points per game, but I don’t see it happening with Harris running the point.

On top of that Morrow is currently nursing a hamstring injury and could be out until January. Consider adding Jordan Farmar if he will be the one replacing Morrow in the starting lineup since he’s averaging 15.5 ppg, 6.8 asst in 37.5 minutes in four games as a starter this season.

Derrick Favors has certainly been a disappointment for Nets as he’s averaging 6.4 ppg, 5.3 rbs and 0.5 blk and Avery Johnson certainly doesn’t think that the 3rd overall pick in the draft warrants more playing time with what he has shown up until this point. Don’t expect things to change until Favors changes his attitude about playing hard-nosed basketball.

Another major disappointment has been the prized free-agent signing of Travis Outlaw. Despite playing 31.8 minutes a game, Outlaw is only averaging 10.4 ppg. If Outlaw’s shooting funk continues any longer, then you can deem the five-year, $35 million year contract he signed with the Nets a bust of an investment.

(Stats as of 12/29/2010 and courtesy of espn.com and basketball-reference.com)

Written by Artem "Professor Dunk" Altman exclusively for the www.thefantasyfix.com You can follow Artem on Twitter.com/ProfessorDunk

Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Sports Advice, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Artem Altman, Professor Dunk, New Jersey Nets, Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, Anthony Morrow, Brook Lopez, Carmelo Anthony, Travis Outlaw

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Sitting comfortably atop of the Eastern Conference, don’t look for Boston to change its winning formula just yet. That is until someone on The Big Three finally breaks down.

Paul Pierce’s stats this season (18.2 ppg, 3.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds) are marginally better to what he averaged last season (18.3 ppg, 3.1 asst, 4.4 rb). A plus for Pierce owners is in his turnover average, which this season has been only 1.8/game (down half a turnover from last year). Pierce has remained relatively healthy the last three seasons (only 13 regular season games missed), so look for him to put up steady numbers.

Kevin Garnett is no longer an elite force that he once was, however, having him on your team won’t hurt you unless Garnett gets injured. The last two full seasons Garnett has missed a total of 38 games. A major plus is Garnett will actually help you with steals. He’s averaging 1.7 this season and in doing so he is the only power forward/center in the top 20 in this category. And as always Garnett is pulling down a strong 9.9 rebounds a game.

Ray Allen is still filling up the stat sheet at the ripe old age of 35. Ray is shooting 49 percent from the field and just a notch below 43 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Allen’s free-throw percentage has dipped slightly below 90 percent, but with more than half a season yet to be played, he will most likely go over 90 percent again. Don’t expect Allen's 3-point percentage to stay above 43 percent for long as he has only shot above that percentage twice in his career and those seasons were nearly a decade ago.

A note should be made about the play of Shaquille O'Neal, who is averaging 11.3 ppg in 22.3 minutes. While O’Neal is a decent pick up if you need a temporary fill in at the Center spot, take into consideration that he has only played in 18 out of 27 games this season and just 53 games last season for Cleveland. O’Neal's number will drop as soon as Kendrick Perkins makes his return. Big Shaq Daddy will not hurt you anywhere besides free-throw shooting, but he should only be owned in deeper leagues.

Overwhelming odds dictate that Kendrick Perkins is probably a free agent in your fantasy league, as he’s rehabbing a knee injury suffered in Game Six of last year’s NBA Finals. If I were you, I would keep my eye on him or better yet, if you have an Injured Reserve spot in your league, I would stash him away until then. It will take a little time for him to get back into game shape, but Perkins should get plenty of playing time post All-Star Break as the Celtics will most likely look to rest Garnett and O’Neal for the playoffs.

Last year Perkins played only 27.6 minutes per game, while averaging 10.1 ppg, 7.6 rbs and 1.7 blk in 78 games. Kevin Garnett had averaged 14.3 ppg, 7.3 rbs and 0.8 blk in 69 games. Compare Garnett’s and Perkins’ 2009-10 per 36 minute averages and it turns out that Garnett and Perkin’s are closer than you would think. However, Perkins is outhustling Garnett on the boards and when contesting opponents shots; he’s +1.1 in rebounds and +1.2 in blocks. Garnett did outscore Perkins by +4.1, but this is more to do with Garnett putting up 4.8 more shots. Kevin Garnett is a dinosaur in NBA years and Perkins will be right there to pick up the slack.

Nate Robinson has been disappointing so far this season. Little Nate is only averaging 8.8 ppg, even considering that he works primarily with the Boston’s second unit. In seven games started he’s averaging 15.3 ppg, 4.7 asst, shooting 54 percent (50 percent from beyond the arc). As the leader of Celtics’ second unit Robinson should be averaging around 11 ppg and 3 asst instead of 5.9 ppg and 1.7 asst. Hopefully the return of Delonte West will be of help to Robinson.

Consider adding Nate Robinson while Rajon Rondo is out with an injured wrist based on the aforementioned stats as a starter. But consider dropping him if he continues to slump while coming off the bench.

Glen "Big Baby" Davis is as solid of a bench player that you can have on your roster. And this is probably because he’s playing more minutes than Boston’s starting center, Shaq, in 18 games this season. Like Shaq though he’s another casualty of Kendrick Perkins’ return.

What more can you ask of Rajon Rondo when he’s leading the league in assists besides averaging 11.2 ppg? You can certainly ask him to turn the ball over a little less than his current rate of 4.2 per game, but this is the tradeoff for the 3.31 assist to turnover ratio (5th best in the league). While he’s super in one aspect of basketball, he is awful when it comes to free-throw and three-point percentages, 43 percent and 31 percent, respectively. Thus, you will need to have help in those categories to counteract Rondo’s woes.

(stats as of 12/23/2010 From www.espn.com & www.basketball-reference.com)


Written by Artem "Professor Dunk" Altman exclusively for the www.thefantasyfix.com You can follow Artem on Twitter.com/ProfessorDunk

Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Sports Advice, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Artem Altman, Professor Dunk, Boston Celtics, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Shaquille O'Neill, Nate Robinson, Kendrick Perkins, Delonte West, Rajon Rando, Glen Davis
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