Breaking down Week 5
by Chad Ford
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Also Below: Kidd to the Sonics? Payton doesn't see it | Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | Will the Cavs show Ricky Davis the door? | Give Yao the damn ball | Peep Show
The Good, the Bad, the Kitchen Sink
Insider Fantasy File: Nov. 26
Are the NBA's two best point guards, Jason Kidd and Gary Payton, gearing up for a turf war? The clock is ticking on Knicks GM Scott Layden. Can he use their $4.5 disabled player exception before it turns into a pumpkin at midnight? With the sudden emergence of Dajuan Wagner, are Ricky Davis' days in Cleveland numbered? Now that we know Yao Ming can play, why aren't the Rockets throwing him the ball?
Kidd to the Sonics? Payton doesn't see it
Jason Kidd
Point Guard
New Jersey Nets
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
18 21.9 6.5 8.4 .460 .887
For the time being, we'll put the Jason Kidd-to-the-Spurs rumors behind us. With Kidd in Seattle on Sunday night, all eyes focused on the other Kidd rumor that seems to have some legs. Will Kidd spur San Antonio and New Jersey and sign with long-time friend Howard Schultz next summer?
The rumors about Schultz's infatuation with Kidd have caused their fair share of problems in Seattle, where the league's second-best point guard, Gary Payton, happens to play. Both Kidd and Payton will be unrestricted free agents next summer and speculation persists that the Sonics have put off a Payton extension, in part, to clear the way for a run at Kidd in the summer of 2003.
Tensions have mounted to the point that Payton's agent, Aaron Goodwin, has said Payton won't re-sign with the Sonics. Payton has been more low key, but he still isn't speaking with Schultz.
Still, Payton doesn't see Kidd wearing green in 2003.
Gary Payton
Point Guard
Seattle SuperSonics
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
18 21.3 4.8 10.3 .470 .750
"I don't care about that stuff," Payton told the Seattle Times. "That's talk and it doesn't bother me at all. If he does replace me here, more power to him, and I'll be happy with that. If that's what's going to happen, I'm going to be happy wherever I go.
"It's his choice and he's going to make up his own mind, but I don't think he'll do that. That's hard to see. To come here. I don't see it. But I don't get into all of that. I'm going to let Aaron and Eric [Payton's agents Aaron and Eric Goodwin] handle that. If I go somewhere else, more power to that.
"Things are going good for him right now and he'd be crazy to leave that. They are one of the better teams in their conference and that's all that you can ask for. That's all anybody wants, to win games and compete for a championship."
Strangely enough, Nets GM Rod Thorn didn't sound as optimistic that Kidd would stay in New Jersey.
"From the time he got with us, he has steadfastly maintained that he is going to become a free agent," Thorn told the Tacoma News Tribune. "I think that because of the success we had last year ... if he feels we have a chance to do well, our chances are better that he will be with us."
Thorn then left open the possibility of a sign-and-trade deal, though he said it was not New Jersey's first option.
"At this time, we are not interested in a sign-and-trade," Thorn said. "But you never know what is going to happen. We have only played 17 games, we have a long ways to go this year, and strange things happen."
While owners and GMs haggle over the league's two best point guards, Payton and Kidd tried to settle the score on the court Sunday. The contest between the two guards was basically a draw. Payton's Sonics won, 96-95. Payton scored 28 points, grabbed 10 boards and handed out four assists. Kidd scored 27 points, grabbed eight boards and dished out another eight dimes.
Jason Kidd: The apprentice is now the best
Percy Allen / Seattle Times
Nets mum on Kidd's future
Frank Hughes / Tacoma News Tribune
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Scott Layden is working the phones. Don Chaney is pacing the sidelines. Knicks fans comb headlines searching for hope or, if nothing else, a little change. At midnight tonight, the phones will stop ringing, the final rites will be read and we can finally lay the Knicks to rest in the same LeBron James junk heap alongside the Cavs, Bulls, Heat, Grizzlies and Nuggets.
The Knicks' $4.5 million disabled player exception is little more than symbolic at this point. The word around the league is that Layden is unlikely to make a serious trade before tonight's deadline. He's insisted that any players he takes on in return are young, talented and don't own ridiculous contracts. When you consider that the players he's offering are old, marginally talented and make more money than most all-stars, it isn't difficult to see why the Knicks aren't going anywhere.
Sure, there's still a thread of hope. Chaney told N.Y. reporters on Sunday that Layden was unavailable to meet with the press because he was working the phones. But for the most part, it's all false hope.
A report out of San Francisco this weekend claiming that the Warriors and Knicks were talking about swapping Danny Fortson for the Knicks' exception are bogus. Fortson makes more than the disabled exception, meaning the Knicks couldn't fit Fortson into the exception. The two teams would have to work out a multi-player deal to get anything to work.
Folks are so desperate for change, the N.Y. Daily News was remorseful that the Knicks seem unable to pry Shawn Bradley away from the Mavs.
Sack cloth and ashes over the inability to land Bradley? Is it really that bad? Yes it is. Right now, the hottest thing going in New York is a growing point guard controversy between Charlie Ward and Howard Eisley. That's as good as it's going to get folks.
Seeking help now & later for lottery
Frank Isola / New York Daily News
Don: Ward Not Ready To Start
Dan Martin / New York Post
Will the Cavs show Ricky Davis the door?
Dajuan Wagner
Guard
Cleveland Cavaliers
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
4 19.8 2.0 3.5 .373 .760
Hello Dajuan Wagner. Bye, bye Ricky Davis?
In this era of prep hype, what a shock it is to find a player coming off one year of college ball who may actually be better than advertised. Wagner is getting the Allen Iverson comparisons but with a caveat. He's a much better shooter.
Now that's scary. In just four games, Wagner now leads the team in scoring, is second in assists, first in steals and is shooting a sizzling 45 percent from behind the arc. His teammates love him. His coach loves him. So everything's cool, right?
Ricky Davis
Guard-Forward
Cleveland Cavaliers
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
17 19.5 3.7 3.6 .418 .726
Ummmm, we're talking about the Cavs here. It's no surprise that Wagner's quick start happens to coincide with yet another Davis episode. A shouting match on Friday between Davis and Tyrone Hill forced the Cavs to suspend Davis for two games.
It's just the latest in a long line of transgressions. Since Davis emerged as a player in the second half of last season, his agent has tried to force a trade. Davis skipped media day without an explanation. He criticized the Cavs' point guards and said management should have signed veteran Rod Strickland. He clashed with Bimbo Coles in Indiana Nov. 12 and sat out the last three quarters of the game. (He was also held out of the starting lineup the following game.)
Davis' latest transgression has the Cavs worried. Some believe his six-year, $35 million contract has gone to his head. Others believe that he knows ultimately that Wagner and Darius Miles are more talented and he'll be forced, once again, into a supporting role, possibly coming off the bench. His teammates don't like him. His coach is sick of him. Have the Cavs had enough?
The answer is probably yes, but like everything in Cleveland, it's complicated. Davis is a base-year compensation player, making him very difficult to trade. If the Cavs were to move him and his $4.5 million salary this year, they'd only be able to take back $2.7 million in a trade. Given that only one team, the Clippers, is under the cap right now, the only way the Cavs can move him is to put together a much larger trade that makes up for the differences in salary.
That's why John Lucas is going out of his way to try to fix some nasty chemistry in Cleveland.
"This isn't a matter that goes away lightly," Lucas told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "There's been some broken chemistry between him and the team and we have to get the chemistry back. I want to help Ricky, the team and the organization."
"I love Ricky Davis," Lucas said. "He and I haven't had any problems. The problem is with Ricky and the team. It's got to be about the team and once that gets resolved, we'll move forward."
Wagner quickly gains respect of opponents
Branson Wright / Cleveland Plain Dealer
Davis needs to get the message and change his ways
Bob Finnan / Lorain Morning Journal
Hill, Cavaliers eager for Davis' return despite arguments
Branson Wright / Cleveland Plain Dealer
Trading Cavs' Davis might be a plausible option
Roger Brown / Cleveland Plain Dealer
Give Yao the damn ball
He's the No. 1 pick in the draft. He's 7-foot-6. And we know he's capable of dropping 30 points and 16 rebounds on just about anyone.
So can anyone explain why Yao Ming, over the last five games, is averaging 5.2 shots per game?
With the exception of Steve Francis, who's playing at an all-star level, should anyone on the Rockets be shooting the ball more than Yao right now?
Eddie Griffin, Maurice Taylor, Kenny Thomas, Glen Rice, Moochie Norris and Juaquin Hawkins are all averaging more shots than Yao over that stretch, despite the fact that those six are shooting a combined 39 percent from the field. The Rockets are just 2-3.
What is it about Yao's 67 percent shooting percentage that seems to be scaring his teammates away?
"That's experience," coach Rudy Tomjanovich told the Houston Chronicle. "Our lineup is changing. And, you know, it's tough to get the ball inside. Ask Hakeem [Olajuwon]."
Let's ask Hakeem, who averaged 6.8 shots per game last season with the Raptors despite the fact that he could barely play.
The Rockets' problem is that their offense the last few years has centered around the run-and-gun style of Francis and Cuttino Mobley. How many times a game do you think they slowed things down and ran a play for Kelvin Cato in the post? Exactly. But Yao is a different story. He's already proved that given the opportunity, he can be unstoppable in the paint. Francis and Mobley are excellent players. But they're rarely unstoppable.
If the Rockets are going to make it to the postseason, the big fella needs the ball.
Yao, as always, is the consummate diplomat.
"It's not that I feel that I have to touch the ball all of the time," he told the Chronicle. "But I want to see more effective passes from all of our team. Tonight, I didn't think many of our passes were effective enough."
Leave it to the big guy to give the understatement of the night.
Yao can't do his thing if he doesn't get the ball
Dale Robertson / Houston Chronicle
All Kings men not necessary
Jonathan Feigen / Houston Chronicle
Peep Show
Wizards: Michael Jordan is back in the starting lineup. Is anyone surprised? "My personal opinion is having him coming in so early [off the bench] kind of disrupted things if we had something going," Jerry Stackhouse told the Washington Post. "If Michael's in the game and we're rolling, we don't have to worry about subbing [him] in. If we need to make a change, then we can bring guys off the bench. But there's not that sense of urgency [to make player substitutions] if Michael's already in the game. There was a sense of urgency when he's on the bench to get him in the game."
Grizzlies: Hubie Brown loves Jason Williams. Seriously. "It's hard to explain," Jerry West told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "It's like a love affair. In eight games under Brown, Williams has turned into the player the Grizzlies didn't even dare dream he might become. He's been poised. Unselfish. A leader on both ends. "He's accepted everything 100 percent," Brown said. "He keeps us totally under control. He runs the stuff and then he has the courage to take the big shots."
Bulls: The team is on the pace to lose 61 games for the fifth straight season, prompting coach Bill Cartwright to replace Eddy Curry and Trenton Hassell with veterans Donyell Marshall and Eddie Robinson in the starting lineup. Curry is miffed by the demotion. "I want the coaches to tell me exactly what I was doing wrong to go to the bench," he told the Sun Times. "I want to improve as a player and I'm going to work hard to get my starting position back."
Pistons: Coach Rick Carlisle blasted his team's defensive effort the last few games. "To make believe everything is rosy is foolish," Carlisle told the Detroit News. "I am just not seeing the effort plays that I am accustomed to seeing out of this team. I am so tired of seeing guys jog back defensively and getting their butts kicked under the basket. It's a disgrace." The Pistons, despite giving up 302 points the last three games, still rank as the league's stingiest defense.
Clippers: More bad news for L.A. The team was forced to put starting center Michael Olowokandi on the injured list with tendinitis in his left knee. Starting point guard Andre Miller is also out indefinitely with a sprained left ankle. With Lamar Odom and Corey Maggette also on the shelf, the team has only one starter, Elton Brand, healthy enough to play.
Magic: The good news is Horace Grant is ready to return to the team on Wednesday. "It's been pretty tough," Grant told the Orlando Sentinel. "I've never been in this situation in 16 years, and now I'm in this predicament. I never anticipated that with a scope I'd be out this long. It's a weird thing. Very weird. They tell you four-to-six weeks, and it passes and you're not out there. You start to second-guess yourself." The bad news is Grant Hill seems like he's on permanent day-to-day status with tendinitis. "He's going to warm up and we're planning on having him play, but I don't know if he will," coach Doc Rivers said. "That's how it is and that's how it's going to be for some time."
Mavs: The team got Raef LaFrentz and Nick Van Exel back this weekend, but may have lost Eduardo Najera to a knee injury. Najera didn't dress for Saturday's game. "When he stops taking his medication [anti-inflammatories], his knee gives him trouble," Mavs coach Don Nelson told the Dallas Morning News. "He'll have an MRI to make sure there's nothing structurally wrong. But we missed him, no question. We don't have anybody else who can do that job he does."
Celtics: Kedrick Brown's recovery from a severely sprained right ankle and turf toe is going well. Brown was back practicing with the Celtics Sunday, earlier than either he or coach Jim O'Brien expected. Still, he is not expected to see action tonight at Orlando. "I got done working in the weight room and I felt pretty good," Brown told the Boston Globe. "I've got to get back in game condition."
Warriors: The pick-up of point guard Earl Boykins isn't meant as a slight to incumbent Gilbert Arenas. "As an outsider coming in here," coach Eric Musselman told the San Francisco Chronicle, "Gilbert was thought of as a guy who could really score the ball when he didn't have it as the primary handler. We understand long term that Gilbert is our point guard. But what this does is alleviate the fact that if another one of our off-guards is struggling, we can throw him over there and get point production."
Nuggets: Forward Chris Andersen, who suffered a broken right thumb in Friday's 92-82 loss to Golden State, underwent surgery Saturday. He is expected to be out from six to eight weeks. "Chris was playing very well," Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe told the Rocky Mountain News. "Obviously, he's extremely athletic and very active. I thought Chris added a lot, but now other guys will have to step up and try to fill his spot with energy. It hurts to lose him, but it means more time for our younger players."
Wizards Go With Plan B
Steve Wyche / Washington Post
Brown instructing J-Willing student
Geoff Calkins / Memphis Commercial Appeal
Changes won't be easy for Cartwright
Lacy J. Banks / Chicago Sun-Times
Carlisle's blast surprises players
Chris McCosky / Detroit News
Clippers in Limp Sync
Elliott Teaford / Los Angeles Times
Magic expect Horace Grant back on Wednesday
Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel
Hill day-to-day with tendinitis
Jeffrey Denberg / Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Van Exel, LaFrentz back in, but Najera is out
Eddie Sefko / Dallas Morning News
Brown dips a toe back in the water
Shira Springer / Boston Globe
Boykins packs big punch
Brad Weinstein / San Francisco Chronicle
Nuggets' Andersen out 6-8 weeks
Chris Tomasson / Rocky Mountain News
The Good, the Bad, the Kitchen Sink
By Terry Brown
Monday, December 2 Updated 11:10 AM EST
Only 388 shopping days left before Michael Jordan announces another comeback in another uniform with another number that your kid absolutely has to have under his Christmas tree.
The Good
Stephon Marbury, Phoenix Suns
Week's work: 3-1 record, 24.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 8 apg, 2.7 spg, 4 triples, 42% shooting
Before the week started, the Suns were 5-5 and looking at games against the Bucks, Nets and Spurs. Now, they're 8-6 with the fifth seed in the playoffs as Starbury goes from Allen Iverson under roos to Gary Payton pull ups.
Mike Miller, Orlando Magic
Week's work: 3-0 record, 25 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.3 apg, 7 triples, 50% shooting
While everyone else was watching Kobe and Tracy, Miller became the third starting swingman for the Magic, who are a perfect 3-0 with our hero getting PA service before tip off.
Sam Cassell, Milwaukee Bucks
Week's work: 2-2 record, 25.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 6.2 apg, 1.2 spg, 49% shooting
Hard to believe that U.S. Senator Herb Kohl signs the paychecks of both Tim Thomas and this guy at the same sitting without slitting his wrist in the process, especially now that Shuttlesworth is out of commission.
Elton Brand, Los Angeles Clippers
Week's work: 1-3 record, 21.2 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.2 spg, 4 bpg, 46% shooting
If the Clippers won't pass him the ball, then I guess he'll just have to keep on stealing it and blocking it away from the opponent to get his touches. Last year, another so-called undersized fella led the league in blocked shots, too, except this one scores about four times as many points and doesn't scare small children.
The Bad
Theo Ratliff, Atlanta Hawks
Week's work: 1-2 record, 2.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.6 bpg, 6 turnovers, 18% shooting
Very well could be the worst 68 minutes played by an NBA starter so far this year.
Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Week's work: 1-3 record, 24-34 from the free throw line
With seconds left and KG and Co. trying to giftwrap a desperately needed win at Staples for the defending champs, Bryant blows the last of three free throws as the Timberwolves go on to win by 3. Does it really matter if he scores 45 or 55 or 65 the game before if his team loses by one or two or three the next night as he shoots 67 percent from the charity stripe since Nov. 19?
Jason Richardson, Golden State Warriors
Week's work: 2-1 record, 10.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 28% shooting
Look, the Warriors aren't going to win too many games this year as it is, so when they do stack two together, you'd expect one of their stars to score more than 14 points in two days. Or maybe one is because of the other?
Eddy Curry, Chicago Bulls
Week's work: 0-2 record, 1 ppg, 2 rpg, 0 apg, 0 spg, 0 bpg, 5 personal fouls, 3 turnovers, 0% shooting
An XXXL NBA uniform is a terrible thing to waste.
The Ugly
Last year, the Charlotte Hornets were the only team in the NBA to have won more games on the road (23) than at home (21). This year, the New Orleans Hornets are 9-0 in their new digs while going 2-6 away from them, the two wins coming against teams with a combined home record of 4-12. The Hornets are averaging 101.4 points per home game and 87.6 points per road game and 84.5 per road loss.
Eleven of their next 15 games are on the road.
The Kitchen Sink
TINY TIM
Tim Duncan has never scored less (20.8 ppg), shot worse (46%) or averaged fewer rebounds (11.7) in five years.
In his first game of the year as the reigning MVP, he scored 14 points on 3 of 14 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds against the Lakers. In his latest game, two days ago, he scored 14 points on 6 of 16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds against the Jazz.
In between, he's had a game of six points, another one of six rebounds and three of them with zero blocks. One night, he failed to get to the free throw line at all, went 7-for-7 the next game and then 4-for-10 the next.
At home, Duncan averages 19.6 points per game; on the road he scores 21.5. In wins, he scores 18.8; in loses he scores 23.
No rhyme, reason or any game in which he has grabbed more than six offensive rebounds. In only his sixth season in the NBA, he is averaging fewer minutes than ever before. I mean, the guy is still wearing his practice shorts backwards for good luck.
Flip 'em. Hang garlic in the window. Avoid black cats, ladders and broken glass. Skip any game that falls on Friday the 13th. He's already said he's afraid of heights and sharks, yet he was born on an island and grew to 7-feet tall.
In the year of Laker vulnerability, the San Antonio Spurs are a mediocre 11-7, are already five games behind the Dallas Mavericks and have as many loses as the Suns and Rockets, two teams that failed to make the playoffs last season.
Scared yet?
The last time the Spurs started out this slow, 6-8 in 1999, they went on to claim the franchise's first and only NBA Title after winning 86 percent of their remaining games.
CARDIAC ARTEST
Reggie Miller isn't the Indiana Pacer who has scored in double-digits in 14 of the team's 15 games.
Franchise centerpiece Jermaine O'Neal isn't the one who's shot 50 percent from the field in nine of those games.
Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas isn't the player averaging a career high 3.2 assists per game after handing out only 1.8 for the team last season.
The answer is Ron Artest. All of the above.
The Pacers are an Eastern Conference-best 14-2 because the player nearly listed last in the Ron Mercer, Brad Miller, Jalen Rose, Travis Best, etc, etc, etc, and second-round pick in 2002 deal last year is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage and free-throw percentage.
He is second on the team in points scored, first in steals, third in assists and leads all starters and primary reserves in shooting while hitting more three-pointers than anyone on the team.
And the next time he or any other Pacer not involved in the World Championship fiasco is mentioned for the All-Star Game will be another first.
LESS IS MORE
The Atlanta Hawk trio of Glenn Robinson, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Jason Terry is averaging 62.2 points per game followed by the Dallas Maverick trio of Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Steve Nash at 61.2, followed by the entire Denver Nugget team at 76.9.
SHAQLES ON MY FEET
Vengeance, to put it mildly, is not Shaq's.
Without him, the Lakers won a pitiful three three games against teams with a combined record of 19-31. With him, they won an even more pitiful three games against teams with a combined record of 14-35.
The three-time defending champs have yet to beat a team with a winning record.
Sure, Shaq has gone from 17 points in his first game back to 24 in his second to 33 in his fifth and 31 in Sunday night's loss to Minnesota. But in that same time, the Lakers have given up 100.5 points per game after surrendering only 94.5 while O'Neal was toe up.
This is the same Laker team that has held opponents to 93.9 points per game in the last three seasons. And they still have to play Dallas on Friday.
THIN AIR
Orlando Magic swingman Tracy McGrady, who is leading the league in scoring, would have to average 46.8 points per game over the remaining schedule to match Michael Jordan's 37.1 points per game in 1987. As it stands now, McGrady's tallying 31.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 4.6 apg, which compares rather nicely to Jordan's 1991 season of 31.5 ppg, 6 rpg and 5.5 apg when His Airness won his first NBA Title.
EAST MEETS WEST
Yao Ming, Pride of Shanghai Physical & Sport Technic Education Institute
Last 5 games: 22.8 mpg, 8.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2 bpg
Tyson Chandler, Pride of Dominguez High School (CA)
Last 5 games: 21.2 mpg, 7.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.8 bpg
SPECIAL ALA MVP
Philadelphia Sixers (14-4) versus San Antonio Spurs (11-7)
Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 at the SBC Center in San Antonio, Texas
The former Most Valuable Player standing 6-foot-0 with a chip on his shoulder squares off against the latter Most Valuable Player standing 7-foot-0 in dire need of one.
THE END
"I am like an average big man right now." — Shaq on violin
Insider Fantasy File
Chad Ford
ESPN Insider
Kelvin Cato, meet Wally Pipp. Ray Allen, step aside. Tom Gugliotta, it was about time.
A stubbed toe here, a sprained ankle there and your fantasy season can go to hell quickly. The key is quickly identifying players on the verge of breaking out given the right opportunity.
Insider breaks down five guys who are getting the change to make their mark and five other guys whose chances are drying up now that the guy they replaced is coming back.
COMING IN:
C: Clifford Robinson (available in 38 percent of leagues)
The Pistons are anxious to jump start their offense and coach Rick Carlisle is looking to Robinson to get it done. After originally starting the season on the bench, Robinson has worked his way back into the starting lineup, replacing struggling center Zeljko Rebraca. While Robinson won't put up huge numbers, he has the ability to make an impact across the board.
PF: Amare Stoudemire (available in 76 percent of leagues)
Fantasy players continue to dump Stoudemire at an alarming rate. Obviously the Suns aren't seeing the same guy you are. Stoudemire was recently promoted to the starting power forward position and responded with his first double-double of his career (15 points, 13 boards). Yes, he'll be inconsistent and prone to foul trouble, but he's getting better. Pick him up now and keep him on your bench for a few more weeks. With the increased minutes and responsibility, Stoudemire is on the verge of blowing up.
SF: Glen Rice (available in 76 percent of leagues)
It's more than a bit hypocritical to recommend Kenny Thomas at small forward last week and then flip-flop to Rice this week. But the Rockets appear to be leaning towards keeping Rice in the starting lineup. Now that Yao is a force in the middle, they need players like Rice spotting up beyond the arc. He's going to get a lot of wide open threes. If his average over the last three (18.3 ppg, 3.6 threes per game) are any indication, he'll be able to help a team in desperate need of threes.
SG: Michael Redd (available in 20 percent of leagues)
Now that Ray Allen's out with a "serious" ankle sprain expect Redd to step in and put up some huge numbers the next few weeks. Even when Allen is healthy, Redd has been fantasy worthy.
PG: Dajuan Wagner (available in 20 percent of leagues)
I could point out that Howard Eisley has been on fire in Charlie Ward's absence, but that isn't sexy enough. Instead, some of you may be sleeping on Wagner. He's healthy, expected to start tonight and coach John Lucas is saying that he's giving Wagner the green light. His job on this team will be to score. Expect a ton of points, three pointers and a few assists mixed in.
GOING OUT:
C: Shawn Bradley
Bradley's confidence was badly shaken after Yao Ming mopped up half of Dallas with his ass. Now, with Raef LaFrentz set to return on Saturday, expect Bradley's minutes and influence to dwindle some. He'll still see some time, but only against more traditional big men.
PF: Kwame Brown
Michael Jordan's getting restless with the Wizards' young players and that will likely mean a reduced role for Brown. Brown hasn't played poorly, but the Wizards will be the first to admit that Brown plays passively when Jordan is on the floor. With coach Doug Collins promising increased minutes for MJ, expect Brown's production to go south.
SF: Al Harrington
Reggie Miller looks like he's finally ready to play again. While he won't start right away, he'll definitely cut into a few players' minutes. Ron Mercer will suffer the most, but so will Harrington. When Miller is on the floor, coach Isiah Thomas plans on moving Ron Artest over to small forward. Harrington will have to find his minutes behind Artest and Jermaine O'Neal. There won't be too many.
SG: Voshon Lenard/Morris Peterson
Vince Carter is set to return this week, meaning that the bulk of Lenard and Peterson's shots will disappear. Lenard will be the most affected. If Carter is healthy, he'll be regulated to spot up duty behind Carter. Peterson's minutes shouldn't take huge hit, but given his production without Carter, he's likely to slip another notch.
PG: Jason Williams
Earl Watson has been playing great in Williams' absence. While Hubie Brown won't pull the plug on J-Will, his role in the offense and his minutes are set for a serious decline.
Chad Ford is the NBA Insider for ESPN.com. Check out his frequent work on ESPN Insider , including the recent NBA Turf Wars .
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