Smoov Sailing
With only three games in the NBA last night, there's not much to cover on this Friday morning. However, we'll get our fill of the NBA with a full slate of 13 games on Friday night, which could include the return of
Amare Stoudemire.
Before we get to last night's action, let's talk trade.
Gilbert Arenas has been the center of attention in many emails I've received recently, with panicked owners wanting to trade him for
Jason Kidd or
Chris Paul. I think this is fine, as you're still getting top value for your injured star. But in one of my leagues, Arenas was traded for
Ray Allen, a late third-round pick. We don't veto trades in that league, which I think is a good thing, but this was simply a bad move. It may work out in the long run for the new Allen owner if Arenas goes down, but the point is, don't give Arenas or Stoudemire away right now.
This is all about buying low and selling high. Hot guys like
Danny Granger,
Chris Kaman and
Brendan Haywood (until last night) will never see their values higher than right now, making them excellent trade bait (although I own all three and think they're going to have solid seasons). While Arenas and Stoudemire's values may not be lower than they are right now. If you want to trade Arenas or Stoudemire because of their knee problems, feel free to do it. But wait until they get hot and have a couple big games so you don't end up giving them away.
Another trade scenario that was emailed to me was from a guy who wanted to veto a trade in his league. The scenario is that someone traded
Udonis Haslem for
Mike Miller, which I have absolutely no problem with. Do I think the new Miller owner came out ahead? Absolutely. But if you veto this trade, you may as well tell your league that trading is not encouraged, and most offers have a great chance of not going through. I've seen too many leagues get "veto crazy" and end up crushing most of the deals that go down, which sends a bad message to your league and takes a lot of the fun out playing the game. Do I want to face the owner who now has Arenas,
Chris Paul,
Chris Bosh and
Al Jefferson? Um, not really. But I'm going to try to beat him and like knowing that I can make a similar trade if I want to.
And if the guy trading for Haslem is set in threes and needs rebounds, I think it's a decent move.
My last opinion on vetoes is that they should only be used if there is clearly collusion going on, or if someone is having a fire sale because they don't care about the league or are trying to sabotage the league. But if some rookie wants to trade
Kevin Durant for
Earl Watson and
Walter Herrmann because they think they're doing what they need to, so be it. I know that many of you love the veto aspect your league uses and that's fine. But please don't send me emails trying to pull me over to the dark side. I'm not coming.
Thursday's Action
The Wizards are now 0-4 after falling to the Nets last night. Arenas played fairly well and looked fine in his 42 minutes, hitting 7-of-17 shots for 21 points.
Caron Butler and
Antawn Jamison were solid as usual, but Haywood had just two points and three boards. You can expect him to have his share of off nights, but he
should still be a solid starting center going forward.
The Nets were led by
Richard Jefferson's 25 points and he's now led them in scoring in all five games.
Jason Kidd was solid again, while
Vince Carter woke up with 24 points, five boards and five dimes. The fantasy news out of this one was
Jamaal Magloire and his 12 boards in 28 minutes.
Nenad Krstic played just 13 minutes and I think Magloire is going to continue to see an increase in minutes going forward. Krstic is coming back from ACL surgery and the team wasn't even sure they'd have him back this soon. He's going to have his ups and downs, and with an ineffective
Jason Collins in addition to a gimpy Krstic, good things should be coming for Magloire. You don't have to pick him up just yet in many leagues, but definitely put him on your radar.
The Bulls finally got their first win by beating the Pistons, led by
Tyrus Thomas' huge line of 19 points, career-high 14 boards, two steals and two blocks on 8-of-12 shooting. He's as inconsistent as they come, but you have to just keep playing him. He's like the stock market, in that you have to take the bad days in order to benefit from the good ones.
Ben Wallace was on the bench for the fourth quarter and had just six points and seven boards. Sadly, this was one of his better lines, but he just doesn't look healthy. He's got an ankle issue and should probably be benched until he gets it going.
Kirk Hinrich's shooting woes continued, but he did have 14 assists in the win.
For the Pistons,
Rasheed Wallace scored 36 points, his career high as a Piston. He also had nine boards and three treys in the loss, and looks fantastic thus far. On the flip side,
Tayshaun Prince scored just five points on 1-of-3 shooting. After getting off to a blistering start, he's scored just 13 points since Rip Hamilton returned to action. Don't cut Prince, but prepare to bench him if his stats don't rebound over the weekend.
indianapacers.com
The Mavs beat the Warriors last night in a replay of last year's first-round playoff action.
Devin Harris returned for Dallas and had one of the best lines of his career, finishing with 21 points, five boards and seven assists. He's still a big-time sleeper candidate, but let's see how he backs this one up.
Josh Howard played well through a sprained ankle with 24 points, seven boards and three assists, while
Dirk Nowitzki double-doubled with 22 and 11.
Brandon Bass racked up his first double-double with 10 points and 12 boards, making him a waiver-wire candidate in many leagues. The Mavs are a little thin up front until
Erick Dampier returns, and Bass could be a nice source of boards in deep leagues.
dallasmavericks.com Kelenna Azubuike notched his first double-double for the Warriors with 27 points and 11 rebounds, while
Baron Davis exploded for 37 points, five boards, five assists and three treys on 14-of-26 shooting. Azubuike will likely take some kind of a hit when
Stephen Jackson returns next week, but you have to think Nellie will find a way to play him.
News and Notes
Nene is going to miss about six weeks due to a thumb injury that will require surgery. That's going to kill me in my 30-team league, as my only backup power forwards are
Jorge Garbajosa and
Malik Allen. Yuck. In the meantime,
Eduardo Najera is a serious waiver-wire candidate, especially since
Kenyon Martin and
Marcus Camby could go down at any time.
Amare says he's going to play tonight in Miami, but I won't believe it until I see him in the starting lineup. He's a game-time decision (again) after missing the last three with swelling and soreness in his knee. If I had to guess, I'd say he's playing tonight against Shaq. We'll see.
sacramentokings.com Dwyane Wade will not play tonight, but could return as soon as Sunday. I still have serious concerns about him aggravating the knee or shoulder if he comes back too soon, so owners may have to tread carefully with Wade over the next month.
Good news on the
Raymond Felton front, as he'll play tonight if he's medically cleared to go. The Cats have gotten stomped in their last two games and Sam Vincent is dying to get Felton back on the floor tonight against the Pacers. Speaking of the Pacers, keep your eye on
Kareem Rush tonight, who is still irked with the way he was cut by the Bobcats a couple years ago. He could use the revenge factor to have a big game. Then again, he's still
Kareem Rush. And
Troy Murphy is a decent pick up right now after making a return for the Pacers on Wednesday.
utahjazz.com Lamar Odom is expected to play for the Lakers tonight, which is great news, but the game of the night for me is the Hawks at the Celtics.
Josh Smith has just missed a 5x5 game in his last two, and he should have another solid line against KG and crew. I don't care if he can't shoot it right now. Check out his last two lines.
22 pts, 10 rebs, 4 asts, 4 stls, 5 blks
18 pts, 7 rebs, 6 asts, 5 stls, 4 blks
And on the season, he's at 17.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 3.5 steals and 4.0 blocks. He's shooting just 36% from the floor and 22% from beyond the arc, but any way you slice it, he's been fantasy gold