Wild, wild NBA
Published 11:20 pm Monday, February 18, 2008
Well the second half of the NBA season kicks of Tuesday night and it should be a good ride to the playoffs. Kicked off (and likely fueled) by the Lakers’ mega-deal for Pau Gasol, teams are wheeling and dealing to make their squads better for the stretch run.
Especially in the West.
The Gasol deal beget the Shaq deal to Phoenix, which led to Utah getting Kyle Korver for some sharp-shooting expertise. Nevermind that Chris Webber signed up to give the Warriors some inside toughness and that Jason Kidd should be arriving in Dallas anytime soon.
Throw in the Ron Artest to New Orleans or Denver talk and this could be the most interesting finish to an NBA season in … well … ever.
Even the East is getting involved, as the Atlanta Hawks dealt four players to Sacramento for point guard Mike Bibby.
But what does it all mean.
First, in Atlanta, expect Joe Johnson and Josh Smith to benefit the most from Bibby’s arrival. Both can man the 2 and 3 positions and not have to rely on themselves to create shot opportunities — that’s Bibby’s job now. Plus from the sounds of it, the Hawks players are jazzed to actually have a point guard in their midst. They could use some of that mojo and be a surprise team in the East. Check out the Atlanta players gush here: http://tinyurl.com/24dcj9
In Dallas, it looks like the Jason Kidd deal is going to go down Tuesday when the NBA signs off on it. (For the Mavs angle check here: http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/ Nets here: http://tinyurl.com/2dgc6a
) But don’t expect the Mavs to be much better. Losing Desagna Diop could create a vacuum in the middle of the paint — and in the West that’s not a good thing. For Kidd owners, though, it’s all good as the vet PG should be playing in his ol’ trip-dub mode.
In La-La land, Kobe Bryant is going against doctor’s wishes and not getting surgery on the torn ligament in his right pinkie. This might be the most important finger in the West right now. If he stays healthy, the Lakers are a legit Finals contender … or he reinjures it and the Lakers go from contender to likely out of the playoff picture, even with Andrew Bynum’s return. In terms of fantasy, expect Kobe’s numbers to diminish over the stretch run — especially in the fantasy playoffs.
More in the fantasy world, the Wizards MASH unit is getting healthy. Caron Butler looks like a solid return, while Gilbert Arenas is running through drills and is targeting March 2 as his return date.
Also, Elton Brand reiterated his want to play this season (check here: http://tinyurl.com/ypwqdq) He sounds like his in good shape, so if some knucklehead dropped him in your league and you have a spot for him, pick him up and hope he’s a 20-10 guy when the playoffs role around.
