Baron Davis' post-season performance has sent his fantasy value sky-high.
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Looking Forward
For fantasy purposes, several Golden State Warriors elevated
their draft status for next season.
Baron Davis showed us all what we knew he could do, if he stays
healthy. He missed a slew of games this
past season – though playing in the most games since 2003. For 82 games, he’s a top-tier point guard
making his rotisserie value considerably higher than his head-to-head. He’ll be the ultimate risk-reward pick next
season, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go in the first three rounds.
If Al Harrington
maintains his center-eligibility, his value obviously goes up – but owners must
not forget about Andres Biedrins. As of now, it looks like their in a
time-share depending on the match-up, which isn’t something I’d be willing to gamble
on for my fantasy team, but may provide decent value if they fall far enough in
your drafts.
One player that I think may go a bit high next year from
this group will be Monta Ellis. This past year, owners were able to take him
in the late rounds of their drafts (or even free agent lists if the league was
shallow enough), but that won’t be the case this time around. He’ll likely be a mid-round pick, which is
about where his upside will land him.
Of course, if Richardson gets hurt again – then mid-rounds will be great
for the MIP, but we’ll see.
You can pretty much wave goodbye to the futures of Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall and Scot
Pollard in Cleveland. Pollard
hasn’t had an impact all season, but both Jones and Marshall have had time on
various fantasy rosters. These three
veterans still think they have some left in the tank, so it’s just a matter of
where they land. Marshall’s inability
to have an interior presence doomed his fantasy impact since his days in
Toronto. Jones is still living off of
his season in Miami where he was a solid option in every league. What’s also ironic is that these two guys
were to be “key additions” only two years ago.
Where they end up remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t count on much from
either of them in fantasy leagues ever again.
And finally, the contract status of two big
names will determine where they will provide services in the near future. Both Chauncey Billups and Vince Carter will
be looking for big deals this off-season.
Billups will very likely receive offers from Detroit, as he’s been
nothing but huge for them over the last few years. Carter’s days in New Jersey seem to be as good as over, even more
so if the Nets drop game 5. The Nets
are a group of simply underachieving stars and it’s a shame since they’ll have Nenad Krstic back full strength next
season. Many pundits have Carter
finishing his career up in Orlando, providing the Magic with some solid wing
play that was frequently filled by names like Hedo Turkoglu and Trevor
Ariza – making Carter an obvious upgrade in terms of talent. What it does to the team will be realized
soon enough.
Scott Sargent is the Senior NBA fantasy analyst for Sports Grumblings. He is a
lead writer for