Each Monday, Fantasy Basketball Writer Sergio Gonzalez takes a look at situations that Fantasy owners should monitor over the course of the upcoming week. Have a look at the top storylines in Fantasy hoops and how they might affect your team going forward.
With Michael Redd out, who steps up for the Bucks?
The Bucks will once again be without their leading scorer after he injured the same left knee on which he had to undergo reconstructive surgery last year. The initial estimate has him out for two weeks, but it could very easily be more.
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| Latest Gonzalez chat transcript (4/6) |
So the Bucks will have to get scoring production out of somewhere, but there doesn't appear to be a clear-cut candidate.
Last season, the player who benefited the most while Redd missed time was Ramon Sessions. But with Sessions now languishing and looking unproductive on Minnesota's bench, the Bucks could look to Charlie Bell for a boost at the two spot, along with Carlos Delfino.
Bell's best month last season came in February after Redd went down with his knee injury. He averaged 14.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and a steal per game while averaging 27.7 minutes per game. If that type of production appeals to you, go ahead and stash him this week and monitor his production to see if he'll indeed be the player who gets the boost.
Bell averaged 13.5 points, 3.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds in his best season back in 2006-07.
What happens in Memphis with Allen Iverson ready to go?
It's going to be real intersting this week to watch what happens in Memphis with Iverson finally getting to play after missing all of the preseason and the first week of the regular season with a tricky hamstring injury.
The Grizzlies are stacked with scoring options with players like O.J. Mayo, who dropped 40 points on Sunday, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and even Marc Gasol -- who averaged 20 and 11 in Week 1 and was our choice for Start of the Week going into Week 2.
We should start getting answers to questions that have been lingering since the team signed A.I. this summer. Will there be enough shots to go around? Who takes a hit? Will Iverson be able to cope with a bench role, unlike last season in Detroit where he struggled? If he can't, will the starting lineup be re-shuffled? Who gets moved?
These are all things that we should begin to get an answer to this week.
The Grizzlies have some favorable matchups this week on a West Coast swing that includes games at Sacramento and Golden State -- two teams that give up a ton of points.
Is Shaquille O'Neal to come off bench?
George Thomas of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Saturday in his blog that Cavs coach Mike Brown has tinkered with the idea of bringing Shaquille O'Neal off the bench. He has decided against doing that, but it is a sign that the Cavaliers don't exactly know what to do with their big man duo of Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Shaq is an inside force without much of an outside presence while Big Z works better on the outside facing the basket with a good mid-range game.
So far, Shaq is averaging 25 minutes per game while Ilgauskas averaged 21.8 minutes in Week 1. We saw Shaq have two decent games in Week 1 before tailing off in the final two games, while Ilgauskas did the opposite and it looks like it will lead to little consistency out of both players -- making each hard to trust in Fantasy.
Fantasy owners should keep an eye on this situation, but it looks highly unlikely Shaq will be able to repeat the 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds he averaged last season in Phoenix.
What will the Kings do with Spencer Hawes?
Believe it or not, Kings coach Paul Westphal would rather start Sean May over Hawes and that has led to a Fantasy center with a lot of upside in Hawes getting off to a very rocky start.
Hawes totaled 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first two games of the season before breaking out in 31 minutes off the bench Friday against San Antonio with 22 points and 10 rebounds. After the game, though, Westphal dismissed Hawes' effort, acting like he didn't even notice Hawes' performance.
This is a relationship Fantasy owners should keep an eye on.
May has been very unimpressive as a starter and it should not be too long before Hawes can regain the starting job. Is this a case of tough love or does Westphal really not like Hawes? It's hard to tell early on.
When will Pau Gasol be ready to play?
Fantasy owners invested highly in Pau Gasol in drafts this preseason -- he was a late first rounder or early second rounder in most leagues and rightfully so, considering all he offers in terms of points, rebounds, blocks and field-goal percentage.
But Gasol likely won't play in the team's next couple of games and he is growing frustrated with the slow pace of his recovery.
He missed just one game last season, but he's starting to wonder if this is a result of his heavy offseason schedule as he played for the Spanish national team for the second straight summer.
The team and the player seem to agree that there is no need to push this injury and we won't see him back on the court until he is considered 100 percent healthy.
In the meantime, we should continue to see Lamar Odom do his thing. Odom averaged 12 points, 11 rebounds and nearly 7 rebounds in the first week, but is destined to take a hit in production while Gasol returns.
If you can find someone who is willing to trade for Odom at the value of the numbers he is putting up now, it's something to consider.
Do you have a Fantasy hoops question for our staff? Have a storyline you'd like to see addressed? You can e-mail us at DMFantasyHoops@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Fantasy Fast Break in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state.
