Fantasy Fast Break: What to do with A.I.?

Each week, 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.

Who is most impacted by the return of Josh Howard in Dallas?

Josh Howard made his season debut Saturday against the Raptors, playing 24 minutes and scoring 16 points of the bench. He will undoubtedly get more minutes and touches as he gets his playing legs back under him and Fantasy owners should keep a close eye on how the minutes and shot attempts are distributed this week.

In the first game with Howard back, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry -- the two players we are most concerned about -- managed to put up solid stat lines. Marion had 18 points with 8 rebounds in 29 minutes while Terry played 32 minutes off the bench and contributed 19 points with four assists.

However, as noted above, Howard's minutes and shot attempts are sure to increase this week as his conditioning improves. And it's worth noting that Marion and Terry both had extraordinary shooting nights, with Marion shooting 9 of 11 and Terry 8 of 12 from the field.

What will happen on nights when their shots don't fall nearly as much? We'll have to see. Hopefully, we can start to see it this week.

How will the Lakers look at full strength?

We've been beating this point to a pulp the first few weeks of the season, but it's finally time to see what the Lakers look like at full strength with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol both expected to be ready by Thursday's game against the Suns.

The player we are most concerned about is Lamar Odom, who struggled last season while the Lakers were at full strength before Bynum went down with an injury. This year, you also have Ron Artest in that mix and Odom's numbers could take a dip and consistency could be hard to come by.

Artest is another player who could see his offensive touches dwindle, something we've already started to see in his first few games as a Laker. He does enough elsewhere across the board that he could remain a very strong option in category-based play, but he's another player whose production stands to decline.

And then there's Bynum and Gasol, both big men who have co-existed before. Their touches could become a bit watered down, though we'd expect that to be more the case with Bynum than with Gasol.

Fantasy owners will want to pay extra attention to the Lakers' box score this week as well as the health of both Lakers big men.

Will Allen Iverson retire?

That's the latest rumor coming out of Memphis as A.I. has taken a leave of absence for what the team is calling "personal" reasons.

Iverson has been very hesitant to accept a bench role in the past and there is a possibility that he's already had enough of that in three games. But this upcoming week is sure to shed some more light on the situation.

His absence, however brief or extended, will have a direct impact on Mike Conley, Jr. and O.J. Mayo, both players who saw their production diminished in Week 2.

Is Tyreke Evans the real deal?

So far, it looks like it. And this was even before the injury to Kevin Martin that will sideline him through at least the month of December.

But now, with Martin out, we'll begin to see if the rookie can shoulder the offensive load in the Sacramento back court by himself. The early returns are promising.

Evans is averaging 15.9 points through seven games and has scored 55 points in his last two games, taking at least 15 shots in each of his last three contests. The assist numbers are going to be a bit erratic due to the scarcity of go-to options around him, but he's emerging into a must-start Fantasy option just three weeks in to his NBA career.

Fantasy owners in cumulative leagues may be reserving him in Week 3 as a result of the Kings' two-game slate. Take this chance to take a closer look at Kings games to see if other teams begin to adjust to him and try to limit him more than his recent opponents have done. He is, after all, still a rookie.

With Tyrus Thomas going down, who benefits in Chicago?

This could apply to several players and Fantasy owners will want to pay close attention to Bulls games this week to find out the real answer.

Taj Gibson is going to be getting the starts at power forward, but his first stat line as a starter was very underwhelming. Gibson is a very well-rounded young player with upside that was on display prominently in the preseason and even in one game last week before the Thomas injury when he had 11 points and seven boards off the bench. He is one player who should see a nice boost despite what his weak stat line suggested on Saturday.

The player who seems to be getting the biggest boost right away is Joakim Noah, who scored 21 points with 16 boards Saturday against the Bobcats and has averaged 11.3 points with 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks through his first six games.

Eventually, the production could begin to trickle down to Brad Miller as well, who has gotten off to a slow start this year. He should see a boost in minutes as Noah could be used some at the power forward position when the team decides to go big against certain opponents.

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.