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.
The Pistons are returning to full strength, what now?
The Pistons got a lot healthier Sunday in Toronto when Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince returned from their respective injuries.
As a result, their rotation is going to be something of real interest to Fantasy owners over the course of Fantasy Week 10 (Dec. 28-Jan. 3). The Pistons are one of just two teams in the NBA with only two games during the scoring period, so odds are high that you reserved your Pistons players in cumulative-scoring formats. That will give owners a chance to observe from a safe distance how the rotation begins to shake out and which players are most affected by the team being able to count with a full deck for really the first time all season.
In the absence of Gordon, Hamilton and Prince, players like Rodney Stuckey, Charlie Villanueva and Jonas Jerebko have stepped up their performance and have become useful to Fantasy owners in all types of formats.
Stuckey should remain a regular starter in most Fantasy leagues, but we do anticipate a decline in offensive shot attempts with shooters like Gordon and Hamilton returning to the fray. He could make up for a drop in scoring with a rise in assists, however.
As for Villanueva, the added depth that the Pistons will begin to enjoy could allow them to take a more cautious approach with the plantar fasciitis issue that has plagued him in recent games. His minutes could begin to decline as the team looks to ease the burden on him while he deals with an injury that has caused him a lot of pain. Plantar fasciitis is not an injury that just goes away, however, so this is something he could be dealing with all season and it is something he is going to have to learn to deal with.
Jerebko's Fantasy appeal is going to be a point of interest. He's stepped up in place of Prince, but even with Prince back on Sunday he was able to log 30 minutes against the Raptors and turned in a solid line with 14 points and 7 rebounds. He's going to be able to get minutes at power forward with Villanueva not at full strength and may be able to retain his Fantasy appeal at least for a little while longer.
This week's two games will provide a big hint as to what to expect the rest of the way.
How will Allen Iverson and Lou Williams fare in the same back court?
Fantasy owners will get their first chance to see how a back court of Allen Iverson and Lou Williams works out this week and the early returns have already been interesting.
On Monday night in Portland, Iverson and Williams started together in the same back court for the first time this season and as Iverson returned from his knee injury.
Lou Williams started at the point with Iverson starting at the two guard, but that was just a formality really and both players split duties pretty evenly against the Trail Blazers. That is something we expect to continue. Both players finished with 5 assists with Iverson having a sharper game from the field. Iverson shot 7 of 11 from the field and finished with 19 points while Williams had 9 points on 3 of 9 shooting.
Williams has not been very sharp since returning about a month earlier than expected from his jaw injury, but that's something we expect to improve with time. By the end of the week, Fantasy owners should see how things shake out with both players relatively at their best.
Will Williams be able to maintain the 15-5-3 line he averaged prior to going down due to injury that caused the team to add Iverson? Will Iverson be putting up 19-5-4 lines on a regular basis? That remains to be seen. But this four-game week for the Sixers will go a long way to revealing the answers to these questions.
What's going to happen with Tracy McGrady and the Rockets?
All signs point to Tracy McGrady having played his last game with the Houston Rockets franchise.
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Reports out of Houston say that the Rockets will meet with T-Mac's agent this week to try to work out a possible trade to another team. Where McGrady winds up (be it in Houston or anywhere else) is of great importance to Fantasy owners and its something to keep a close eye on.
Now that it appears McGrady won't return to Houston, it would appear he won't be having any sort of negative impact on players like Aaron Brooks or Trevor Ariza who have stepped up in his absence. However, a lot of that will depend on what the Rockets are able to get back for McGrady. If it is a significant player, then Brooks and Ariza -- as well as Luis Scola and Carl Landry -- are not out of the woods yet.
McGrady would also likely be traded to a team that plans to use him a lot more than the Rockets were willing to in the few games he's played in this year. That likely means that he'd be creating ripple effects in the rotation of whatever team he winds up with.
The good news, for McGrady owners, is that he should see a big boost in minutes once his situation is resolved one way or another. Continue to stash him away as this situation works itself out -- very likely in the near future.
The Portland Trail Blazers rotation has changed ... again. Who benefits?
The Blazers have been riddled with injuries this season. Travis Outlaw, Rudy Fernandez, Greg Oden and now Joel Przybilla have been lost for significant time.
Przybilla's injury has created a significant role for veteran Juwan Howard, who has begun to see significant playing time for the first time in quite some time. The Blazers are also shifting their rotation a bit in the back court with rookie Jerryd Bayless beginning to see more playing time.
With the Blazers getting some decent play out of Bayless in recent games (prior to Monday night's 0 for 7 clunker from the field), there is a sense that they have a good amount of depth at point guard. Andre Miller, Steve Blake and Bayless give the team three viable point guard options that could create a situation where they may look to trade away some of their depth in the back court for help in their weakened front court.
Howard has become a poplular addition off the waiver wire, for good reason, after putting up decent numbers in three straight games last week following Przybilla's injury. But to expect a 36-year-old Howard to play heavy minutes over the rest of the season would not be realistic and the team will likely have to add somebody either by signing a free agent or by making a trade.
A trade for the Blazers could be beneficial to a player like Miller, who has seen a sharp decline in statistical production in Portland and hasn't really felt like the right fit all along. Even if he's not the one to go, it would create a situation where the team leans on him at the point more than they have been so far this season and could be the spark he needs to get him going.
This week, Fantasy owners should keep an eye on the developments out of Portland as this rotation is bound to be headed for a change in the very near future.
Is Tyrus Thomas about to become a Fantasy stud?
Coming into the season, Tyrus Thomas was one of our possible breakout candidates. That hasn't exactly worked out, but Thomas showed the ability we had in mind when he returned from his arm injury Saturday to post 21 points and 9 rebounds with 2 blocks, 2 assists and a steal against the Hornets.
That performance has caused a rush to add Thomas in a lot of leagues and while anybody who's paid attention to Thomas throughout his NBA career knows he has this type of ability, they also know he can be very erratic. Some of that has to do with inconsistent play from Thomas, some of it has to do with the way he has been used. But the fact remains that we'd like to see Thomas do this over at least a couple of games before we declare him the Fantasy stud we think he has the ability to be.
Nobody realistically expects him to suddenly be a 20-and-10 player, but the ability is there for him to average around 15 points with good numbers in rebounds and he's always been a very good source for blocks.
This week will start to shape his Fantasy appeal the rest of the season, but once again, that may not be entirely in his hands.
The Bulls are a team in flux right now and the writing appears to be on the wall for head coach Vinny Del Negro. It is widely believed that his days in Chicago are numbered and that the number is very low. A coaching change in the very near future would likely lead to a rotation shake up and a lot will depend on how a potential new coaching staff plans to use Thomas alongside Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and John Salmons (who was benched when Thomas returned Saturday).
Do you have a Fantasy hoops question for our staff? 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. You can also now follow Sergio on Twitter ( @CBSGonzalez ) where he'll also answer questions.
