[Gotham Dark Knight]

Never heard of Andrea Bargnani? Join the club.
The first overall pick in the National Basketball Association draft by the Toronto Raptors continues a frustrating trend for fantasy players.
It's getting harder to pick out potential rookie gems.
The ESPN era has inundated the airwaves with college hoops so we have plenty of chances to get a look at the future. The problem is that there hasn't been an American college player taken with the No. 1 overall pick since Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin was selected by the New Jersey Nets in 2000.
So much for scouting.
Bargnani, a 6-foot-10, 225-pound forward with three-point range and a quick release, has been compared by some scouts to Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki. But not so fast.
Bargnani averaged 10.9 points and 4.1 rebounds for Benetton Treviso in Italy last season, a far cry from Nowitzki's numbers with DJK Wurzburg (22.9 points, 8.4 rebounds) during 1998-99 in Germany. Granted, the competition overseas has improved greatly in the last decade as the World Championships and Olympic Games prove, but even Nowitzki didn't set the world on fire early in his NBA career.
In his rookie campaign of 1998-99, Nowitzki averaged 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds with the Mavs, but his scoring numbers improved in all of his first five NBA seasons. So if you draft Bargnani, especially for a keeper league, be patient.

That's not necessarily the case for the entire 2006 draft class.
Two of the top six picks ended up with the Portland Trail Blazers, who are one of just five NBA teams that hasn't had a 20-point scorer in either of the last two seasons. That means there should be plenty of opportunity for Texas forward LaMarcus Aldridge (15 points, 9.2 rebounds) and Washington guard Brandon Roy (20.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4 assists) to contribute quickly.

Ditto for Gonzaga forward Adam Morrison (28.1 points, 5.5 rebounds), the No. 3 overall pick by the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats' leading scorer last season (Gerald Wallace at 15.2) had the lowest average of any team's top scorer. In their expansion season of 2004-05, Emeka Okafor's 15.1 average was better than only Lee Nailon's 14.2 with the New Orleans Hornets.

The arrival of Villanova guard Randy Foye (20.5 points, 5.8 rebounds), the seventh overall pick, to the Minnesota Timberwolves can't be good news for Rashad McCants, who figures to be the fourth or fifth guard if he returns from microfracture surgery on his right knee.
Duke's Shelden Williams, the national Defensive Player of the Year two seasons in a row, enters a crowded forward situation as the fifth overall pick by the Hawks. He joins Al Harrington (who may depart Atlanta soon in a sign-and-trade scenario), Josh Smith, Josh Childress and Marvin Williams. Shelden Williams, 17th on the NCAA career blocked shots list with 422, and Smith, who blocked 208 last season, have the potential to become defensive twin towers.

So what kind of fantasy numbers can we expect from Andrea Bargnani?...he started out the Summer league well...and what about Adam Morrison?...Will he be a 20 point scorer off the bat?

[cjg11582]

When taking middle-tier fantasy draft talent, shot availability is as important as actual skill. For instance, Mike James had better fantasy numbers than Rip Hamilton last season, but would anyone pick James over Hamilton if they were drafting for anything other than fantasy basketball?
With that said, I like Brandon Roy, who might be the oldest player on The Blazers in 2006 despite being a rookie. Randy Foye could instantaneously be the second option on a Minnesota Timberwolves team desperate for one; and Adam Morrison will get enough shots to be a worthwhile contributor. There are several other rookies who might get late round consideration (Rudy Gay, Shannon Brown, LeMarcus Aldridge, Reddick) but for the most part I am willing to let them stay on free agency.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by cjg11582

When taking middle-tier fantasy draft talent, shot availability is as important as actual skill. For instance, Mike James had better fantasy numbers than Rip Hamilton last season, but would anyone pick James over Hamilton if they were drafting for anything other than fantasy basketball?
With that said, I like Brandon Roy, who might be the oldest player on The Blazers in 2006 despite being a rookie. Randy Foye could instantaneously be the second option on a Minnesota Timberwolves team desperate for one; and Adam Morrison will get enough shots to be a worthwhile contributor. There are several other rookies who might get late round consideration (Rudy Gay, Shannon Brown, LeMarcus Aldridge, Reddick) but for the most part I am willing to let them stay on free agency.

Morrison is a fantay given...I really think that Reddick will get his fair share of shots in Orlando...would Foye have done better in Boston?

[cjg11582]

It is tough to say with Foye, after Minnesota signed Mike James in addition to Rashard McCants, it is probably a fair assessment that he would have more production in Boston. But with that team, there is Pierce and then everyone else, any other player you have on you're fantasy team will be extremely inconsistent. I will say this though, I had Delonte West for a month long stint towards the end of the season last year, and he was an absolute god send on a team deprived of 3's. I think for that month he averaged around seventeen and six a game. So with that team, you never know.
What my friends and I often debate is if you remove the top two players from each team in The NBA, who has the best team, worst team, etc. We essentially agreed that the six (couldn't cut it to five) worst teams after this deduction are (in no particular order):
LA Lakers
Seattle Sonics
Houston Rockets
New Orleans Hornets
Boston Celtics
Minnesota Timberwolves

What's ironic is these teams rely so heavily on their superstars because of the collective ineptitude of their supporting casts, that the supporting casts can be all that more valuable in terms of fantasy production, and thus if you need a guy for a couple games to help get you back into contention, a player off one of these teams might be someone worth roling the dice on.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by cjg11582

It is tough to say with Foye, after Minnesota signed Mike James in addition to Rashard McCants, it is probably a fair assessment that he would have more production in Boston. But with that team, there is Pierce and then everyone else, any other player you have on you're fantasy team will be extremely inconsistent. I will say this though, I had Delonte West for a month long stint towards the end of the season last year, and he was an absolute god send on a team deprived of 3's. I think for that month he averaged around seventeen and six a game. So with that team, you never know.
What my friends and I often debate is if you remove the top two players from each team in The NBA, who has the best team, worst team, etc. We essentially agreed that the six (couldn't cut it to five) worst teams after this deduction are (in no particular order):
LA Lakers
Seattle Sonics
Houston Rockets
New Orleans Hornets
Boston Celtics
Minnesota Timberwolves

What's ironic is these teams rely so heavily on their superstars because of the collective ineptitude of their supporting casts, that the supporting casts can be all that more valuable in terms of fantasy production, and thus if you need a guy for a couple games to help get you back into contention, a player off one of these teams might be someone worth roling the dice on.

Wow the Celtics and Lakers are with the Hornets...the 80's are over...No BobCats?

[cjg11582]

The Bobcats are definitely a viable candidate, but if you took the top two players off of their team, along with every other team in the league, I feel like they might actually make the playoffs in the East, because as bad as they are, they are not dependent on any one or two players. I am not even sure which two players you would remove from their roster for this upcoming season (Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton?). When you compare them with teams in their own division, are they really worse than an Orlando Magic team with no Stevenson or Howard? A Wizards team with no Arenas or Jamison? Or a Hawks team with no Harrington or Joe Johnson? I would actually bet they finish second in this division behind a Wade and Shaq-less Heat.

[cjg11582]

Speaking of which The wizards are definitely included in this debate as well.