NBA Sleepers reviewed

After two deaths in the family and a bad accident, I'm back!!!

First, a review of my preseason column:

Actual NBA Fantasy Sleepers

It cracks me up when I read one of these "NBA Sleeper" articles and among the so-called sleepers will be guys like Jameer Nelson (ya think?) or Luol Deng. Give me a break! But here are a few actual guys for the end of deep drafts that are worthy of consideration:

Anderson Varejao/Cavs - The wild Argentinian has unimpressive stats, like, who wants a four point/four rebound guy? Make no mistake, he will be taking minutes from the likes of Donyell Marshall with his active defense and rebounding skills.

This one was right on. Anderson is the 156th player in Yahoo rankings, almost 100 places better than his preseason ranks. He will only get better, because he is getting regular minutes in the Cavs rotation. Varejao is just what I thought he'd be so far, worthwhile in deep leagues as a frontline reserve.

Jackie Butler/Spurs - This guy is very young, but was statistically the best center on the Knicks last year. He is a post monster ready to come into his own, as soon as Pop learns to trust him. He is a must-take in keeper leagues!

I get an incomplete on this one. I still think everything I wrote was true and Butler is a great keep if you have a bench spot for him in keeper leagues. But it appears he won't be doing much this year. If you can hold on to him, he'll reward you down the road.

Ronnie Turiaf/Lakers - He gets a shot at minutes early in the year while Kwame Brown and Vlad Radmanovic and Chris Mihm, among others, are down for the count at the season's start and the Lakers need big bodies. You already know about Andrew Bynum but Turiaf will get a chance to shine.

Exactly. He was a force while Kobe was gonzo and now that the troops are back in force he is riding the bench. Hope you were in a situation where you could ride him early while keeping an eye on the FA pool to see who (like a Biedrins) was getting a shot to step up.

Steve Novak/Rockets - This guy can shoot the rock. The Rockets might be the right team for him, with teams needing to be aware of Yao's inside presence and to stay in front of TMac. Novak from the corner, YES!

NO! The Rockets aren't trusting him to give them regular minutes. Great shooter or not, they already had Padgett and the veteran's experience is giving him the first look. I was just flat wrong. Now, to stash him as a keeper on a dynasty league is still viable because he could be a force in the right situation.

Jorge Garbajosa/Raptors - He has the talent and the experience and can do a bit of everything. It may take awhile, but if you can afford to carry him while he adjusts to the American game he could be something of a Nocioni for the Raps by year's end.

Garbajosa is now the starting center for the Raps, Rasho having entered the "Adonal Zone", a big slow player on an uptempo team. Jorge is still in adjustment phase but his learning curve is much better than, say, Bargnani. Expect Yahoo to change his SF/PF designation to SF/PF/C within the week!

David Lee/Knicks - Jared Jeffries will be out 6-8 weeks and the choices are Jalen Rose (fried), Q Rich, Balkman (hahahahahaha!) or the athletic David Lee. No one understands the mind of Zeke Thomas, so who knows, but Lee was quite productive in limited time last year. He is a nice thought in very, very deep leagues. Hey, if Zeke likes him you'll have a surprise and if he doesn't you just drop him and grab a stiff like Gordon Giricek instead.

I hope you believed me and grabbed Lee for the end of your bench. Yahoo lists him as the number 34(!) player in the league. He isn't that good, but he is averaging almost a double-double with great shooting percentages and a basket of steals. Plus, he doesn't turn the ball over because he plays within the context of the game and his abilities and hustles his butt off.


Marko Jaric/Wolves - Who? What? Yeah, guess what, the failure at point guard is running at small forward and could be a sixth/seventh man for Minny this year. Worth a shot, perhaps?

Perhaps. He's getting 24 minutes a game and, as usual, gives you steals off the bench. I am sure there are better options but in very deep leagues he should be owned.

~~~~~~~

The ultimate vote for sleepers is made by you when you pick your fantasy teams. I decided that the following semi-sleepers would really ramp up their games this year and made a point to target them:

Leandro Barbosa - The Diaw story overshadowed his development last year, and all who grabbed him have been rewarded big time!

Kevin Martin - The way he played at the end of the year made it obvious to me you had to grab him in the first 60 players or he'd be gone. In the leagues in which I managed to grab him he is a star! Scoring with great percentages and a few small stats besides.

Emeka Okafor - I had to believe the 2004 rookie of the year was going to make a big comeback. Boy, has he ever!

Tracy McGrady - Hmm, I was wrong here. TMac sees himself as an initiator rather than a finisher. He's productive, but not at the high level I expected so he rates as a disappointment.

Andrei Kirilenko - He is healthy again and giving us little stats. However, he just isn't scoring. With people like Boozer and Okur and Williams on the team, AK has apparently decided to concentrate on the defensive end. He's still good, but certainly no threat to the Matrix as an all-around force.

Josh Smith - Josh was playing at an all-star level late last season but regressed a bit starting this year. I think he may be one of those guys who tends to get better as the year goes by. If you can trade for him while his value is still a bit depressed, do it!

Jarrett Jack - What, you didn't think a healthy Jack with starter minutes would step up?

Larry Hughes - They said he was an injury risk. I said his numbers playing beside LJ would be very good. We were both right, which means I am kind of sorry I grabbed his butt.

Monta Ellis - Yeah, in every league I was able to grab him I've been very pleased. In my circle, however, everyone knew about him and he went way higher than his Yahoo rank.

~~~~~~~

In-season surprises

Andris Biedrins - I grabbed him off of FA pool in three leagues. Talk about a bargain! He's getting a chance to start and play big minutes because he can run at Donny-ball speeds and finish. The guy blocks a shot every quarter or so, too!

Quinton Ross - He might still be on your FA/Waiver wire. Get him! Q is productive in various areas and his defense is getting him big minutes. His shooting percentages stay high because he only takes good shots, and on a team with Elton Brand he will get a few open looks.

Sasha Pavlovic - In deeper leagues his good percentages and small stats rate him a roster spot. He has certainly outplayed David Wesley.

Tyronne Lue - Claxton keeps battling injuries and Lue is reliable.

Fabricio Oberto - No star, but the Spurs start him at center and his percentages are good for a center.

Travis Outlaw, Dorell Wright, Hakim Warrick, Martell Webster. Young guns who are beginning to get minutes. Take a good, hard look at them now, because if they continue to get minutes someone else is going to grab them. Warrick is available in some leagues because people think he'll be useless after Pau comes back. I disagree.

Who is your biggest surprise?