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mbah a moute
I apologize, Luc Richard. I could not find a decent photo of you in your NBA uniform. But you, Mr. Mbah a Moute, have been kicking enough boute lately to be one of the hottest pick-ups in leagues. Props for that.

Here are recent add/drop transactions in two leagues I participate in (the 12- and 14-team leagues), and one my friends play in (a 10-team league). Hopefully by looking at different sized leagues, there are some moves you can look at regardless of what size league you play in.

Click to continue reading Exchange Center: Week 3


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Dropping Dimes is trying out a new feature. Fantasy 30 intends to rank all of the NBA teams in terms of fantasy power. A list like this tends to lead to a lot of disagreement and discussion, but the hope is that these rankings will be fluid and updated as the year goes on. Thanks to Ron Chow for the assist. In addition to publishing updates on the Fantasy 30, once in a while we hope to produce sister articles that focus on a specific team and its roster.

#1: Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant ranks as a top four fantasy player this year. The Lakers employ two fantasy-worthy starters for center in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Lamar Odom has played well coming off the bench. Jordan Farmar has sleeper point guard potential, and the team also employs three-point threats like Derek Fisher and Vlad Radmanovic. All of this adds up to the Lakers being top dog early in the year.

Click to continue reading Fantasy 30, Version 1


Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand

The Rob Babcock era was a very painful time for Raptor fans. His drafting woes were highlighted by fellow writer Alvin, with the team taking a pass on Danny Granger twice in the 2005 NBA draft. What about the gaffe from the previous draft in which Babcock drafted Rafael Araujo before Andre Iguodala! Rafael Araujo is now manning the middle for Spartak St. Petersburg of the Russian Basketball Super League. Aggghhhh! 

This season there is a lot of hype in Philadelphia around the 76ers, as they signed the much-conveted free agent Elton Brand. Let’s see what effect Elton Brand will have on Iggy’s numbers. 

Round 3, Pick 10 – Andre Iguodala, SG/SF, Philadelphia 76ers

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 10-Andre Iguodala


Imagine Team USA starring LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and company posing for a picture like this. David Stern would have been on the next plane to China putting out fires and doing interview after interview insisting that the NBA loved its international flavor and that this type of stuff was not condoned at all. Fines probably would have been levied, and big companies might have stayed away from the Team USA stars i.e. it might have been a while before we saw Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley hawking cell phones again.

It hurts a little extra because the guy picked here plays for my home team, the team I cheer for. My family comes from a Chinese background, and both the photo and the subsequent comments from this man have left a bad taste in my mouth. I even said, “Bring back T. J. Ford” when it first happened. Just as a fan, Jose, this is not the media’s fault, you and your team mates should not have done it, should not have caved if you were being goaded into it and you should have said sorry because you came off as ignorant instead of remorseful.

The moral of the story? Sometimes you have to put aside your feelings about a player and just look at the numbers.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 8 - Jose Calderon


Paul Pierce 24 shot clock
In Dirk Nowitzki and Baron Davis, this team has a pair of versatile fantasy studs. So it is time to draft the “best player available,” right? But are you not always trying to draft the best player available? I suppose that double-talk came from the notion of not drafting due to positional needs or off-the-court issues.

This man continues to ride high on a championship wave. A little over a year ago, he wanted to be traded. Now people mention him as being hall of fame material. That’s the “Truth.”

Round 3, Pick 7: Paul Pierce, SG/SF, Boston Celtics

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 7 - Paul Pierce


Chris Kaman and Baron Davis

The Fig Cap: “Hey, B-Diddy, you’re wearing your old uniform, bro.”
“WhatyoutalkingaboutChris?!?!?!?”

Baron Davis will be taking the Boom Dizzle down from NorCal to SoCal as he will no longer sport his beard in the Yay Area, but instead in the City of Angels where no doubt his ability to drain buckets (and miss them like he was Stevie Wonder), drop the rock (bathroom humor not intended), and be a threat on the floor will no doubt thrill the fans at the Clip Joint!  Yes… I’m talking about the Los Angeles Clippers and, believe it or not, it’s totally possible for their fans to be thrilled.  Seriously.  Why are you laughing?

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 6 - Baron Davis


cb4
There comes a point in every draft where one must come to terms with the fact that he or she may choose to select a player that is liked for one reason or another. Unlike Sarge’s issues with Carlos Boozer, this does not have to be a bad thing. Perhaps the player stars for your home team. Or perhaps you cheered him on during his college days. Sometimes you cherish the memory of picking him in a past draft when he was still a diamond in the rough.

Of course, picking a player you like could either lead to double happiness if both you and the player have a successful season, or double misery if the player tanks which subsequently submarines your team.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 4 - Chris Bosh


Elton BrandA long time ago, when I went to back to school in the fall, one of the assignments I always looked forward to was the “What you did over the summer” write up. It gave one the opportunity to recall the events and experiences of the past summer. Can you imagine if Elton Brand had to do a write-up for this past summer? It might read something like “…woke up one morning and decided to opt out of contract that would have paid me $16 million this season…looking for new long term contract with the Clippers…new PG Baron Davis joins Clippers and noted that he would like to ball with me…get a phone call from agent that Philadelphia 76ers are interested…decided the lure of Philly steak sandwiches was too much and sign with the 76ers for 5 years, $82 million …” Damn, what an eventful summer for Elton Brand?! It makes that family BBQ of mine look kind of boring. 

 

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 1, Pick 8 -  Elton Brand


Jose Calderon And you all wonder why I despise any sort of extra curricular basketball…

From the Toronto Star:

Jose Calderon will not play for Spain today in the Olympic men’s basketball semifinals.

The Raptor point guard has what’s being called a partial tear of the adductor muscle, an injury revealed after an MRI here on Thursday.

Toronto officials are following up with Spanish doctors to discover the severity of the injury, treatment options and a prognosis.

Obviously, there is plenty of time for Calderon to heal up.  But with the Raps trading away TJ Ford, this is something that the team can ill afford.  Don’t move him too far down your rankings quite yet, but Toronto’s assist machine will definitely be on the shelf for a few weeks.


Kevin Garnett
We have made some changes to the way we run our mock draft this year. First of all, we decided to put the focus on head-to-head league play. Secondly, although we continue to take turns making picks behind the scenes, we do not necessarily post articles on players that we picked. This way, we hope to at least have five new picks for review every week leading up to the start of the season.

Having said that, I paid extra attention to this slot in the order. This is where I will be drafting in my main league come October. Someone else made the pick, but this is someone I will have to seriously consider when I am on the clock.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 1, Pick 5 - Kevin Garnett


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