His social life has been getting more press than his game. Before you start questioning his sanity, consider that he might know what things look like behind the scenes. Warning to those who do not care what the gossip hounds are spitting and wish to just keep the focus on hoops; there is not anything vulgar waiting for you if you click the link, but it certainly is only very peripherally hoops-related. Let us get back to business.

Round 6, Pick 5: Tony Parker, PG, San Antonio Spurs

On the plus side…

If comic book heroes could play in the NBA, even DC’s the Flash might not even be able to guard Parker. Okay, that is an exaggeration, but the point is Parker is crazy fast when it comes to driving to the hole with the rock in tow. In today’s NBA, a point guard shooting better than 50% from the field seems preposterous. Yet that is exactly what Parker did last year, shooting 50.8%. As he steps into a bigger scoring role on the Spurs, it seems like only a matter of time before he starts averaging 20 ppg for a whole season.

Parker swiped the rock 83 times last year and dished out 5.8 dimes a game. This is unlikely to change as he shoots more and more. In these middle rounds, six assists a game is nothing to sneeze at. And bless you if you did.

On the flip side…

Fantasy guards should shoot the three, right? Yeah, Parker doesn’t do that. He used to be good for about one moneyball a game, but over the past three seasons, his trey totals have continued to drop. Certainly this has been a positive factor in his stellar shooting percentage, but us fantasy owners need our serving of threes!  Also, for some reason he is not that great from the free-throw line (70.7% last year, 65.0% the year before). Perhaps he should take a running start from mid-court and pull up to shoot his free throws.

The final score…

Mostly I wanted a guard who would not wreck this team’s solid FG%. His scoring will come in handy especially while Pau Gasol remains out of action. However though I would take Rip and Parker as my starting backcourt in a heartbeat if I was an NBA GM, in fantasyland I am still shy on three-pointers even with Peja in tow. This probably means I will have to draft a couple of long bomb specialists in the coming rounds.

Other team members:

1.8. Elton Brand, PF, Los Angeles Clippers
2.5. Pau Gasol, PF/C, Memphis Grizzlies
3.8. Lamar Odom, SF/PF, Los Angeles Lakers
4.5. Peja Stojakovic, SF, New Orleans Hornets
5.8. Richard Hamilton, SG, Detroit Pistons