He’s only played 33 minutes all of preseason.  He only averaged 21 minutes per game last April.  So why is Andris Biedrins such a highly touted commodity?  Upside, baby, upside.

These are his only drawbacks.  If he starts, he has 10-10 written all over him.  Well guess what boys and girls.  With that stud Adonal Foyle out of town, only Patrick O’Bryant and Brandan Wright will challenge Al Harrington and him for playing time.  Talk about a good situation.

Here are some numbers:

In starts: 10.2 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.8 BPG, 1.0 SPG, on 58.9% FG in 31 minutes
Off the bench: 7.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 0.4 SPG in 21 minutes

So yeah, I’d say it’s pretty crucial he starts.  He played in the Warriors first preseason game, then missed a slew of others with a foot/toe injury, but played in their October 23 game against Seattle, pouring in 11 points and 11 rebounds in 21 minutes.  That’s pretty promising.  The lack of frontcourt depth in the Bay Area is a great sign too.  Wright has shown some signs, but he’s still awfully raw and won’t get a whole lot of burn.  O’Bryant is much of the same situation, and isn’t really a threat to outplay our Latvian stud.

So what can we expect this year?

I’d say something around the same as last year.  He’s improved each year as he’s gotten more minutes, and hopefully this doesn’t change this year.  He’s a possible (if not probable) double-double threat given enough minutes, which he should get.  He’s a block machine, and is more than capable of averaging over a steal a game.  His FT% isn’t too fancy, but his FG% makes up for that.

One thing to be wary about, Mickael Pietrus was just named the starting power forward by Nellie.  This is, of course, because Stephen Jackson is suspended. When he comes back, it means either Pietrus is back on the bench, or Jackson gets shifted to center and Biedrins rides the bench.  That is a scary thought indeed, but it’s hard to ignore Biedrins’ potential, even if he plays 20-25 minutes a night.

He fits this team like a glove.  He’s the second center, which is a good place for anyone to be drafting him.  Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, and Kirk Hinrich will more than balance out his FT%, and playing alongisde Marcus Camby, this team is set in blocks and boards.  Once again, if he ends up on the bench after week one, this team will be hurting more than Dirk Nowitzki’s ego in June, but I drafted him here before the Pietrus announcement.

Don Nelson is a crazy dude.  Keep that in mind.

Other Members On This Fantasy Team:
1.2 Kobe Bryant, SG, LA Lakers
2.11 Ray Allen, SG, Boston Celtics
3.2 Marcus Camby, C, Denver Nuggets
4.11 Kevin Durant, SG/SF, Seattle Supersonics
5.2 Kirk Hinrich, PG/SG, Chicago Bulls

Previous Picks This Round:
6.1. Jason Terry, PG/SG, Dallas Mavericks
6.2. David West, PF, New Orleans Hornets
6.3. Luol Deng, SG/SF, Chicago Bulls
6.4. Danny Granger, SF/PF, Indiana Pacers
6.5. Andre Miller, PG, Philadelphia 76ers
6.6. Samuel Dalembert, C, Philadelphia 76ers
6.7. Al Harrington, PF/C, Golden State Warriors
6.8. Ben Gordon, SG, Chicago Bulls
6.9 Leandro Barbosa, PG/SG, Phoenix Suns
6.10 Zydrunas Ilguaskas, C, Cleveland Cavaliers

Previous Round Selections
Round One Recap
Round Two Recap
Round Three Recap
Round Four Recap
Round Five Recap