So…how best to maximize having Amare Stoudemire on your fantasy team? As the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. With arguably the best prototypical fantasy big man in tow (and center-eligible, at that), one option would be to choose a forward who can complement Amare’s decent shooting, but can also fill in some of the small ball stats.

Rashard Lewis is certainly a roto stud. How does he stack up in a head-to-head league?

Here are ‘Shard’s best and worst averages over the past three seasons.

Best: 81 GP, 46.7 FG%, 84.1 FT%, 22.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.8 3pg, 1.3 spg, 0.7 bpg, 1.7 topg

Worst: 60 GP, 45.5 FG%, 81.8 FT%, 18.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.3 spg, 1.8 3pg, 1.1 spg, 0.5 bpg, 2.0 topg

On the plus side, ‘Shard is listed as both a small forward and power forward on Yahoo! and employing a player who can shoot that amount of threes at the PF spot will definitely make your team tough to match up against. His shooting percentages do not hurt a fantasy team, and he provides consistent contribution in the steals department. Take a look at someone like Caron Butler who was taken in the first round. Caron definitely trumps ‘Shard in steals, but ‘Shard and his numbers stack up quite well against first round fodder like Butler. Plus, ‘Shard showed that he has iron man capabilities in him by missing only one game last year.

On the flip side, as solid as his stat line is, he does not generally have the monster games that the first round studs provide. He will not score more than 35 points in a game, nor will he ever grab 15 rebounds. Consistency should definitely be viewed as a wonderful trait, but big game explosiveness sure does come in handy in head-to-head leagues. Therefore, view ‘Shard as a top of the class second banana on your team. He will not single-handedly win you a week and you cannot afford a total miss when fleshing out the rest of your team during the draft. What ‘Shard is good at though, he is VERY good at.

I did not make this pick in the draft, but have enjoyed the opportunity to review ‘Shard and his game. Early in a draft, you should not worry too much about player positions, though you should have a plan regarding your point guard and center spots. If you try to wait a round or two before grabbing ‘Shard, he will not be around. If you decide to take him, expect your competition to acquire similar or comparable value at the SF spot (Carmelo Anthony, Rudy Gay, Ron Artest) with later picks, but hopefully your early to mid round picks complement your first two selections better than theirs do. In this case, Amare and ‘Shard let this team be competitive in FG%, FT%, points and rebounds, and treys, steals and blocks are solid but need to be reinforced. Only assists is a major hole at this point, so let us see if the third round means taking a point guard, in particular a point guard who can shoot the three.