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Surprisingly, Joe Johnson saw an uptick in dimes per game in the second half of last year, the half where Mike Bibby was manning the point for the Hawks.

This is promising news for those trying to make JJ your number one PG this year.  Although he has more value sitting alongside a true PG and manning your SG slot, he’s a viable PG given that you draft accordingly.  He was 16th in assists per game last year, behind guys who haven’t yet been taken in our mock.  But at the same time, he averaged 4.5 boards per and over 2 threes a game.

Round 3, Pick 9 - Joe Johnson

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 9 - Joe Johnson


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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


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Had Andrew Bynum been healthy all of last year, we may have a different World Champion team.  There’s no doubt the Lakeshow missed his 2 blocks, almost 2 dimes, and more importantly, his 10 rebounds per and that huge inside presence.  But that’s spilled milk.  Most sites have Bynum ranked at about the 10th best center, and he’s the ninth taken in our draft.  Check out why after the jump…

Round 3, Pick 6 - Andrew Bynum

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 6 - Andrew Bynum


Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce
It was anticipated that it would be a summer of change for the Detroit Pistons. Soon after the Boston Celtics eliminated the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, the President of Basketball Operations, Joe Dumars, vowed to make some changes. He felt that his players were getting complacent and missing the sense of urgency they had during their championship run. Dumars claimed that he would trade any player on the roster and the only untouchable was Rodney Stuckey (?!).  A coaching change was the first course of action; Flip Saunders was fired and replaced by former Piston, Michael Curry. The summer has come and gone, the Detroit’s roster remains virtually the same heading into training camp (the lone addition was Kwame Brown (?!) as a free agent). Dumars has stated prior to the start of training camp that the nucleus of the team will stay together for now.

This year will be Chancey Billups’ seventh season with the Pistons; let’s see how the seven-year itch may affect his numbers this year. 

Round 3, Pick 5 – Chauncey Billups PG, Detroit Pistons

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 5 - Chauncey Billups


Antawn Jamison
Drafting in the four spot has so far yielded a top flight center Amare Stoudemire and Rashard Lewis, a SF/PF-eligible player who can fill it up from outside while strengthening the percentages. Options in the third round are to either add a point guard, or find another PF-eligible player who can score, rebound, and hit the trey. Teamed with ‘Shard, this player helps make this fantasy team’s forward spots a tough check when it comes to moneyballs.

Round 3, Pick 4: Antawn Jamison, SF/PF, Washington Wizards

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 4 - Antawn Jamison


Deron Williams

The Fig Cap: “Yeah… Chris Paul, who?”

Okay, Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz isn’t exactly to the point of mocking Chris Paul, arguably the first overall fantasy basketball pick, of the New Orleans Hornets, but he is more than holding his own.  Unfortunately, for Raymond Felton, the same cannot be said of him.  For those of you that don’t remember the 2005 NBA Draft, Williams was drafted third overall, Paul fourth overall, and Felton fifth overall.  While Felton is still trying to relatively find his way in the NBA, Paul and Williams are perennial All-Star caliber players and the latter should be climbing up fantasy basketball drafts as the season gets closer.  How many potential 20-10 players are there in the NBA?  Only several, and Williams is one.

Round 3, Pick 3 - Deron Williams, PG, Utah Jazz

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 3 - Deron Williams


Josh Smith blockI need to admit something; I have a serious man-crush on Josh Smith. I do not mean the stalking or restraining order type of crush. It is a crush on Josh Smith’s stat-stuffing ways and what he can contribute to one’s fantasy b-ball team, especially in blocks.

I remember the fascination began in his rookie season. It was a cold December day and during my daily routine of reviewing basketball box scores, there was a game between Atlanta and Detroit and Josh Smith had four blocks. I remember reviewing his game logs prior to the Detroit game and noticed that he had registered at least a block in the four games and back then he was SG/SF-eligible which was an added bonus. I plucked Smith off the waiver wire and plugged him into the lineup. Later in the month, Josh Smith registered 10 blocks in a game at Dallas!! I guarantee Josh Smith was claimed off every waiver wire after the Dallas game. J-Smoove single-handled won the blocks category during my H2H match-up that week!

I was able to draft him in the following season and since then Josh Smith has eluded my fantasy team. This year might be the year that I will re-ignite the man-crush with Josh Smith. Have a peep and see why you should share my man-crush with J-Smoove.

Round 2, Pick 12 – Josh Smith, SF/PF, Atlanta Hawks

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 12 - Josh Smith


Dwight Howard kiss
Have you heard about the notion that in life, the chance of something happening is always 50%? If you flip a coin, it will either land on hands or it won’t. Forget the one in six chance taught to you in Grade 4 when considering the odds of a die landing on three. It either lands on three or it doesn’t…50%!

Now before you start applying this simple yet philosophical math to the roulette table, please stop and let me be clear in that I bring this up all for the sake of an attempt at setting up a punchline.

Winning in fantasy hoops? Either Dwight Howard will be on your team this year or he will not. Either you will win with Dwight Howard or you will not. 50%...kind of like his free throw percentage. What about your chances of kissing the rim like Dwight can? Zero. Let’s stay real.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 11 - Dwight Howard


David West When selecting at the end of the second round, not only do you get to pair this person with a relative stud in the league, but this is also where you capitalize on the settings on which your league is constructed.  With Kobe Bryant falling to third overall, this team already has a solid foundation in… well, all things Kobe. 

With this league being of the head-to-head variety, adding a well-rounded big is ideal.  One that will help build off of the scoring foundation while adding some boards and not killing any of your percentages.  I think I have just the man for the job…

Round 2, Pick 10 - David West, PF, New Orleans Hornets

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 10 - David West


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