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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


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Yao Ming
Ladies and gentlemen, here is the make-or-break pick of the year. Once worthy of a first round pick, he has crushed fantasy GMs across the land. Or rather, the injury bugs that keep biting him have led to many crying themselves to sleep over a lost fantasy season.

Yahoo still has him ranked in the top 25 and he is getting drafted pretty early. Can you really risk Yao Ming breaking your heart again?

Round 4, Pick 8: Yao Ming, C, Houston Rockets

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 4, Pick 8 - Yao Ming


Jason Kidd tugging on shorts
Everyone who has ever played ball, at any level, knows the universal tell for being gassed is a guy bent over, tugging on his shorts. The vultures circle Jason Kidd this year, after he did not lead the Dallas Mavericks to any success in the playoffs, and while he played as the starter on the United States basketball team, from what I saw and heard, both Chris Paul and Deron Williams outplayed him and were used more down the stretch in games. Should Jason Kidd prepare to ride into the sunset on a hall-of-fame career?

Once a surefire first-rounder, the strengths and weaknesses in his game have established themselves for many years now. The question remains, has he slipped far enough in drafts that he now becomes very good value?

Round 4, Pick 3: Jason Kidd, PG, Dallas Mavericks

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 4, Pick 3 - Jason Kidd


Ron Artest King
I know he will play for the Houston Rockets this year, but I had not come across this picture before prepping for this article and just had to use it. It was a long time ago, but my hometown Raptors passed on you twice in the draft for two dudes named Jonathan Bender (used in a trade for Antonio Davis) and some guy named Alek Redojevic (?spelling). Chicago drafted Artest with the 16th pick in the draft in 1999.

The Houston Rockets need to rid themselves of the monkey on their back that is exiting the first round of the playoffs. If, and it’s a big if, the team can stay healthy enough to become a cohesive unit, they can certainly earn a high seed in the West. This guy would stand to be the difference maker.

Round 4, Pick 2: Ron Artest, SF/PF, Houston Rockets

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 4, Pick 2 - Ron Artest


Rudy Gay
With the 12th and 13th picks in the draft, this team secured Dwyane Wade and Al Jefferson. Strengths of this pairing include scoring in particular, as well as the fact that between the two of them, the major categories have been addressed decently to start, with the exception of three-pointers. Wade is eligible at point guard while Al Jeff can play center, so there is no need to worry about positional issues.

This sounds like a good chance to draft a player who can 1) pad the stats Wade and Al Jeff are good at and 2) start to address three-pointers.

Round 3, Pick 12: Rudy Gay, SF/PF, Memphis Grizzlies

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 3, Pick 12 - Rudy Gay


TD
Gilbert Arenas was taken in the first round with the 11th pick, an interesting move by Sarge. What to do in the second round? Agent Zero needs to come back from last season’s injury-laced campaign. Thus the non-gambling conservative in me suggests putting the dice away and going with a safe, boring and unexciting pick.

Round 2, Pick 2: Tim Duncan, PF/C, San Antonio Spurs

The Fig Cap: So you picked me. And you’re not happy about it. Not like I’m jumping for joy either.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft -: Round 2, Pick 2: Tim Duncan


Luis Scola Luis Scola was quite a hot commodity in the later rounds of last year’s fantasy hoops drafts.  After a roller coaster season that saw several 20-point nights followed up by single-digit disasters, Scola showed the world once and for all that Rick Adelman simply needs to run a few plays through his power forward (with center-eligibility, mind you).

In the Olympic game versus the United States, Scola lit up the scorers table with 28 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.  And while the Olympics makes players like Carlos Delfino look like All-Stars, remember that this was against an American team that featured Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh down low. 

Sure, the addition of Ron Artest will not help matters much, but if the Rockets plan on flourishing in the crowded West, the road to success may be through a guy who averaged under 25 minutes per game last season. 


Germany's Dirk Nowitzki
Well, the Chris Kaman German basketball experience has come and gone. Dirk has carried the torch for his country. Now the question is can he carry your fantasy team this coming season?

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft 2008: Round 1, Pick 7 - Dirk Nowitzki


Chris Paul holding off Superman, Dwight Howard
We here at Dropping Dimes have selected LeBron James #1 overall for three years running now. This year our mock draft focuses towards a head-to-head league; even with the lower FT%, LBJ is a surefire pick.

Where does that leave us now with the #2 pick? Happily calling on the name of the point guard who can shove Superman to the curb, that’s where.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 1, Pick 2 - Chris Paul


Chris Paul
If you need a fantasy fix because your playoffs draw near, feel free to check our playoff primers for the Western and Eastern conferences. Also see some science being dropped in the latest installment of Sarge’s Wire to Wire and Brandon’s Beyond the Arc. And if you have some extra idle time, you can think up all the different ways to interpret B’s Fig Cap.

For now we take a walk on the reality side to focus on the playoff races going on in the NBA. Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets have been surprisingly great all year; how deep into the playoffs will they go?

Click to continue reading Playoff Picture: East vs. West


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