PJ Carlesimo Fired – Fantasy Impact

PJ Carlesimo got fired recently as head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder at 1-13 currently have the worst record in the NBA. With the new hometown fans growing restless, general manager Sam Presti decided to make a move.

A few stories around the team indicate that the players had quit on Carlesimo and weren’t giving a good enough effort. New coach Scott Brooks will try to turn that around and make the Thunder at least a respectable basketball team.

As far as fantasy basketball is concerned, there were a few subtle difference right away with Brooks in charge. First of all, Damien Wilkins got his first start of the season as Brooks decided to go small. Wilkins was put in at shooting guard with Kevin Durant moving to small forward, Jeff Green moving to power forward and Nick Collison moving to center. Previously, Carlesimo had been using Johan Petro and Robert Swift at center. Under Brooks, neither Petro nor Swift played.

Chris Wilcox also appears to be part of Brooks’ plan. Wilcox played a season-high number of minutes of the bench. Joe Smith also had a healthy role as the team’s backup center. The point guard situation continues to be Earl Watson in the starting lineup backed up by Russell Westbrook.

All told, it appears as if Brooks will go smaller and faster than Carlesimo. That could lead to more shot attempts for Durant and should help the fantasy values of players such as Wilkins, Collison and Wilcox. Green should also be called upon to grab more rebounds and block a few shots.