The Dallas Mavericks have needed more size and strength in recent years. On Thursday, they addressed that need by getting a commitment from Marcin Gortat. The native of Poland spent the first two years of his NBA career backup up Dwight Howard on the Orlando Magic.

The contract the Mavs will reportedly give Gortat is the entire mid-level exception. Over five years, Gortat is expected to make more than $30 million. Due to Gortat being a restricted free agent, the Magic will have a chance to match the contract offer.

Last year, Gortat averaged 3.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 12.6 minutes.

In fantasy basketball, Gortat will be a boom or bust type player. His per-minute numbers suggest he’s a very good rebounder and shot blocker. However, it’s risky depending on per-minute numbers.

If Gortat is the starting center for the Magic, he very well could be worth a look in the mid rounds of a fantasy basketball draft next year simply based on his potential.

Rumors have been circulating recently that Shaquille O’Neal may wind up with the Dallas Mavericks for the 2009-10 NBA season. O’Neal is currently with the Phoenix Suns but there have been rumblings over the last few months that he may be on the move this summer.

Could Shaq and Dirk become teammates? (Image: Newscom)

At age 37, O’Neal is having one of his best seasons of the last half decade. In 30.4 minutes per game, O’Neal is averaging 18 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. He’s also shooting a career-high from both the field (61.2%) and his highest free throw percentage (60.5%) since the 2002-03 season.

Since losing against O’Neal and the Miami Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals, the Mavs have fallen a long ways. Currently, they are the eighth seed in the Western Conference and are on a path that will lead them to a loss against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.

If they trade for O’Neal in the offseason, the Mavs would get the dominant interior player they’ve always lacked. The two-man tandem of O’Neal and Dirk Nowitzki would be very difficult for any team to defend.

For fantasy basketball purposes, it’d be risky to bank on O’Neal next season. He’s at an age where his skills will likely start declining and on top of that, he hasn’t been a very durable regular season player in recent history. In fantasy leagues that count free throw percentage and turnovers, O’Neal could actually hurt more than help your team.

Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
In Dwayne Wade’s last five games, the Heat guard is averaging 32 points, 6.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds. On top of those numbers, he’s averaging 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals. While his struggling a bit from downtown, his field goal percentage has been solid.

Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
In the month of December, Dirk Nowitzki has been on fire. He’s averaging more than 30 points and his rebounding numbers and shooting percentages are way up. Nowitzki had a slow start to the season but has recently regained his MVP form.

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are a horrible basketball team but Kevin Durant has been very good as of late. He’s averaging more than 25 points and six rebounds in his last five games. His field goal percentage isn’t the best but he’s sizzling from beyond the three-point arc.

Zach Randolph, Los Angeles Clippers
Since being traded to the Clippers, Zach Randolph has played very good basketball. In fact, he’s doing a good Elton Brand imitation. In the last five games, he has five straight games in which he has scored at least 20 point. In his latest outing, Randolph had 38 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Photo credit: Newscom

The big news for the Dallas Mavericks recently has been the absence of forward Josh Howard. Although Howard was listed as day-to-day, on Tuesday the team revealed that he’s been given a walking boot and will be sidelined for an indefinite period of time. For Howard fantasy owners, that means you probably will have to wait for at least another couple of weeks before getting him back in your lineup.

The odd aspect about Howard’s absence is that it has actually helped the Mavs. They are playing much better without him. The main reason why is the play of JJ Barea. Barea is a small guard who has played stunningly well in the last handful of games. Not only can he create plays, Barea is also a quality scorer. He can shoot from range and also finish at the basket. In the fantasy world, he’s definitely a player to pick up right now if you have the room on your roster. He’s not going to stay this hot forever but he probably has cemented a large role for himself going forward.

Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Jason Kidd are all playing about how you’d expect. Nowitzki’s shooting percentage is a bit low but his scoring and rebounding are up. Terry is like Nowitzki — lower than usual shooting percentage but more points. Kidd’s points, assists and rebounds are down a bit but he’s swiping steals at a good rate and also shooting the ball very well.

No one else on the Mavs is too interesting fantasy-wise. Brandon Bass scores the ball at a good clip but doesn’t get enough minutes. Erick Dampier is a good rebounder but he too isn’t getting consistent minutes.

Photo credit: Newscom

In fantasy basketball, the players that help your free throw percentage the most are players who get to the line a lot and hit for a high percentage. Here is a look at fantasy basketball players who can get to the line and drain their attempts:

Dirk Nowtizki, Dallas Mavericks
If you have Dirk Nowitzki on your fantasy team, you have to love what he does for you at the free throw line. Not only does he get there often, he also is hitting over 90% from the charity stripe. Since he’s the Mavericks’ number one option offensively, he’ll have no trouble getting to the line this season.

Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors
Chris Bosh is second in the NBA in free throws mad and is currently hitting over 83% at the line. So far this season, Bosh has been arguably the best fantasy power forward in the game. A part of the reason is his ability to get to the line and convert.

Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns
His free throw numbers are a lot like Bosh’s, although Stoudemire has more of a history of getting to the line. And with his public comments recently about wanting the ball more, that should lead to even more free throw attempts.

Devin Harris, New Jersey Nets
For a point guard, Devin Harris gets to the line an insane amount of times. He’s also connecting on his free throws this season — shooting higher than 80%. Of any guard in fantasy basketball, Harris will help you the most in the free throw category.

PER is a formula created by John Hollinger to measure productivity of NBA players on a per-minute basis. In fantasy basketball, you can use PER to find players who may blossom once given more minutes. Here is a look at some early PER sleepers for the 2008-09 fantasy basketball season:

Nick Young, Washington Wizards
In only 23.7 minutes per game, Nick Young is averaging 15.7 points. The Wizards knew he could score but he’s off to an unbelievable start. He is shooting 50% from the floor and has hit all 15 of his free throw attempts. While his other stats outside of the scoring column aren’t eye popping, Young is showing superstar level potential. If he can continue to produce at a high level, Washington will have to find even more minutes for him.

Rudy Fernandez, Portland Trail Blazers
Rudy Fernandez isn’t quite a star in the NBA but he is definitely showing he’s very good on a per-minute basis. It’s only a matter of time that he’ll start playing 30+ minutes per game. When he does, he could quickly become a very valuable fantasy basketball option. He has a lot of competition on the Trail Blazers for playing time but he’s too good to sit long.

Trevor Ariza, Los Angeles Lakers
Although he comes off the bench and only plays 22 minutes per game, Trevor Ariza is already a decent fantasy basketball player. If his minutes rise, he has the potential to be a stud. His points, rebounding, blocks, steals and shooting percentages are all improved. In fact, Ariza has added a three-point shot to his repertoire which has made him an even more dangerous player.

Gerald Green, Dallas Mavericks
In summer league, Gerald Green was extremely impressive. He also mixed in a few impressive preseason games. Even though he’s played extremely limited minutes, his PER is extremely impressive. The Mavericks have tried a bunch of different players in their starting shooting guard position. If Green gets a shot and proves to be a starter, he has the talent to be a scoring machine.

The Dallas Mavericks have roughly the same team that they had last season, but with a new coach at the helm, expect big changes. Rick Carlisle is promising to let the offense be faster paced than it was under Avery Johnson. He’s also going to make the defense more of a gambling unit than a bend-but-don’t-break unit.

All told, these changes should have positive effects on may of the players on the roster in terms of their fantasy basketball status. Dirk Nowitzki should see his scoring average rise and should also see more three-pointers. If his numbers would go down anywhere, it might be rebounding because Carlisle doesn’t have him crashing the boards as much as Johnson did.

The player who this new offense should really help is Jason Kidd. Under Johnson, Kidd looked totally uncomfortable playing for Dallas. But now with the offense basically under his guidance, expect Kidd to put up a lot of triple doubles and a lot of nights with a big amount of assists. The only thing that could stop Kidd this season is age or injury.

Josh Howard and Jason Terry should both see their numbers go up a bit. If Howard is used more at power forward, his rebounding and blocked shot numbers could rise. Terry may start at shooting guard for Carlisle, which would be good for his scoring numbers and his overall consistency.

Other than these four players, there doesn’t seem to be much potential for quality fantasy basketball players to emerge from this roster. Erick Dampier might be a surprise if he plays big minutes, but foul trouble usually limits that from happening.

1. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers won the West last season and appear to be even stronger this season.

2. New Orleans Hornets
For the second straight year, I expect the Hornets to finish with the second best record in the West.

3. Houston Rockets
There’s no denying the Rockets got better in the offseason — and they were already pretty darn good.

4. Utah Jazz
The Jazz may be the sleeper team in the Western Conference that is capable of finishing in the top two.

5. San Antonio Spurs
Without Manu Ginobili in the lineup, the Spurs will struggle to have their usual regular season success.

6. Phoenix Suns
It’ll be interesting to see how the Terry Porter will be able to transform this team in his first year as coach.

7. Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers have playoff aspirations. They should be able to make it as long as they stay healthy.

8. Dallas Mavericks
Without Avery Johnson, the Mavericks will have to face the harsh reality that they simply aren’t that good.

Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks was arrested after he was caught racing on public streets. Howard was clocked going nearly 100 miles per hour in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

Howard, who is from around Winston Salem and went to school at local Wake Forest University, has seen his name in the headlines in the last few months. For Howard, the bad news is he has been in the news for the wrong reasons.

Howard admitted to smoking marijuana in the offseason during the regular season. He then went on to struggle for the Mavs as they lost in the first round of the playoffs against the New Orleans Hornets. Now Howard has some more trouble to worry about.

The Mavs aren’t expected to do anything drastic such as waive him or trade him for less than his full value. Why? Here is a video of Josh Howard at his best on the basketball court:

Read more

The Atlanta Hawks and restricted free agent Josh Smith don’t appear to be getting closer to agreeing to a new contract. Reports indicate that the Hawks have offered Smith at least $11M a year but Smith wants more.

With free agent money dried up around the NBA, Smith appears likely to either re-sign with the Hawks or be traded in a sign-and-trade deal. If Smith is indeed involved in a sign-and-trade deal, where would he end up? Here are the leading possibilities:

Detroit Pistons - The Pistons have a lot of veteran player who they are willing to offer to bring in a superstar. While Smith isn’t a superstar quite yet, he’s well on his way of becoming a superstar. Chauncey Bilulps and Tayshaun Prince may be involved in a deal that would bring back Smith.

Los Angeles Lakers - With Lamar Odom as trade bait, the Lakers definitely could be a factor in the Josh Smith talks. If the Lakers were to offer Odom and a few young players, the Hawks would likely have to consider their offer if talks with Smith stall.

Dallas Mavericks - The Mavericks have long had interest in Smith and could use Josh Howard as a piece to bring in Smith. The Hawks would obviously want more than just Howard but Howard would allow the Hawks to replace Smith with a proven winner who could keep Atlanta competitive.

Houston Rockets - If the rumors are true that Tracy McGrady may be traded, a TMac for Smith deal makes sense for both sides. The Rockets get a defensive oriented player who they can use to build around. The Hawks get a big name superstar to compensate for the loss of Smith.

Here is a video discussing more Josh Smith rumors: