Delonte West, who was one of the best players for the Cleveland Cavaliers last year in the NBA playoffs, has re-signed with the Cavs. The Cavs acquired West from the Seattle Supersonics in the three-team mega deal that also brought Ben Wallace to Cleveland.

Last year in the playoffs, West started at point guard. This year, things will be different. The Cavs traded for Mo Williams and he will be the team’s starting point guard. However, that doesn’t mean West won’t play. He should see many minutes behind Williams and even next to Williams.

As far as fantasy basketball is concerned, West is still an intriguing fantasy prospect. He can score a bit, pass adequately, get some steals and he’s a pretty good rebounder for his size. If he gets enough minutes, he could be a player that helps you out in a lot of statistical categories. The main question will be how much he’s going to play.

Look for Williams, West and Daniel Gibson to vie for minutes next to LeBron James in the 2008-09 NBA season for the Cavs.

Photo: Newscom

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The timing for this injury is extremely unfortunate for the Cavs. The Cavs trail the Celtics 3-2 and now face a must-win Game 6 without Gibson. In the playoffs, Gibson is averaging nine points per game on 44.9% shooting from the field.

Even if the Cavs can beat the Celtics in Game 6, Gibson will be out for Game 7 as well. If the Cavs come back to win the series, it’s also likely that Gibson will miss the entire series against the Detroit Pistons.

Expect Delonte West to play more minutes now that Gibson is out. West and Gibson had been sharing minutes at point guard. Damon Jones could also be in line for more minutes, especially if the Celtics aggressively double-team LeBron James to get the ball out of his hands.

Photo: Newscom

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Gibson, who has been a decent fantasy basketball player this season, is a deadeye shooter who is improving in terms of playmaking and defending. If he misses the full six weeks, Gibson would be back in early April.

With Gibson sidelined, the Cavs have a few options as far as who to plug into the hole Gibson’s departure has created. One of those options is the newly acquired Delonte West. West can play point guard and shooting guard and is also a good shooter. Damon Jones is a similar player to Gibson and could see increased playing time. Devin Brown is more of an all-around threat and he is another option head coach Mike Brown could turn to.

On a whole, the Cavs are a team to keep a close eye on. With injuries (Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic are also injured) and the big trade, it’ll be interesting to see how the rotation ends up.

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Marcus Camby, Denver Nuggets
Talk about a good opener to a season. Even though it’s only preseason, Camby showed his fantasy potential by pulling down 23 rebounds in only 25 minutes of action. As always, if Camby stays healthy he’s a great fantasy player. He can rebound, block shots and isn’t horrible in any aspect of his game. The problem has always been his health, or lack thereof.

Kevin Martin, Sacramento Kings
Martin showed last year was no fluke with 27 points in 23 minutes of action in his first game of the preseason. Martin was a very good scorer last year but was streaky at times. If he can put it together for an entire year, he could become one of the better scorers in the league. He has a lot of ability and seems to have a natural knack to score the ball.

Oleksiy Pecherov, Washington Wizards
Pecherov is a bigman prospect who the Wizards brought over from Europe this season. He’s a perimeter shooting bigman who had a successful stint during summer league for Washington. He’s not a great redraft prospect because he’s likely to come off the bench. However, in a keeper setting, he’d be a good guy to take a look at to see if he can develop a little more. Against the Cavs, Pecherov finished with 10 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes.

Daniel Gibson, Cleveland Cavaliers
Gibson became a postseason legend last year. This year, he’s looking to build upon that status. In his first preseason game, Gibson led the Cavs in scoring with 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field. More importantly for fantasy owners, he started the game for Cleveland. As a starter, Gibson is a pretty good fantasy sleeper that should be able to put up good scoring and shooting numbers this year.

Matt Bonner, San Antonio Spurs
Bonner doesn’t figure to be a huge factor in fantasy basketball, but he’s a guy to keep an eye on. If he earns a big role with the Spurs, he’s a guy who can give you unique production out of the power forward position. He can shoot the three, hit free throws and grab rebounds, plus Bonner rarely turns the ball over. Against the Mavs in San Antonio’s preseason opener, Bonner had 14 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes of action.

Maurice Ager, Dallas Mavericks
Ager’s stats weren’t very impressive (five points and six rebounds) but it looks like he’s going to play a bigger role this season with the Mavs. He led the team in minutes played (28) and seemed to be a big part of their offensive and defensive schemes. If Ager averages a solid amount of minutes, he could turn some fantasy heads.

Hilton Armstrong, New Orleans Hornets
Armstrong has been impressing the Hornets this summer and continued to do so in the team’s preseason opener. He finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks in 26 minutes of action. While Armstrong probably won’t start this season, he plays behind two injury prone players in David West and Tyson Chandler. If either one of those guys go down, Armstrong could fill in and play big minutes.

Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks
Bogut was the number one overall pick a few years ago and has yet to truly play as well as the Bucks had hoped. He’s been good but not good enough to warrant a top pick. However, he’s still young and could still grow into more of a star. His first game in preseason looked like a step in the right direction. Bogut totaled 14 points, three rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes of action.

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