For those playing playoff fantasy basketball, you now have eight teams to choose from instead of 16. Here is the fantasy All-Star team comprised of those players still alive in the 2009 NBA Playoffs:

Lebron James, Cleveland Cavaliers (Image: Newscom)

C Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
After plenty of rest following his Game 6 suspension in the first round, look for Dwight Howard to try to beat up on the depleted Boston Celtics. With Kevin Garnett out, Howard could go off.

PF Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
The Nuggets are a difficult matchup but Dirk Nowitzki should be able to have a solid series. He started off slow against the San Antonio Spurs but is starting to heat up.

SF LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Nobody is playing as well or as determined as LeBron James. He’s a fantasy basketball beast at this point.

SG Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are going to get a tough test from the Houston Rockets. That said, expect Kobe Bryant to get loose for a few big games.

PG Chauncey Billups, Denver Nuggets
In the first round, Chauncey Billups was amazing. Against the Mavs, he’ll try to continue that magic.

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.

5. Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors
Although Bosh had a stretch of the season in which he struggled, he’s back to playing great basketball. The acquisition of Shawn Marion has opened up his game a little bit and he’s able to concentrate more on scoring the basketball.

4. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron has been shooting the ball extremely well from the outside, shooting better than 41% on three-pointers in the month of March. If he can add good outside shooting to his repertoire, he’ll become even more impossible to defend.

3. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
His three-pointers aren’t dropping at their normal rate (30% in March) but Nowitzki is still a scoring machine. He’s had a few recent games in which he’s looked as good as ever. If he can remain hot, he could be the best fantasy bigman down the stretch.

2. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
As the Lakers make their push for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, Bryant is starting to pick up more of the load. Scoring more than 30 points per game in the month, he’s peaking at the perfect time for Kobe fantasy owners.

1. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
There’s simply no player as hot as Wade is right now. His numbers since the All-Star break have been ridiculous. For the month of March, he’s averaging more than 37 points per game.

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.

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.

Shortly after the Dallas Mavericks were eliminated from the 2008 NBA playoffs by the New Orleans Hornets, rumors surfaced that Avery Johnson will be fired. Johnson, the head coach of the Mavericks, is just a couple years removed from leading Dallas to the NBA Finals.

However, since that appearance in the Finals, everything has been downhill for Johnson and the Mavs. After getting up 2-0 in the Finals, the Miami Heat came back and won four straight games to claim the NBA championship. Last season, the Mavericks fell to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. Now this season, the Mavs again lost in the first round of the playoffs.

While the decision to fire Johnson is questionable, fantasy basketball owners will actually view this move as a positive for the players on the Mavs. Under Johnson, the Mavericks played a slow paced game that concentrated mostly on defense. If Mark Cuban and the Mavs bring in an offensive coach, players such as Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowtizki and Josh Howard could see their fantasy production skyrocket.

Keep an eye on who the Mavs hire to be their new coach if Johnson is indeed fired. If it’s an offensive coach, such as Mike D’Antoni, fantasy owners should definitely take note.

Photo: Newscom

1) Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns
As the season went on, Amare Stoudemire got strong and stronger. By the last couple months of the season, Stoudemire was by far the best fantasy basketball bigman in the game. His past injury concerns are now behind him.

Amare Dunk Mix …

2) Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
The only reason Kevin Garnett slipped a bit in fantasy basketball was because the Celtics were just too good. With Garnett’s minutes down, his overall fantasy impact wasn’t as impressive. However, he was still a very good player this year.

3) Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
Dirk Nowitzki didn’t have the most consistent season of his career but he had a good fantasy year. He was strong in the areas he was supposed to be strong in and stayed relatively healthy. If Jason Kidd stays on his side, expect him to put up better stats next year.

4) Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors
One of the most underrated players in the NBA is Chris Bosh. He’s a young bigman who continues to get better and better. He’s basically like a Garnett-type player in the making. Next year expect him to take another big step forward.

5) Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz
While Carlos Boozer’s stats weren’t as good as they were last year, he was a consistent threat throughout the season. He didn’t have too many bad games and stayed healthy. Over the next few years, Boozer will likely remain a steady fantasy force.

The news surrounding Dirk Nowitzki is about as positive as fantasy owners could hope. The Dallas Mavericks star, who suffered what looked to be a gruesome injury against the San Antonio Spurs, could possible return as soon as the end of this coming week.

The chances seem slim that the injuries that Nowitzki suffered are seasoning-ending. Instead, it appears to now just be a matter of time. Friday, April 4th against the Los Angeles Lakers could possibly be the date that Nowitzki returns to the court for the Mavs.

Once Nowitzki is able to return, you should not hesitate at all in getting him back into your fantasy lineup. Nowitzki is very good at playing with injuries and he should be close to 100% effective once he returns. While you may need to take a wait and see approach with some players, that isn’t the case with Nowitzki.

As long as Nowitzki misses time, Josh Howard appears willing and able to carry the load. Howard is playing great basketball right now and is helping the Mavs stay competitive with Nowtizki out. Once Nowitzki returns, expect Howard to come back down to earth.