2) Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
Pau Gasol’s game really exploded once he hit Los Angeles. He was ranked highly going into the season and showed glimpses of reaching his very high potential. In coming seasons, Gasol will be a fantasy basketball force.

3) Yao Ming, Houston Rockets
If it wasn’t for injury, Yao Ming would have finished as a top-two center in fantasy basketball. His numbers weren’t as impressive as past years but Yao was very solid. However, in coming seasons, fantasy owners will be worried about whether or not he’ll ever be able to remain healthy.

4) Chris Kaman, Los Angeles Clippers
Of the centers this season, Chris Kaman was the surprise of the season. He produced at a high rate for a large portion of the year. With Elton Brand sidelined for much of the campaign, Kaman filled in nicely and produced comparable numbers.

5) Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
While Tim Duncan isn’t a great fantasy player, he was a solid force this season. He doesn’t’ play a huge amount of minutes, so his days of being a dominant fantasy player is over. In real life, though, Duncan is among the best who ever played.

Tim Duncan Mix …

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Size is the biggest concern for Abrams. At 5-foot-11 and 155 pounds, Abrams is one of the tinniest draft prospects in recent history. What compounds that problem is that he hasn’t shown much of an ability to play point guard. In this past season, he averaged 16.5 points but only 1.5 assists.

Abrams also hasn’t shown to be a great outside shooter. With a field goal percentage under 43%, NBA scouts wonder whether he’d be able to score on the NBA level.

Next year at Texas, Abrams will need to prove to NBA scouts that he can play point guard. With DJ Augustin likely headed to the NBA, Abrams should have a chance to win the team’s starting point guard job. If he can average around five assists and raise his field goal percentage to about 45%, he’ll have a shot of being a first round pick in 2009.

AJ Abrams Interview:

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It’s the same knee that forced Arenas to miss last year’s playoffs and almost the entire regular season. The good news is that the injury is being called a bruised knee. Currently, it isn’t believed that Arenas suffered any structural damage.

Down 0-2 in the series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Wizards blew out the Cavs 108-72. Before leaving with injury, Arenas played ten minutes and had two points and three assists.

Arenas having an issue with his troublesome knee has to concern fantasy basketball owners heading into the 2008-09 NBA season. It’s been over a year since Arenas was able to play pain-free and at 100%.

There is a good chance that the Wizards will hold out Arenas for the rest of the series against the Cavaliers – and perhaps for the rest of the playoffs.

Watch this recap of the game between the Wizards and Cavaliers:

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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.

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The first thing you notice about Augustin is his size – or lack thereof. At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, Augustin is a tiny NBA prospect. While he’s not going to get any taller, he could help himself by adding some strength and muscle to his frame.

What NBA scouts like about Augustin is his point guard ability. While he can score the ball, he’s also a good playmaker. He has good toughness and the innate point guard skills that are important for success in the NBA.

Last year at Texas, Augustin averaged 19.2 points and 5.8 assists. At the college level, he’s shown the ability to hit the three-pointer. However, when Texas lost to Memphis during March Madness, Augustin didn’t play too well – finishing with 16 points and three assists on 4-for-18 shooting from the floor.

Augustin isn’t a perfect prospect but a team that wants to take a chance on a legit point guard will draft him at some point in the first round.

Texas vs OK State

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At 7-feet and 250 pounds, Jordan definitely has the size to be a center in the NBA. And 19-years-old, Jordan will undoubtedly get bigger and stronger. A number of scouts believe he’s the best true center prospect in the 2008 draft.

On the other hand, there are a number of scouts who aren’t convinced he’s anything more than a project bigman. Jordan averaged approximately eight points and six rebounds in his freshman season. At the end of the season, Jordan wasn’t doing much of anything. Scouts have questioned his work ethic and his basketball IQ.

Despite those questions, size matters in the NBA draft. Jordan, based on his size and athleticism alone, will be a lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. If he plays well in front of NBA scouts before the draft, he could even move into the top five picks.

Read about more 2008 NBA Draft Prospects.

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“I think without a doubt that Andrew would come off the bench, and we would play him a little bit off the bench if there was any chance that he could come back and play again, but it’s such a remote thing,” Jackson told The Los Angeles Daily News. “We’re not seriously thinking about it.”

Even without Bynum, the Lakers were able to dominate in their first game of the playoffs. Defeating the Denver Nuggets 128-114, Pau Gasol led the way for Los Angeles with 36 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists. Kobe Bryant chipped in with 32 points.

If Bynum does indeed miss the rest of the season, Gasol would remain the team’s center. In the frontcourt, he’d likely continue to be joined by Lamar Odom and Vladimir Radmanovic at the forward positions. Derek Fisher joins Bryant in the backcourt.

Before getting hurt this season, Bynum was averaging 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. He was also shooting 63.6% from the field.

Andrew Bynum before his injury:

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Although he played in Game 1, he admitted afterwards to being hampered by the injury. Head coach Mike D’Antoni said that he was going to do a better job of limiting Hill’s minutes if he saw Hill not at 100%.

If Hill isn’t able to start, expect Leandro Barbosa to start in his place. If Barbosa starts, he’d play shooting guard and Raja Bell would move over to small forward. Gordon Giricek would also likely see an increase in playing time.

For the season, Hill averaged 13.1 points, five rebounds and nearly three assists per game. In Game 1 of this series, Hill had five points and seven rebounds.

Grant Hill Highlight Video:

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In his freshman season at LSU, he had extremely impressive stats. Randolph averaged 15.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. If he were to stay in school, there’s no question that Randolph would have been one of the best players in college basketball next season.

Randolph’s size and length has scouts salivating. At 6-foot-10 with long arms, Randolph has the length to play power forward. However, at just 200 pounds, he still needs to bulk up and get stronger.

Despite his height, Randolph seems to have the ability to play small forward in the NBA. Currently, he’s built a lot like Tayshaun Price and he has a similar game, except Randolph isn’t yet a very good outside shooter. He’ll need to improve in that regard if he is to truly thrive at small forward in the NBA.

With his size, athleticism, youth and varied skills, Randolph is looking more and more like a high lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Scouts have him pegged anywhere from the fourth pick to the tenth pick. While there are surer bets in this draft, few players have the potential that Randolph possesses.

More 2008 NBA Draft Prospects.

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1. Miami Heat – Derrick Rose
While Michael Beasley is a great prospect, the Heat desperately need a point guard to put next to Dwyane Wade. Derrick Rose would work perfectly with the Heat.

2. Seattle Supersonics – Michael Beasley
Michael Beasley, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green would give the Supersonics an amazing swingman rotation. That threesome would be able to grow up together and learn how to win.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves – Brook Lopez
Al Jefferson needs a bigman next to him to help take some of the pressure off of him. Brook Lopez would fit nicely beside Jefferson and give Minnesota a great one-two punch.

4. Memphis Grizzlies – Danilo Gallinari
The Grizzlies don’t need point guard help so they will instead reach for the best European player in the draft.

5. New York Knicks – OJ Mayo
OJ Mayo was born to be on the big stage. With the Knicks, Mayo could step in and become a scorer right away.

6. Los Angeles Clippers – Jerryd Bayless
With Shaun Livington’s future still in doubt and no other real point guard on the roster, Jerryd Bayless makes too much sense to pass up.

7. Milwaukee Bucks – Kevin Love
The Bucks need a power forward to help out Andrew Bogut. Kevin Love would fit nicely into that position and form a strong frontcourt for the Bucks.

8. Charlotte Bobcats – Eric Gordon
The Bobcats always seem to be on the lookout for scorers and Eric Gordon would definitely be another scorer for Charlotte.

9. Chicago Bulls – DeAndre Jordan
Chicago has a lot of talent on their roster but they still need a player with a lot of size and bulk. That’s where DeAndre Jordan would come in.

10. New Jersey Nets – Anthony Randolph
At number ten, the Nets would be getting very good value on Anthony Randolph. He’s definitely the best player available on the board at this point.

More about NBA draft prospects

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