Baron Davis, the starting point guard for the Los Angeles Clippers, has missed the last two games. He’s dealing both stomach ulcers and a strained calf. The ulcers have been a reoccurring problem throughout Davis’ NBA career.

Despite missing time, Davis is hopeful he can return to the Clippers lineup on Wednesday against the New Orleans Hornets. He’s taking medication for his ulcers and is resting his calf strain.

If you’ve had Davis on your fantasy basketball team this year, you’ve undoubtedly been thoroughly disappointed. He’s averaging a nine-year low in points per game at 15.4 and a career-low shooting percentage of 36.9%. The only silver lining of his season is that his assists are slightly up from last year.

Considering that the Clippers are trying to gather as many ping pong balls as possible for the 2009 NBA Draft, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him miss most of the rest of the season. Before you stick him back into your fantasy lineup, be sure he’s active.

If you are looking for a replacement on the Clippers, consider rookie Mike Taylor. In his last three outings, Taylor has been very impressive. After setting a new career-high with 35 points against the New York Knicks, Taylor followed that up with 23 points against the San Antonio Spurs. If you need to sub out Davis, consider picking up Taylor off of the waiver wire.

If you want to know what type of athlete Taylor is, check out this amazing Mike Taylor dunk video:

Marcus Camby, the rebounding and shotblocking expert for the Los Angeles Clippers, sprained his ankle on Friday night in a game against the San Antonio Spurs. Camby landed awkwardly after attempting to block a Tim Duncan field goal attempt and had to be helped to the locker room. X-Rays at the arena were negative.

The latest news from the Clippers says that Camby will one or two weeks with a sprained ankle. However, with about three weeks left in the 2008-09 NBA season and the Clippers going nowhere, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Camby were to miss the rest of the year. For fantasy basketball owners, this is obviously devastating news.

On the season, Camby is averaging 10.6 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 51.6% from the court. As far as fantasy basketball centers are concerned, Camby is near the top of the list. His ability to rebound, block shots and shoot quality percentages from the field and the line makes him invaluable.

If Camby misses the rest of the season, expect to see more of Chris Kaman and Zach Randolph for Los Angeles at the bigman positions. Rookie center DeAndre Jordan could also see an increase in playing time.

Here is a Marcus Camby mixtape video to show what we might not see against this season:

According to Stephen Jackson of the Golden State Warriors, Baron Davis would more than welcome a trade back to the Warriors. Davis, who signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in the offseason, has reportedly had issues with head coach Mike Dunleavy’s offense.

While Davis was quick to shoot down Jackson’s remarks, there are a ton of fantasy basketball owners who would be all for the trade. With the Clippers, Davis hasn’t been much of a fantasy player this year. He’s averaging four less points, less steals, less rebounds and he’s shooting 36.1% from the field and 29.4% from beyond the three-point arc. The only good news is that his assists are slightly up while his turnovers are slightly down.

If you have Davis on your fantasy team, the best thing to do is wait it out. His field goal percentage is going to improve as he gets comfortable in Dunleavy’s offense. There’s also a chance that his assists will continue to improve if Davis becomes the distributor that Dunleavy wants him to be.

Obviously, a trade back to the Warriors would be great for his fantasy stats. However, that rumor appears to be dead and Davis appears locked into a Clippers uniform for the foreseeable future.

Photo credit: Newscom

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

Eric Gordon, Los Angeles Clippers
Since Cuttino Mobley has been traded, Eric Gordon has definitely become a fantasy viable player. He’s starting, getting good minutes and producing at a good clip. Since he’s a rookie it’s hard to tell what his ceiling is but he is looking like a player that can average between 13 and 15 points in his rookie campaign.

Kris Humphries, Toronto Raptors
With new coach Jay Triano now in charge of the Raptors after Sam Mitchell got fired, there’s some rumblings that Kris Humphries could see his minutes rise. Andre Bargnani isn’t defending well and Humphries could be the next in line for bigman minutes. His high PER suggests that he could do a good job if asked to take on a bigger load.

Matt Bonner, San Antonio Spurs
Matt Bonner has a good PER and is now starting at center for the Spurs. If he continues to get enough minutes, Bonner is helpful mostly due to his ability to make three-pointers from the center position. He’s also not a bad rebounder and he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes with the ball.

JJ Hickson, Cleveland Cavaliers
Although JJ Hickson is still a raw player, he has produced when the Cavs have put him on the floor. He’s a very good athlete at the power forward position who can score, rebound and block shots. If minutes open up due to injury or poor play, Hickson could step through the door and explode onto the scene.

Photo credit: Newscom

Along with the Jamal Crawford for Al Harrington trade, the New York Knicks also made noise on Friday by trading Zach Randolph to the Los Angeles Clippers. The deal sent Randolph and Mardy Collins to the Clippers for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas.

As far as Randolph is concerned, this is unlikely to be good news for his fantasy basketball value. With the Knicks, he was putting up very good numbers and was see a ton of touches. Mike D’Antoni basically let him shoot whenever he wanted to.

With the Clippers, Randolph will have to find time between Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman on the frontline. The Clippers also play at a much slower pace than the Knicks. The only silver lining is that the Clippers are looking for an Elton Brand replacement and Randolph has a comparable game. For that reason, Randolph could eventually get a lot of touches down the line.

As far as Mobley and Thomas are concerned, this is very good news. Mobley could conceivably step into a starting role at shooting guard to replace the departed Crawford. He’ll likely get a lot more shots — as long as D’Antoni warms up to him. Thomas previously played for D’Antoni and flourished in his system. If he gets time, he too could become fantasy relevant once again.

Marcus Camby, Los Angeles Clippers
Although Marcus Camby has been a very good fantasy basketball player the last few years, look for his reign of dominance to come to an end. First of all, Camby is always an injury risk and he’s dodged quite a few bullets the last couple of years. Second of all, the Clippers will play at a much slower pace than the Nuggets. That in itself will lower his stats across the board. There is also some question regarding how well he will mesh on the court next to Chris Kaman.

Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
Pau Gasol is a very good NBA player but he may take a hit in the fantasy world this year. With Andrew Bynum next to him, he’ll likely have to forgo some of the touches downlow that he got all of last season. Additionally, Bynum will likely take away some of the rebounds and blocks that Gasol was getting. His shooting percentages should go up but that in itself won’t make up for the loss of production elsewhere.

Brad Miller, Sacramento Kings
The first strike against Brad Miller is the fact that he’s suspended to start the season. More importantly, he doesn’t quite fit the Kings any longer. The Kings are rebuilding for the future while Miller is already in his prime. In order to take a look at young players, don’t be surprised if Miller sees his minutes limited and other bigs on the roster such as Jason Thompson, Shelden Williams and Spencer Hawes get their opportunities in the sun.

David Lee, New York Knicks
A lot of speculation points to David Lee being worth less in fantasy basketball with Mike D’Antoni named head coach. However, with the faster tempo Lee’s stats should rise naturally and he should be able to hoard a lot of rebounds — especially offensive rebounds.

Nene, Denver Nuggets
With Marcus Camby traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, the starting job in Denver falls to Nene. Although he’s been more promise than production in his career, he has the ability to be a player who averages close to a double-double with a healthy amount of blocks.

Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves
If Love is given center eligibility in your fantasy basketball league, consider him a possible sleeper for the 2008 season. At UCLA, Love had a very varied game and could be helpful across the board. He should get time next to Al Jefferson in Minnesota.

Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls
In his rookie season, Joakim Noah wasn’t too impressive. That said, he had spurts of good performance and should get a chance to win a full-time starting gig. If he does, look for him to put up solid numbers in points, rebounds, blocks and steals.

5) Bruce Bowen, San Antonio Spurs
At 37, Bruce Bowen’s chance of taking home the Defensive Player of the Year award has probably come and gone. But if the voters want to give it to a player who has been close plenty of times but never got the award, Bowen is the one.

4) Marcus Camby, Los Angeles Clippers
Camby won the award just two years ago and now that he’s heading to a larger market, he may get some votes yet again. If he plays with a chip on his shoulder and stays healthy, he has a decent shot.

3) Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
Paul is the huge favorite to lead the NBA in steals in 2008-09. If he does, voters often look at steals before casting their vote. Paul will get extra points if the Hornets improve as a team defensively.

2) Ron Artest, Houston Rockets
As one of the most interesting stories in the 2008-09 season, a lot of attention will be paid to Artest. If he plays as well as he possibly can defensively and the Rockets are again one of the best defensive teams in the league, Artest has to be considered a very strong candidate.

1) Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year could take home another one at the end of this upcoming season. The Celtics will likely be one of the best defensive teams once again and Garnett is the leader of their defensive unit.

Jason Williams, who is known perhaps more by his nickname of White Chocolate, has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. Williams has spent the last few seasons with the Miami Heat, where he was a part of the 2005-06 NBA champions.

With the Clippers, Williams will give the team a very capable backup point guard. With Baron Davis as the starter, there’s a pretty good chance that Williams will get some starts considering Davis’ injury history.

Going into the 2008-09 NBA season, Williams is no longer a draftable player in fantasy basketball. However, if something is to happen to Davis and Williams is thrust back into a starting role, he has proven to be capable in the last few years.

Here is a video of White Chocolate in action:

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