Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat (Image: Newscom)

Playing 45 minutes, Wade finished with 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds, however he made just 9-of-26 field goals and 1-of-8 three-pointers as the Heat lost by a final score of 81-71.

Despite his sore back, Wade vows to play in Game 5. With the series tied 2-2, the Heat desperately need Wade to be at the top of his game.

If you are playing playoff fantasy basketball, you have no choice but to keep Wade in your starting lineup. As long as he’s playing, he’ll help out your fantasy squad. His field goal percentage will likely suffer but the rest of his game would be better than you can find on the waiver wire.

Additionally, Wade has played through pain at different points in his career. He has shown to be very capable of having a big game while battling through an injury.

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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

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Mario Chalmers, Miami Heat
At Kansas, Mario Chalmers was known as a player who could swipe steals at a stunning rate. While he’s been on and off in the steals department in the NBA, his overall rate is very encouraging. In a game earlier in the season, he had nine steals.

Trevor Ariza, Los Angeles Lakers
Trevor Ariza has been turning a lot of heads this season. One overlooked aspect regarding his production is his steals. He’s stealing the ball at a very good rate. If his minutes jump, as they very well could, he could very well be a challenger for the league lead.

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
One of the biggest reasons why the Thunder drafted Westbrook was his defense. He’s an aggressive defender who can rack up steals in a hurry. Now that he’s starting for Oklahoma City, expect his steals numbers to be very good for the foreseeable future.

CJ Watson, Golden State Warriors
CJ Watson is a short-term solution for steals. He has started some games recently for the Warriors but that will change once Monta Ellis is healthy. However, in the meantime, Watson uses his long arms and quick reflexes to pick up a lot of steals.

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1. Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
Coming into the NBA, everyone knew Derrick Rose could pass the ball. What is surprising NBA scouts is his ability to score the ball. He uses his combination of quickness and strength to get to the rim and score against bigger defenders. Since he’s starting and already playing big minutes, he’s not only looking like a good fantasy basketball player but also the lead candidate for Rookie of the Year.

2. Michael Beasley, Miami Heat
Although he has struggled a bit in his first couple of games, the immense talent of Michael Beasley is obvious. He can score the basketball from everywhere on the court and can also be a beast on the boards. Once the Heat figure out how to share the ball, Beasley could blossom into an 18-point, 10-rebound player faster than originally thought.

3. Jason Thompson, Sacramento Kings
Jason Thompson has been the surprise of the 2008 NBA Draft class so far. He’s putting up great numbers off the bench for the Kings. If he keeps playing at his current level, he’ll find his way into the starting lineup before too much longer. It’d be smart to stash him away on a redraft league if you have the space. In a dynasty league, he’s a very good player to have.

4. Mario Chalmers, Miami Heat
Speaking of draft surprises, Mario Chalmers has gone from second round pick to starting point guard for the Heat. After an amazing first game against the Knicks, Chalmers has come back down to earth. But as long as he keeps starting, he’s going to be a useful fantasy player. Right now, he looks like a player who could give you about ten points, six assists, three rebounds and a couple of steals per game.

5. Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves
Kevin Love hasn’t gotten the huge amount of playing time other rookies have received but he looks solid so far. Minutes will be the big question mark for Love as long as he’s coming off the bench. Keep an eye on him, however, because once he starts he will be able to put up good fantasy numbers.

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Although the NBA season just started, this is a great time to hit the waiver wire and look for gems and fantasy basketball steals. Which players looked good on the opening night of the NBA? Check out these fantasy basketball players.

Mario Chalmers, Miami Heat
Mario Chalmers started for the Miami Heat at point guard and played a great game. Threatening to get a triple double in his first game, Chalmers is a definite pickup in all fantasy basketball formats. The only word of caution is to realize that the Heat were playing the Knicks — who are perhaps the worst defensive team in the league.

Charlie Villanueva, Milwaukee Bucks
Last year, Charlie Villanueva had a hugely disappointing season. He never seemed to be able to get into a groove and it showed by his play on the court. But now Villanueva is healthy, starting and is a good fantasy basketball pickup off of the waiver wire.

Yi Jianlian, New Jersey Nets
Although most of the hype surrounding Yi Jianlian has died down, he’s a player to take a look at. He was bad during the preseason for the most part, however he played very well in New Jersey’s first game.

Darrell Arthur, Memphis Grizzlies
Darrell Arthur was good during summer league, good during the preseason and had a good regular season debut. It’s going to be hard for the Grizzlies to keep him off the court because Arthur is proving to be a steal of a draft pick. Keep an eye on him if he jumps into the Grizzlies starting lineup.

Photo: Newscom

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The commercial basically chronicles a lot of the doubt Wade has faced in his basketball career. At the end of the commercial, a voice on the radio is heard saying Wade is injury prone and Wade gets up to seemingly go prove the doubters wrong once again.

The theme of this commercial can easily be transferred over to the fantasy basketball world. Every year, it seems that drafting Wade is a boom or bust proposition. This season, while some fantasy owners believe in him, others avoid him due to his injury concerns and concerns about his role with the Heat.

Not only can Wade prove NBA experts wrong this year, he can also make believers out of fantasy basketball owners. Until next year, at least.

Here is the Dwyane Wade video of his Converse commercial:

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Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
During summer league, Russell Westbrook looked amazing. While he hasn’t looked as amazing in preseason, he still is showing a lot of promise. He might not start getting a huge amount of minutes early on but by late in the 2008-09 fantasy basketball season, expect Westbrook to play around 30 minutes per game.

DJ Augustin, Charlotte Bobcats
In Charlotte, Larry Brown will undoubtedly be extremely hard on his point guards. With starter Raymond Felton truly being more of a shooting guard, you can expect DJ Augustin to get plenty of minutes at point guard. If Brown puts Felton into the dog house, Augustin would be next in line to start.

Mario Chalmers, Miami Heat
Even though Mario Chalmers was a second round pick, he fell into a perfect situation in Miami. He has a chance to start at point guard and play next to Dwyane Wade. While he’s not going to be a bigtime scorer at the NBA level, he’ll be able to get a healthy amount of assists and steals. He should also be able to knock down the NBA three-pointer.

Goran Dragic, Phoenix Suns
Another second round selection, the Suns are extremely high on Dragic. In fact, Suns management had him rated as one of the top handful of point guards in the entire 2008 NBA Draft. Although he’s playing behind Steve Nash, the fact that Phoenix runs a point guard oriented offense should help Dragic’s stats. Don’t expect points but Dragic should be able to do everything else.

George Hill, San Antonio Spurs
George Hill is the sleeper of the fantasy basketball rookie point guard prospects. Coming out of tiny IUPUI, Hill was drafted by the Spurs late in the first round. After struggling in summer league, Hill bounced back and played very well in preseason. He’s a guard in the Monta Ellis mold he can play the passing lanes on defense and knock down shots offensively. He’s currently dealing with an injured thumb but he could possibly be fantasy viable at some point during the 2008-09 fantasy basketball season.

Keep an eye on rookie point guard George Hill.

Photo: Newscom

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Michael Beasley, Miami Heat
Most league pundits expect Michael Beasley to put up decent stats. But don’t forget that this sleeper was just a certified beast as a freshman in college. If he can adapt quickly to the NBA, he could end up the year as a top eight power forward in fantasy basketball.

Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Bobcats
Emeka Okafor is coming off of a season to forget. His progress seemed to stall and he just wasn’t as good as he was in previous years. With Larry Brown now in the fold to push him on a consistent basis, look for Okafor’s production to rise across the board.

Jermaine O’Neal, Toronto Raptors
Over the last few years, Jermaine O’Neal has been been slowed significantly by injuries and a bad environment. Now that he’s in a new situation, there’s a chance that he could return to his former self and be a fantasy basketball game changer.

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4) Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
The number one pick of the 2008 NBA Draft doesn’t have the best chance of winning the award for the NBA’s best rookie. He’s playing on a team that has a lot of good players and he may not be forced into a large amount of minutes in his first season.

3) OJ Mayo, Memphis Grizzlies
If there is one thing OJ Mayo can do it is score the basketball. And since Rookie of the Year voting a lot of times comes down to scoring average, Mayo has a decent shot to take home the award.

2) Michael Beasley, Miami Heat
Michael Beasley can score and rebound at a very high level. If he gets enough touches in the Miami Heat offense, he could run away with this award. However, with Dwyane Wade needing a lot of shots, Beasley might have to defer in his rookie season.

1) Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers
After missing his entire first season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his knee, Greg Oden is back and is eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. He’s one of the best center prospects to come out in a while and he’ll be in the spotlight all season long.

Can Derrick Rose surprise many and take home the ROY award?

Photo: Newscom

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5. Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets
If the Rockets can live up to their lofty expectation and Tracy McGrady can stay healthy all year, T-Mac has a chance to be in the MVP running. He’s an immensely talented player who could impress a lot of voters this season. Staying healthy will be a challenge, however.

4. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
In the Olympics, no player looked as surprisingly good as Dwyane Wade. Wade looked like it was the 2006 NBA Finals all over again. If he can remain healthy and lead the Miami Heat back into the playoffs, he should get a few MVP votes.

3. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers should once again be very good. Kobe Bryant should once again be very good. The only thing that is a negative for Bryant in the MVP chase is the fact that he won the award last year. The MVP voters could be wanting to give it to someone new.

2. Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
Many NBA experts thought that Chris Paul deserved the MVP last season. If he can have another great season and help the Hornets achieve their lofty goals, there is no reason to not expect CP3 to be near the top of the voting again.

1. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
The time has come for LeBron James to win the MVP award. He’s arguably the best player in the league who hasn’t won the MVP and after a strong Olympics showing, he should be primed and ready to take home that trophy this year.

How good can LeBron James be in the 2008-09 season? MVP good?

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