Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee Bucks
When speaking of NBA rookies, Brandon Jennings must be mentioned first. While he’s still producing at a high level, his shooting percentage has been plummeting lately. It’ll be interesting to see if he can bounce back.

Tyreke Evans, Sacramento Kings
With Kevin Martin out injured, Tyreke Evans has emerged as the star of the Kings. He can score, grab rebounds and dish out assists. If Jennings doesn’t heat back up, Evans may become the talk of this rookie class.

Darren Collison, New Orleans Hornets
With Chris Paul out, Darren Collison has stepped in and done a fantastic job as a starter. In his last five games, he’s averaging 16.4 points, 7.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds.

DeJuan Blair, San Antonio Spurs
When it comes to per-minute production, DeJuan Blair is a beast. He grabs more boards per minute than anyone in the NBA and he can score when he touches the ball. If he gets more minutes, watch out!

Brandon Jennings - Milwaukee Bucks (Image: Zuma Press)

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For Bogut fantasy owners, this is bad news for a player who is having arguably the best season of his career. The 24-year-old former number one overall pick is averaging 16.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.44 blocks while shooting 56.5% from the field. Bogut has had a history of injuries so while this news isn’t horribly surprising, it is unfortunate for fantasy owners.

With Bogut sidelined, that will put even more pressure on rookie point guard Brandon Jennings. The good news for the Bucks is that Jennings has been absolutely amazing this season. He’s far and away the best rookie in the NBA and his potential seems to be limitless.

As far as who will gobble up the minutes at center in Milwaukee, it’ll probably be Dan Gadzuric. But the Bucks have a number of other veteran centers including Kurt Thomas and Francisco Elson.

Andrew Bogut is injured against for the Bucks (Image: Zuma Press)

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Bogut was only able to play 36 games this season due to the back injury. He averaged 11.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. While those are good numbers, it’s safe to say the Bucks were hoping for more when they made Bogut the number one overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft.

In the fantasy basketball world, Bogut is an above average center. He helps out in a lot of categories, with rebounds and field goal percentage likely being his two strongest points. However, his low free throw percentage and the fact that he had more turnovers than assists last year hurt his value.

For next season, there’s still hope that he could take a step forward in his progression. He’s still only 24 and bigmen usually don’t begin to blossom until their mid-20s. That said, a 7-footer with back trouble usually isn’t a pleasant combination.

Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks (Image: Zuma Press)

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After attempting a shot near the basket, Redd landed awkwardly and ended up tearing both his ACL and MCL in his left knee. The injury is considered significant and Redd will face a long recovery process.

In the fantasy world, Redd owners in redraft leagues can safely drop him. In dynasty leagues, he’s still worth keeping around even if he won’t be 100% next season.

On the Bucks, expect Richard Jefferson to pick up much of the scoring. At the moment, he’s scoring more than five points less than he did last season with the New Jersey Nets. With Redd out, look for his scoring to go back up to its previous levels.

Another player who is likely to pick up some of the scoring slack is Charlie Villanueva. He has played very well in the month of January, averaging 19.1 points and 6.6 rebounds on 52% shooting from the field and 48% shooting from three-point land. Even more impressively, he’s putting up those numbers in only 27.6 minutes per game.

Eventually Charlie Bell should get more minutes, however he is currently out injured. If you are looking for a sleeper candidate on the Bucks roster who could break out, consider rookie Joe Alexander. Although his playing time has been erratic, he’s scoring well and he could see his role increase with Redd out for the season.

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Obviously, the two biggest names in this potential trade are Carl Landry and Charlie Villanueva. If Landry lands with the Bucks, he will probably get to play more minutes. In Houston, Landry was stuck behind a lot of players who play at the same position. According to Landry’s per minute numbers, he could do some major damage if given extended minutes. For fantasy basketball purposes, watch to see if Landry’s minutes increase following this potential trade.

Villanueva could also see his value rise. He isn’t a great fit with the Bucks and also has the problem of duplicate talent at his position. On the Rockets, he could see some minutes at power forward to help spread the court for Yao Ming.

All in all, this trade would be good for both of the big names involved. All the role players involved would likely remain irrelevant in the fantasy basketball world.

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JaVale McGee, Washington Wizards
With the Washington Wizards struggling to win games early in the season, there have been some whispers about moving JaVale McGee into the starting lineup. If that happens, he instantly becomes a fantasy viable center. But even if it doesn’t, McGee is starting to put up very nice numbers. We’ve been calling him a sleeper since preseason and he looks like he’s going to transform from a sleeper to the real thing pretty soon.

George Hill, San Antonio Spurs
Now that Tony Parker is out at least one month, rookie George Hill has taken over at point guard. While his first two starts haven’t been overly impressive, he’s going to get a good opportunity. As long as he keeps getting minutes, he’s a player who can help your fantasy basketball squad in points, assists, rebounds and steals. Overall, he’s still raw but the potential is definitely there.

Anthony Tolliver, San Antonio Spurs
A second Spur on this list, Anthony Tolliver is an unknown quantity with most NBA fans. But with the Spurs struggling to get production from the bigmen next to Tim Duncan, Tolliver has emerged as a legit option. It wouldn’t be too surprising if he eventually becomes a starter next to Duncan. Tolliver is a center who can hit three-pointers and hand out assists. Those unique talents for his position could make Tolliver an interesting fantasy basketball option.

Photo credit: Newscom

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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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Mo Williams was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team trade between the Cavs, Milwaukee Bucks and the Oklahoma City Supersonics. Williams is the biggest name involved in the trade, but he’s far from the only player to switch teams. Here is a list of the players who are switching teams and the fantasy football impact of each aspect of this trade:

Mo Williams, Cleveland Cavaliers
Williams should be a very good next to LeBron James on the Cavs. He can pass, shoot and score the ball effectively. While he’s not the purest point guard, his scoring ability should fit very well next to LeBron. LeBron will be able to take some of the point guard slack, while Williams can concentrate on putting the ball in the basket. In terms of his fantasy value, expect Williams assists to go down but the rest of his stats to remain the same.

Luke Ridnour, Milwaukee Bucks
Ridnour used to be a solid fantasy basketball player, then he fell off the map. He split time the last few years at point guard and that hurt his value. On the Bucks, his fantasy value will be determined by how many minutes he plays. If he can win a starting spot, he could see his fantasy value bounce back. However, the Bucks have a lot of point guards and it will be difficult for Ridnour to win the starting gig.

Desmond Mason, Oklahoma City’s NBA team
Mason is going back to his roots. Mason played in Oklahoma during his college days. His addition to the Oklahoma City team should be good both for him and the fans. While he’ll likely be backing up Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, he could see a solid amount of minutes off the bench as a sixth man.

Joe Smith, Oklahoma City Barons
Like Mason, Smith will bring a solid veteran presence to the Oklahoma City team. He’s be deceptively solid in the last few years. If he can win a starting spot, he could be decent as a backup big in fantasy basketball. The more likely outcome, however, is that Smith is traded to a contender around the trade deadline.

Damon Jones and Adrian Griffin, Milwaukee Bucks
Neither Jones nor Griffin will have much fantasy value this upcoming season. Jones is strictly a spot-up shooter at this point of his career, while Griffin is strictly a defensive specialist. Neither skill translates will to fantasy basketball.

Photo: Newscom

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The good news for Yi is that the injury isn’t considered serious and he’ll be fine for both the upcoming Olympics and next year’s NBA season. With the Olympics to be held in Beijing, China, it would have been a crushing blow for Yi if he were forced to miss out.

While Yi fizzled down the stretch of the NBA season, he showed good promise early on. He’s a tall, aggressive player with a nice outside shooting touch. He can also rebound and block shots. In upcoming seasons, Yi should start to blossom on the NBA level.

In terms of fantasy basketball, Yi is a nice player to have on a dynasty team. While he’s probably two years away from really contributing, he should be a very solid player once he does contribute. His rookie season, on a whole, was a success.

Yi Jianlian Mix ..

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Yi Jianlian, Miwaukee Bucks
There is a lot of hype surrounding Yi Jianlian but most of that hype is warranted. He has a pure jumper that extends all the way out to the three-point line. He can rebound and mix in some blocked shots. Everything about him points to him being a star at some point.

Glenn Davis, Boston Celtics
With Kevin Garnett currently injured, Glenn Davis has been a big part of the Celtics ability to stay competitive. Although he’s still a raw talent, he has impressive basketball IQ and knows where to be on the court. He appears to be quite the find for Boston.

Carl Landry, Houston Rockets
As of late Carl Landry has really come on strong for the Rockets. He seems to have replaced Chucky Hayes as the backup to Scola. Landry is very athletic, very aggressive and backs down from nobody. Although he doesn’t have great height, he does have very good potential.

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