Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
Though Derrick Rose’s play has dropped off a little bit as of late, you can expect him to catch a second wind at some point. Once he fights through the rookie wall, Rose should once again claim his spot as the best rookie point guard in the league and fight for the Rookie of the Year award.

Eric Gordon, Los Angeles Clippers
Lately, with half the Clippers roster out due to some form of injury or suspension, Eric Gordon has been scoring the ball very well. Over his last five games, he’s averaging more than 21 points per game while shooting very good percentages from the field, from three and from the line.

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
Early on in the season, Russell Westbrook wasn’t very good offensively. As of late, however, he’s started to turn it around. He looks much more comfortable both looking for his own shots and running the show as Oklahoma City’s point guard.

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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A few stories around the team indicate that the players had quit on Carlesimo and weren’t giving a good enough effort. New coach Scott Brooks will try to turn that around and make the Thunder at least a respectable basketball team.

As far as fantasy basketball is concerned, there were a few subtle difference right away with Brooks in charge. First of all, Damien Wilkins got his first start of the season as Brooks decided to go small. Wilkins was put in at shooting guard with Kevin Durant moving to small forward, Jeff Green moving to power forward and Nick Collison moving to center. Previously, Carlesimo had been using Johan Petro and Robert Swift at center. Under Brooks, neither Petro nor Swift played.

Chris Wilcox also appears to be part of Brooks’ plan. Wilcox played a season-high number of minutes of the bench. Joe Smith also had a healthy role as the team’s backup center. The point guard situation continues to be Earl Watson in the starting lineup backed up by Russell Westbrook.

All told, it appears as if Brooks will go smaller and faster than Carlesimo. That could lead to more shot attempts for Durant and should help the fantasy values of players such as Wilkins, Collison and Wilcox. Green should also be called upon to grab more rebounds and block a few shots.

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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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5. Charlotte Bobcats
Larry Brown will turn around the Bobcats. That said, it likely isn’t a one year project. Expect a few headaches this year until LB can get the team playing the way he wants.

4. Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies are starting to assemble a nice amount of talent. If Pau Gasol’s brother pans out, the Grizzlies could surprise.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder
The former Seattle Supersonics still won’t be ready for the big time. However, with a future Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook, the future is bright in Oklahoma.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves are still reeling from the Kevin Garnett trade. Although they have good talent, that talent isn’t going to provide many wins this year.

1. New Jersey Nets
The Nets don’t seem too concerned with winning basketball games. The summer of 2010 and a shot at LeBron James can’t come soon enough for New Jersey.

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Westbrook is a 6-foot-3 combo guard who is mostly plays shooting guard at UCLA with Collison running the point. In a perfect world, Westbrook would get an opportunity to show that he can play point guard but with UCLA winning, he’s content to play off the ball.

If Westbrook declares for the 2008 NBA draft, he’s likely to be drafted between 12 and 16. He has shown enough potential for a team to view him as a perfect piece off the bench. However, if he goes back to UCLA and works on his game next year and proves he can run point guard, he could turn into a top five pick in the 2009 NBA draft.

If you are in a dynasty fantasy basketball league and you can pick college players, Westbrook is somewhat of a sleeper even though he has star potential in the not too distant future.

Russell Westbrook interview before the season …

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