Gilbert Arenas, who has missed the entire season due to a knee injury, is finally scheduled to return. On Saturday when the Washington Wizards play at home against the Detroit Pistons, Arenas is expected to play.

Although it’s difficult to know what to expect from Arenas, he’s well worth the risk for fantasy basketball purposes. Even when he has returned injured in past seasons, he has still put stats on the board. Obviously he won’t put up his stats from a few years ago but averaging 15 points and five assists is very realistic.

However, don’t put all your eggs into his basket by banking on Arenas to return. Though everything and everyone is pointing to Saturday, we’ve seen many delays over the last few seasons when it has come to Arenas returning from injury.

With the Wizards at the bottom of the standings, you should check nightly to make sure Arenas is playing. It’s likely that the Wizards will opt to keep him out of back-to-back contests for the rest of the season.

The bottom line is that Arenas is an intriguing fantasy option who can help your team but you should definitely be careful and realize the risks.

Here is a Gilbert Arenas video to help you remember how good he was before his injury problems:

Gilbert Arenas, who has yet to see live NBA action for the Washington Wizards, is back practicing with the team. In fact, reports indicate that Arenas is practicing at full speed and is playing extremely well.

However, it’s not a given that Arenas will return to the court during the 2008-09 NBA season. With the Wizards buried in the standings, Arenas returning to the court wouldn’t make much sense. Most people expect Arenas and the Wizards to play it safe and have Arenas sit out until the beginning of next season.

That said, it might be worth the risk of picking up Arenas now and hoping that he decides to play at some point. If you have an open roster spot and a deep enough roster, what could it hurt? If he actually returns, Arenas is a stud fantasy player who will get his usual load of touches with the Wizards.

Heading into next season, Arenas will be a difficult player to evaluate. He’s been hampered by injuries lately and there’s no guarantee that he will ever be 100% again. But there will likely be fantasy owners willing to hope Arenas will have put the injuries behind him.

Gilbert Arenas was first said to be targeting December for his return from knee surgery. December got pushed back to January. Now there are rumors that Gilbert Arenas is out for the season. While these rumors have been far from verified by Arenas or anyone with the Wizards, it’d make some sense.

The biggest reason why it’d make sense to keep Arenas out for the rest of the season is because the Washington Wizards are so horrible. The only teams in the NBA who have worse records are the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder. At 5-23, the Wizards are by far the worst team in the Eastern Conference.

Arenas coming back this season makes makes less and less sense as the playoffs become out of the realm of possibilities. If the Wizards are going to miss the playoffs, they might as well be as bad as possible to make sure they get the best chances of having a good draft pick.

At 26, Arenas is young enough to bounce back from this latest knee surgery. Even if he misses the rest of the season, as long as he enters 2009-10 healthy he will be a very intriguing fantasy basketball player. His surgery wasn’t deemed serious and there’s no indication that his career could be in jeopardy.

As for this season, Arenas’ fantasy basketball value is at an all-time new low. Unless you can stash him away on an injured list, there’s really not much reason to have him on your roster.

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5. Golden State Warriors
Not too long ago, the Warriors were one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. Having knocked off the 67-win Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs, many thought the Warriors had a chance to become an contender. Nowadays, it’s just a matter of how many lottery balls Golden State will accumulate.

4. Sacramento Kings
With Kevin Martin struggling with an ankle injury, the Kings simply aren’t a good basketball team. They don’t have many quality scorers and the overall skill on the team isn’t very high. The good news is that the team has a couple of solid bigman prospects to hopefully build around.

3. Washington Wizards
Having lost seven in a row, the Wizards look totally lost. Gilbert Arenas is out and this year, the team is unable to stay afloat without him. While there’s veteran talent on this team, the Wizards’ guards are playing at a horribly low level right now.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves
Losers of 12 straight games, the T’Wolves are headed to another high lottery pick. Worse than even their record is the fact that the young players on the team — outside of Al Jefferson — don’t look overly promising. Minnesota appears to be in trouble for years to come.

1. Oklahoma City Thunder
While the Thunder are definitely the worst team in the league, their future actually looks somewhat bright. The young trio of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook looks like a solid base. If they can add Nenad Krstic in the middle, they should be able to move up this list.

In a three-team trade earlier in the week, the New Orleans Hornets acquired Antonio Daniels, the Washington Wizards acquired Mike James and Javaris Crittenton and the Memphis Grizzlies acquired a draft pick.

While none of the players involved in the trade are household fantasy basketball names, Antonio Daniels had been valuable in recent years and Mike James was viable not that long ago. Now with the Hornets, Daniels likely won’t have the playing time to be worth much fantasy-wise. The only way he’ll be valuable is if Chris Paul goes down for an extended period of time and he’s given the starting spot. Even then, Daniels is up there in age and his declining athleticism may not allow him to play as well as he’s played in recent seasons.

James is another veteran player, however his situation is much different. With Gilbert Arenas sidelined for at least another month, James could conceivably work his way into a starting gig while Arenas is out. James hadn’t been playing for the Hornets but he’s a player always looking to shoot the ball — which makes him an interesting fantasy prospect if given minutes.

While he has dynasty value, Crittenton doesn’t have much redraft value. The Wizards will give him minutes here and there but it is doubtful he becomes an everyday cog in Washington’s rotation.

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Two things we know about Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards. He writes a good blog and he makes good commercials. For his latest commercial, watch the Gilbert Arenas video at the end of this entry.

Off the court, Arenas is a success. However, in the fantasy basketball world, all we are concerned about is how he’s playing on the court. For Arenas, the first thing we want to know is when he’ll be playing on the court.

According to the latest reports, Arenas is a little bit ahead of schedule. He took on Nick Young in a game of one-on-one and beat him. He’s also said to be dunking the basketball in practice.

That said, Arenas is at the very least another month away from returning. More likely, you won’t see him until around Christmas.

What can you expect when he gets back? While the Wizards will likely bring him along slowly at first, it won’t be long before he’s contributing big minutes. A that point, there’s no reason to believe he can’t be a fantasy basketball force once again. While he’s been injured a lot recently, none of the injuries have been considered career threatening. If he’s available in your fantasy basketball league, a smart move would be to pick him up and wait out his injury.

Here is the video of Gilbert Arenas and his new commercial:

Luc Mbah a Moute, Milwaukee Bucks
At UCLA, Luc Mbah a Moute looked like an NBA star in the making during his freshman season. But then he had two underwhelming campaigns where he struggled mightily to score the basketball. Now with the Milwaukee Bucks, this second round draft pick is reminding basketball fans why he was once so highly regarded. Mbah a Moute is now starting a power forward for Milwaukee and could hold onto that job for a long time. He’s a very good defensive player, which coach Scott Skiles loves, and is scoring much better than he did at UCLA.

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.

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PER is a formula created by John Hollinger to measure productivity of NBA players on a per-minute basis. In fantasy basketball, you can use PER to find players who may blossom once given more minutes. Here is a look at some early PER sleepers for the 2008-09 fantasy basketball season:

Nick Young, Washington Wizards
In only 23.7 minutes per game, Nick Young is averaging 15.7 points. The Wizards knew he could score but he’s off to an unbelievable start. He is shooting 50% from the floor and has hit all 15 of his free throw attempts. While his other stats outside of the scoring column aren’t eye popping, Young is showing superstar level potential. If he can continue to produce at a high level, Washington will have to find even more minutes for him.

Rudy Fernandez, Portland Trail Blazers
Rudy Fernandez isn’t quite a star in the NBA but he is definitely showing he’s very good on a per-minute basis. It’s only a matter of time that he’ll start playing 30+ minutes per game. When he does, he could quickly become a very valuable fantasy basketball option. He has a lot of competition on the Trail Blazers for playing time but he’s too good to sit long.

Trevor Ariza, Los Angeles Lakers
Although he comes off the bench and only plays 22 minutes per game, Trevor Ariza is already a decent fantasy basketball player. If his minutes rise, he has the potential to be a stud. His points, rebounding, blocks, steals and shooting percentages are all improved. In fact, Ariza has added a three-point shot to his repertoire which has made him an even more dangerous player.

Gerald Green, Dallas Mavericks
In summer league, Gerald Green was extremely impressive. He also mixed in a few impressive preseason games. Even though he’s played extremely limited minutes, his PER is extremely impressive. The Mavericks have tried a bunch of different players in their starting shooting guard position. If Green gets a shot and proves to be a starter, he has the talent to be a scoring machine.

Want to roll the dice on some fantasy basketball super sleepers? Here are some fantasy players that very well could be the talk of the basketball world over the next few months.

DeMarcus Nelson, Golden State Warriors
This undrafted rookie has a chance to play a lot of point guard for the Warriors this season. In fact, many people connected to the Warriors believe that DeMarcus Nelson has been the best point guard in training camp.

Aaron Brooks, Houston Rockets
Although Aaron Brooks is a backup in Houston, he is playing behind Rafer Alston - who is always seemingly a ticking time bomb. During preseason, Brooks has played well and has solidified a spot in the rotation. Watch for him to breakout if he ascends to the starting roll.

Chris Douglas-Roberts, New Jersey Nets
One of the most talented scorers in the 2008 NBA Draft, Chris Douglas-Roberts will play the season with a chip on his shoulder after falling to the second round. In preseason, he has shown an ability to score and with the Nets likely not making a push for the playoffs, CDR will get plenty of shots.

CJ Miles, Utah Jazz
The Jazz are expected to start CJ Miles at small forward this season - at least to start with. If he plays well, Miles should be able to hold onto that job for the duration of the season. Miles is a good shooter who can score the ball and also play solid defense. With enough minutes, look for Miles to be a fantasy basketball viable player.

JaVale McGee, Washington Wizards
One of the best looking bigmen of the 2008 NBA Draft has been JaVale McGee. Although he’s young, skinny and raw, McGee looks like a player who has a chance to help right away. He’s extremely athletic and very quick on his feet. He could play a roll with the Wizards and put up nice numbers in rebounds and blocked shots.

Could JaVale McGee go down as the sleeper of the 2008 draft class?

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Nick Young is an interesting basketball player. While some say he has Kobe Bryant like skills, he doesn’t always play anywhere near his potential. As a fantasy basketball player, he’s a fringe player at this point.

Young’s best attribute is scoring. He can shoot it from the outside off the dribble or if he’s spotting up. His one-on-one game is actually quite advanced and he’s good at using his dribble to create separation. And as you can see in the Nick Young video below, he’s quite capable of finishing at the rim with a thunderous dunk.

During the 2008-09 fantasy basketball season, he’ll most likely be somewhat valuable early in the season while Gilbert Arenas is sidelined. He can come into the game and become the designated scorer. There’s also a chance he could move into the starting lineup if the Wizards aren’t able to generate enough offense with their current starting group.

Keep an eye on Young, especially early on the season.