In a deal that appears to be mostly financially-driven, the Hornets sent Tyson Chandler to their once stand-in hometown of Oklahoma City for Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, and the draft rights to DeVon Hardin.
I think in a pure basketball sense, it’s a good move for both teams. Obviously, the Hornets may have lost the value end of it, but they get back a saavy veteran and a guy who can hold his own down low. Chandler was having a bad season anyway, and Wilcox hasn’t been getting off the pine.
Fantasy-wise, Chandler will start in OKC, sending Nick Collison to the bench. He takes a big hit in value and Nenad Krstic becomes droppable in every league. Of course, either could see minutes at the four, but it won’t likely be many.
As for New Orleans, Wilcox will just take Chandler’s place in the starting lineup. Smith will likely back up David West, and Hilton Armstrong will continue to see his limited minutes backing up Wilcox.
Big winner? Wilcox, because he’ll actually get to play some minutes.
Even the biggest NBA die-hards will check out college ball around this time of year. The tourney kicks off draft hype. With players like Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Brandon Rush etc making it to the Final Four this year, it’s been an excellent time to check out these blue chip prospects. Tyler Hansbrough has been named Player of the Year in quite a few places, but most have his pro potential listed pretty low.
So with no NBA action scheduled for Monday, April 7th, it seems like a good time to reflect on the rookies.
What a week it has been. Obviously, the Cleveland-Chicago-Seattle deal set the NBA ablaze last night. I personally can’t wait for tonight’s Cavaliers game where they currently have six active players. Seven if Anderson Varejao comes back early. Eight if they let me suit up. Either way, LeBron James could easily go for 50 points tonight, so keep an eye on the box score.
Everyone else? There has defintely been some adjustments in certain player value over the past 24 hours. Let’s see who’s stock is up, and who’s may not be as hot as it once was.
Fig Cap: Someone’s getting their headband back!
Nothing too huge to mention here, but I thought it was interesting to see the minutes that the Sonics have been giving Wally Szczerbiak as of late. Check out the box scores from the last several games.
It seems that Wally World is only safe starting every other game. What should be noted is that the Sonics have only won one of the past seven games - one of them that Szczerbiak received sub-20 minutes. He’s likely on the waiver wire in most leagues, so keep an eye on this development. That is, if anything even develops.