Fantasy Veterans: We Salute You
In honor of our country’s wonderful military veterans on this Veterans Day, today we’ll take a look at some NBA veterans, in no particular order, who have managed to remain relevant to fantasy basketball after all these years. For the purposes of this post, “veterans” will be defined as those players who have played at least 12 seasons entering this one.
Each player will be awarded stars (out of a possible four) based on their performance so far this season and their potential for the rest of the 2009-10 campaign.
Kevin Garnett (15th season): playing up to conservative expectations so far, knee still hard to trust, could be wise to sell high on him now; **
Kobe Bryant (14th season): still a top-10 player, but 39+ minutes a game likely to dip closer to 36 minutes per game once Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum return; ****
Ray Allen (14th season): hitting one less three per game this season compared to last, remains an efficient fantasy asset; **
Shaquille O’Neal (18th season): save for his horrid free-throw shooting, putting up solid big-man numbers, but minutes are too low, DNPs too inevitable; *
Jason Kidd (16th season): still good for boards, assists, steals and threes, lack of points, still impressive for his age; **
Erick Dampier (14th season): having a great year and should remain valuable in most leagues; ***
Chauncey Billups (13th season): as steady as they come, subtle numbers are better than they first appear; ****
Ben Wallace (14th season): looks like a trip in a time machine was part of his contract with the Pistons, playing far above expectations, owners should enjoy the ride, however long it lasts; **
Marcus Camby (14th season): always a top-25 player when healthy, owners should consider selling high on him before Blake Griffin returns, next string of DNPs; ****
Derek Fisher (14th season): important piece of the Lakers’ rotation, marginally valuable for fantasy purposes; *
Allen Iverson (14th season): already a train wreck, future is a crapshoot; no stars
Jermaine O’Neal (14th season): started strong, slowed down a bit, hasn’t played at least 70 games since 2003-04; **
Peja Stojakovic (14th season): has regained starting spot for now, three-point prowess keeps him relevant; **
Steve Nash (14th season): benefiting hugely from faster pace, turnovers are only gripe his owners should have; ****
Grant Hill (16th season, technically 15th – missed 2003-04): a pleasant surprise this season, will see value decline a bit as Amar’e Stoudemire regains his footing; **
Tim Duncan (13th season): already missed one game because of ankle, DNPs with little warning erodes his otherwise strong value; **
Antonio McDyess (15th season, technically 14th – missed 2002-03): quiet so far, will put up decent stats whenever Duncan sits; *
Tracy McGrady (13th season): could return next week but too unreliable, stash and sell high on him or leave him alone and let other owners bear this predictable inconvenience; *
November 11th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
papiwardrobe says:
No stars for Iverson??? C’mon son!
November 11th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Rodney says:
retirement has great fantasy value
November 11th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
loons says:
just seeing how many years some of these guys have played makes me feel old. kobe at 14, dampier at 14 (wow!), billups at 13. the equivalent when i was growing up was guys like buck williams, kevin willis, derek harper, etc. and they seemed old as dust back then!
November 11th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Soopa says:
@ loons #3
I get the same feeling and im not supposed to feel old as a 25 year old… am i?
For a guy going on his 18th season, Shaq is doing an incredible job. Expectations are just enormous when you have his track record.
November 11th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
vince says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWo8vsaVqw
eddy curry on a manute bol diet
November 11th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Lucas says:
HAH! I have yet to hear “Dampier” and “valuable” in the same sentence for a while! It’s true though, he’s impressed me. Mavs are on fire, as I predicted. Could be this year’s “08′-09′ Nuggets”
November 12th, 2009 at 12:01 am
Joe says:
Iverson, TJ Ford and Mike Conley have all been dropped in my league. Who do you like the best for the rest of the year?
November 12th, 2009 at 12:07 am
The Fantasy Doctor says:
@Joe: Ford’s back is acting up again, which doesn’t bode well for his near-term value and could be a season-long concern.
I like Conley slightly more than Ford for the rest of the season.
November 12th, 2009 at 3:36 am
ds says:
sorry this post is based off an earlier post but…
i actually have jennings
what level of player do you think you could get for him?
(he is tearing it up right now)
i need steals and blocks the most probably
(without jennings my assists 3 and points will still be ok
it’s really good right now but blocks and steal is on the weakside)
November 12th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
The Fantasy Doctor says:
@ds: If you need steals/blocks, you can target AK, Jeff Green, Marion and Odom, among others. You can probably do well with a two-for-two package and try to buy low on Gerald Wallace and nab another decent player.