In this young NBA season, no team has been a bigger disappointment than the Washington Wizards. With Gilbert Arenas being healthy again and having arguably one of the deepest rosters in the league, there were high expectations for the team coming into the season. Right now, the Wizards’ record stands at 3-7 - fourth in the Southeast Division. Prior to last night’s big win against the Cavs, Washington had lost six in a row and four of those games were by double digits. That dramatic opening night road victory in Dallas seems like a distant memory. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Elton Brand finally emerged and put up 19 points, 11 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 6 blocks and just 1 turnover while shooting 47 percent (8-17) from the field and 75 percent (3-4) from the line. This was vintage Brand and owners who have remained patient or bought low on him have to be giggling with joy right now. He’s not out of the woods just yet, but things look are looking way up for Brand and his owners today. Read More »

You know what you’re going to get when the Cavs and Wizards play on national TV: Plenty of talk about LeBron’s “rivalry” with DeShawn Stevenson, LeBron’s rivalry with the Wizards, Mike Miller wearing LeBron’s shoes, maybe Washington’s injury problems … And then there was the story line for last night’s game that nobody wanted to talk about: The gossip-page reports saying Shaq got caught messing around with Gilbert Arenas‘ girl. Anyone think there’s a slight chance that’s really why Shaq sat out? Say what you want about being a professional and focusing on the game, but that’s grounds for any grown man to get punched in the face at any random moment. Read More »

The injury epidemic hit the NBA hard at the beginning of this NBA season. Several stars’ season debuts have been delayed due to different injuries. On top of guys getting hurt, a couple of big time players started the year suspended. Now that J.R. Smith and Tyler Hansbrough finally suited up, there are a dozen of other players who are about to crash the season and possibly make major impacts. Here’s ten to keep an eye on. Read More »

Allow me to shed a silver lining of optimism on the Allen Iverson doomsday parade. If it’s true that the Iverson/Memphis relationship is deteriorating fast with no reunion in sight, there is one sensible solution that can take place as soon as A.I. is eligible for a trade in mid-December.

There is one trade that can work, one fan base that would accept Iverson with (somewhat) open arms, one team that could slide him right into the starting lineup AND win some games in the process, one place where Iverson can work to rebuild his reputation and maybe even have a future beyond this season. Read More »

Buy Low: Devin Harris, Antawn Jamison, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, Rashard Lewis and anyone else who is going to return from an injury or suspension in the near future should be targeted for low-ball offers.

Danilo Gallinari has turned from being an Italian stallion to an ordinary pony in the span of a week. His owners are champing at the bit for him to put up studly lines again, and in the meantime you should be dangling carrots in their faces in hopes of nabbing this three-point hoss. Read More »

After the first few days of NBA action, it’s time to take a gander at players who might have already frustrated impatient fantasy owners enough to make them amenable to low-ball offers, and those that have performed especially well and will get you more than they deserve in return.

It’s a bit early to even discuss this, but there are very impatient owners out there and so long as they’re flustered or overly optimistic, there are opportunities for you to jump on. Read More »

Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…

Added: Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Fabricio Oberto, Paul Davis

Lost: Darius Songaila, Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov, Juan Dixon Read More »

With point guards, shooting guards and small forwards taken care of, today we’re proceeding to the projected top 10 fantasy power forwards this season. A few of these players are eligible to play center as well, but the ones listed here are slated to start the season at power forward. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts below.

1. Dirk Nowitzki: Diggler is as steady and productive as big men come. Dallas has a stronger, deeper roster than they did last season, but it won’t affect Nowitzki’s sexy stats, which leave little to be desired. His scoring could dip a point or two, but his assists should climb a bit while his shooting percentages will remain intact. It would be great to see him make his way back into the 1+ steal, 1+ block club, but Dirk will leave his owners very happy (and, with his new headband, entertained) even if he doesn’t. Read More »

Imagine the disappointment that swept across the NBA TV studios when they found out LeBron was sick and going to miss last night’s big preseason game between the Cavs and Wizards. No tense ‘Bron/DeShawn encounters, no real reason for highlight montages of LBJ taking Washington’s heart in the playoffs, no smooth segues to talk about Mike Miller wearing LeBron’s signature shoes. And to top it off, starting in LBJ’s place was Jawad Williams, who scored 21 points (4 threes) in his last Smack mention of the season, a Cleveland loss … Gilbert Arenas put up 18 points for the Wiz, while Miller scored 24 (5 threes) and Randy Foye scored 21. However, Antawn Jamison hurt his shoulder in the first quarter and didn’t return. Read More »