Buy Low: Wesley Matthews is averaging 7.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.3 threes in his last three games. He’s also shooting 33 percent from the field during this forgettable stretch. Stepping back and looking at the picture will show fantasy owners that Matthews is shooting 41 percent from the floor this season, notably below his career average of 45 percent. His game log shows that he’s only cracked 50 percent from the field three times in his 12 games since Jan. 14. Before that night, Matthews was hitting 48 percent of his shot from the field. Chalk his recent struggles up to a slump. He’s still starting and getting 32+ minutes a night and remains a solid source of threes and all-around production. Read More »

Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and Danilo Gallinari can all stretch out and smile. They have extensions, and won’t be going into next summer having to deal with offer sheets and money and teams vying for their services and their own teams pulling them back in. After back-n-forth rumors that nearly escalated to JoePa levels these last few days about Love, it’s official. He has agreed to a four-year, $62 million extension to stay in Minnesota. It wasn’t the max extension Rose and Westbrook both received. Reports are saying the Wolves wanted to save the “designated player” status for Ricky Rubio (in the new CBA, teams are allowed one designated player contract, which can run for five seasons). But Love will be in Minnesota, for at least until 2015, when he can opt out for an even bigger deal. Read More »

Thursday started as a good day for the New Jersey Nets. They began the day by agreeing to terms on a one-year deal with shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson. Stevenson won a championship with the Mavericks last season and will immediately provide a winning pedigree, toughness and perimeter defense to a team lacking in all three areas. However, the way the day ended overshadowed the shrewd morning signing of Stevenson. Yesterday evening it was announced that starting center Brook Lopez had a stress fracture in his foot and would be out for six to eight weeks with the injury. This injury is one that could change the course and future of the franchise and hurts the Nets on multiple levels. Read More »

This might be the year Josh Smith finally makes the All-Star Game. We don’t want to jinx him – everyone knows the type of luck he has when it comes to this – but his game has matured, he has his body in the best shape it’s ever been in and the Hawks figure to be, at worst, a No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Last night in Atlanta’s 92-75 drubbing of Charlotte to end the preseason, Smith had 21 points and six rebounds, hitting 10 of 15 shots in the game. Read More »

The Orlando Magic have two things that no other team involved in the Dwight Howard Sweepstakes have at the moment: Dwight Howard and time. At least for right now. The clock is ticking (the trade deadline will be here before we know it), but the Magic are choosing to be picky in their demands for Howard – as they should be.

The latest news being reported is that Orlando’s on-again, off-again dialogue with the New Jersey Nets (and multiple other teams), is that conversations are dead – for now – despite the Nets’ most recent offer of a monster collection of assets. Read More »

We keep waiting on New Jersey to make a big move. Since acquiring Deron Williams midway through last season, they’ve been a ticking bomb. There are only so many chances to hit a home run and with Williams doing the obvious – declaring his intentions to be a free agent next summer – the Nets cannot afford to come away empty handed.. again. So knowing the Lakers will always be hot on the trail of Dwight Howard, and seeing their prime target, Nene, get reeled back in by Denver for $67 million last night, earlier this morning ESPN sources said Mikhail Prokhorov‘s bunch are speeding up their efforts to land the best big man of this generation. Read More »

All hell is about to break loose in the NBA. Teams need players (preferably good ones) to fill out their rosters. Serious runs will be made at lots of guys, especially the ones who play positions where the talent field is most thin – point guard and center. That is how guys like Sam Dalembert are lining up for yet another monster free agent contract. Athletic 7-footers don’t grow on trees.

So who are the best of the best? Read More »

It’s always sad to see teams feel forced into a trade in preparation of the inevitable. But if a franchise can’t make a convincing argument for a player to stay – whether it be a competitive roster or boatloads of cash – then there’s nothing they can do. Like any investment that doesn’t pan out, businesses have to cut their losses and make the best move for the future. We saw this last season with the trades of Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams to the Eastern Conference, and could see it again real soon in the case of Dwight Howard. Read More »

The New Jersey Nets really don’t offer that much from a fantasy perspective. While they have two prominent fantasy assets, the problem is that one is a point guard whose wrist may require a dose of caution, and the other is a big man who seems to have something of an allergy to rebounds. The team’s activities during the next window of free agency will ultimately determine its appeal – and the possibility for Kardashian jokes. Read More »

Last season there was a lot of hope in New Jersey about the Nets. The team had acquired a bonafide superstar in Deron Williams, Brook Lopez continued to make his way into the conversation as one of the best centers in the NBA, and Kris Humphries emerged as a double-double threat from the power forward position. However, there was one glaring weakness on the Nets’ roster this past season, and that was at small forward. Read More »