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Player to Watch: Jeff Green

Posted: Oct 12th 2009 2:00PM by Matt Moore (author feed)
Filed under: Thunder

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The English dictionary defines relentless as "Jeff freaking Green." I'm not kidding. Go look it up. And if it doesn't say that, then your dictionary has been scared into a lie.

Jeff Green is the other-other Thunder. If Russell Westbrook is The Edge to Kevin Durant's Bono, Jeff Green is one of the other U2 members that you don't actually know because they aren't The Edge or Bono. But if you haven't been paying attention to Green because you've been too busy calling your friends to tell them Kevin Durant is breaking your mindskull, take a second look at the power forward for the Thunder. Because if Oklahoma City is going to take the next step this season, it won't be on the back of Westbrook, but the man they call Predator.

Continue Reading Player to Watch: Jeff Green

Draft Analysis: Top 5 Sleeper Centers

Posted: Oct 12th 2009 1:00AM by Tom Lorenzo (author feed)
Filed under: NBA Sleepers, NBA Draft Advice, Fantasy Basketball

0 COMMENTS

There's always a fine line between unearthing a late-round sleeper and reaching on a hot name too soon, leaving proven talent left on the board. It happens every year, and in some cases can lead to an early stumble out of the gate. In other cases, however, taking a chance on a player with promise late in the draft might just improve your shot at winning your league. Just ask the guys who passed on Samuel Dalembert and Tyson Chandler and opted for Brook Lopez and Nene Hilario instead.

This is especially true when it comes to drafting centers, one of the thinner positions and one in which you are required to start two in most leagues. Based on the current average draft position (ADP), per Mock Draft Central (MDC) and Yahoo! (Y!), I will give you a list of five potential sleepers, or value picks.

Continue Reading Draft Analysis: Top 5 Sleeper Centers

Pistons Add Wilcox to Funky Frontcourt

Posted: Jul 18th 2009 8:43PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Knicks, Pistons, NBA Transactions

25 COMMENTS

Detroit has been rumored to be interested in a few power forwards to back up big free-agent signing Charlie Villanueva, all odd ducks with some flavor of a wacky game. There was "Big Baby" Glen Davis, a thick shooter with a personality vacillating between child and swag. Or Drew Gooden, the ultra-confident post player with a million bizarre hair decisions.

But according to ESPN's Chad Ford, the Pistons went with 26-year-old dunker Chris Wilcox, who spent last season between Oklahoma City and New York. Ford reports Detroit will pay Wilcox $6 million over two seasons, which tells me the Pistons don't really want to wait around on Eastern contention, despite the relatively young core of the team.

Continue Reading Pistons Add Wilcox to Funky Frontcourt

Revisiting the 2002 NBA Draft

Posted: Jun 17th 2009 8:40PM by Gary Washburn (author feed)
Filed under: Bulls, Rockets, NBA Draft

2 COMMENTS

FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.

The 2002 NBA Draft is filled with what ifs. What if Jason Williams had decided not to jump on that motorcycle? What if DaJuan Wagner had been physically able to withstand the rigors of the NBA? What if NBA scouts weren't so enamored with European prospects?

This is a draft of major successes -- Amare Stoudemire, Yao Ming, Carlos Boozer -- and abject failures -- Marcus Haislip, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Frank Williams. And the 2002 class will be best known for not being the 2003 class, perhaps the best in league history. Yao was perhaps the most mysterious No. 1 pick of all time. Few knew more than he was 7-foot-6 and from China.

And what followed Yao was a bunch of question marks, kids who left school too early and unknown international players. The result was an uneven draft that will go down more for its misses than hits.

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Believe It: NBA Really Does Care

Posted: Mar 8th 2009 1:30AM by Kevin Blackistone (author feed)
Filed under: NBA

23 COMMENTS

Those NBA Cares public service announcements are so ubiquitous during game telecasts, and are so slick that they appear little more than staged, that they look to be little more than fiction. Then you see Emeka Okafor appear in a report on the nightly news in New York before the sports segment, and your faith is restored.

Charitable Athletes

Before the Bobcats played the Knicks, Emeka Okafor stopped by a public school to try to help a 6-year-old girl suffering from a rare form of acute leukemia. Okafor took a cheek swab test to see if he was a genetic match for the bone marrow she needs to survive. Click through to see other famous athletes' charitable works.

Chuck Burton, AP

Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade presented a South Florida woman with a new house and furnishings for Christmas. Wade's World foundation also vowed to make some payments on the home for the family.

Issac Baldizon, NBA / Getty Images

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong gave $5 million to his foundation, which helps people affected by cancer. A cancer survivor himself, Armstrong recently announced a comeback to cycling.

J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Michael Jordan pledged $5 million to help upgrade Hales Franciscan High School, a historically African-American all-boys school in Chicago. Considered the greatest player ever, Jordan is a part owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.

Rick Havner, AP

The University of Arizona received $3.5 million from the Bucks' Richard Jefferson. The veteran forward entered the NBA in 2001 and helped the Nets to two Eastern Conference titles.

Al Bello, Getty Images

A $5 million gift from former NHL star Eric Lindros to support the London Health Sciences Centre is one of the largest one-time donations to the hospital. The 16-year veteran retired from hockey last season.

Ronald Martinez, Getty Images

World No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods gave over $1.3 million to his learning center to help with the education of children. Woods has won 14 major championships, including the 2008 U.S. Open.

Denis Poroy, AP

Through his foundation, tennis great Andre Agassi pledged $1.3 million to help at-risk children. The former No. 1 tennis player won eight Grand Slam titles.

Brad Barket, Getty Images

Former professional wrestler, and now Hollywood movie star, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, donated $1 million to the University of Miami's football facilities renovation fund.

Doug Benc, Getty Images

NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady, a strong voice for Stand up for Darfur, a program aimed at improving education for Sudanese refugees, gave $1 million to the project.

Stephen Dunn, Getty Images

Continue Reading Believe It: NBA Really Does Care

NBA Trade Deadline Passes: Alston, Hughes, Thomas Among Those Moving

Posted: Feb 19th 2009 6:30PM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Bulls, Grizzlies, Hornets, Kings, Knicks, Magic, Timberwolves, Thunder, NBA Transactions

3 COMMENTS

The 3 PM ET trade deadline in the NBA has come and gone, and while there were plenty of big names rumored to be on the move, few teams actually had the guts to pull the trigger. There were plenty of deals made, however, including one that might have one Eastern Conference team feeling like it's back in the title conversation. A wrap-up of today's events after the jump.

Continue Reading NBA Trade Deadline Passes: Alston, Hughes, Thomas Among Those Moving

Doing Lines: Durant Abuses the Warriors

Posted: Jan 1st 2009 1:15PM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Bucks, Nuggets, Thunder

0 COMMENTS

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

The Thunder don't win very often, so when they do, it's cause for discussion. All it took was a home game against a Warriors team that plays zero defense for Kevin Durant and Jeff Green to lead the team to just its fourth win of the season.

Durant ended up with 25 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and two blocked shots, basically doing everything possible to ensure victory over a very beatable Golden State club. Green chipped in 26 and eight, and Chris Wilcox had 23 and nine off the bench. Again, should we really be impressed since this took place against the Warriors? Probably not, but for OKC, any win deserves some celebration.

Nene continues to impress: Can you be the most improved player in the league if you only appeared in 16 games the preceding season? That's a question those who vote on the award will have to answer, because Nene has been amazing this season for the Nuggets. Lots of big lines from the high-scoring affair in Toronto, but Nene's 21 points (on 12 shots), seven rebounds, three assists, and just three fouls in 39 minutes stood out in Denver's win.

They're not booing, they're saying Mbah a MOUte: The negative lines are as much fun to point out as the positives sometimes, and when a starter has a lot of zeroes in the box score, well, that's one that we're going to mention. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute started for the Bucks against the Rockets, played 19 minutes, and somehow managed not to do anything but foul people. He finished with zero points, zero rebounds, zero assists, and four personals.

Trade Machinations: Kurt Thomas to Orlando

Posted: Feb 19th 2008 1:30PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Magic, SuperSonics, NBA Gossip, Seattle

2 COMMENTS

With the NBA trade deadline looming, Trade Machinations rounds up real rumors (and creates fake ones) of moves that'd make the NBA a better, brighter place.

What does Orlando want? "In trade talks with various teams, the Magic have been looking to add a defensive-minded power forward, mostly using a variety of their players with expiring contracts as bait." What has Seattle got? Kurt Thomas. Now, yes, you can argue that Thomas has a monster 8 million dollar expiring contract. But I can argue that Orlando has a package -- James Augustine, Pat Garrity and Carlos Arroyo -- that makes more expiring contract money than Thomas. So the Sonics pick up a little extra cap room next year, and Orlando lobs them a second round draft pick as well for their effort. Or not lobs.

Thomas provides the Magic with the defensive power forward they want, Seattle gets to add to it's future cap space and Thomas, who is apparently expendable now that Robert Swift will be stealing his playing time, gets to not be an eight million dollar waste on a non-contender.

Will it happen? Yes. Yes it will. The only hold up here -- I would imagine -- is whether the Sonics and Magic want to consider anything that might involve either J.J. Redick or Chris Wilcox. Well, that and the full compensation for the swap: draft picks, etc.

B-Ball, B-Fast: Startless in Seattle

Posted: Jan 30th 2008 9:00AM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: NBA Last Night, NBA Fantasy Last Night

0 COMMENTS

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
It's not like Chris Wilcox got demoted, technically. It is just that Nick Collison fits the role of center better. But Wilcox, for whatever reason, stopped starting. And Collison played very well. And the Sonics lost 14 straight games. Wilcox started last night at forward, and the Sonics beat the defending champion Spurs, while the ex-Terp recorded 16 points and 10 boards in 31 minutes. If the Sonics are winning when he is out there, he will play, and his value will take a big boost. If you have a discontent owner looking to move him, take a flier for cheap.

Hot Cakes
I know, I know. Leon Powe should have made the headline because I will not get another chance. I actually really like Powe, but he is not going to see any run with the "Big 3" around, barring a major injury. So unless you are in a daily league (in which case you should consider him for the C's next game) you can ignore his 25 and 11. It is nice to see Tony Allen back and scoring well already though, I must admit. And actually Allen, who would fill in for Ray Allen, is a better free agent option if you need to add someone.

Nate Robinson continued to be a monster, racking up 22 points with nine assists in 36 minutes off the bench Tuesday night. Robinson, averaging nearly 20 points and seven assists over his last three, should be starting for all teams while he is hot.

Continue Reading B-Ball, B-Fast: Startless in Seattle

Future Is Bright for Wilcox

Posted: Nov 8th 2007 7:26PM by Bethlehem Shoals (author feed)
Filed under: SuperSonics, Western, Seattle

0 COMMENTS

Things are getting dimmer and dimmer for the Seattle SuperSonics, but the time itself isn't looking too bad long-term. Yeah, there's highly-touted rookies Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, the hilarious and talented Delonte West, and out-of-nowhere scorer Damien Wilkins. But almost no Sonic has helped himself as much so far as Chris Wilcox.

Coming into this year, Wilcox was seen as a disappointment, a guy who got a deal based on a couple of quality months. Now, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer can refer to him as "one of the league's emerging power forwards":

Wilcox is a free agent in 2009 and could earn a substantial pay raise. In four games this season, he is averaging 15.3 points and 9.5 rebounds, and he will be just 26 when his contract concludes.

"I just needed new representation," said Wilcox, who led Seattle with 21 points. "I had developed a friendship with (Schwartz) three or four years ago and he stayed in touch with me. When I fired my agent, he was the guy that I really trusted. That's the guy who I went with."

Of course, as the article notes, pretty much anything involving the Sonics organization is up in the air. But given recently history, if Wilcox puts together two seasons like this and then hits the open market, he can expect to clean up. Teams salivate over young, athletics bigs, especially if they actually can play a little.