Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.
The Kings spoil the debut of Allen Iverson by outscoring the Griz 17-6 in overtime, on their way to winning 127-116. Kevin Martin scored 48 points and Spencer Hawes chipped in by almost posting a triple-double off the bench -- 21 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists. The Kings bench outscored the starters 67-60.
Iverson came off the bench to score 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting with just one assist. Underwhelming, but it was just one game. I refused to draft Iverson this year and probably won't get excited about him as we move forward, so keep that in mind.
You kids and your Twitter. There's something about 140 characters to get your point across that just seems to make sense. The whole idea got me thinking that instead of dragging out some fantasy basketball column that you'll likely just skim over, what do you say I give you 50 fantasy basketball tips and observations in 140 characters or less. You have no vote in this matter, so you're getting them anyway.
These tips are not only designed for those of you who have yet to draft your fantasy teams, but they're also for those who are looking to improve on their post-draft squads. Hopefully this is a helpful way to get out as much information as possible while keepin' it mainstream.
The NBA referees seem to be on their way back to work, according to Howard Beck of The New York Times. What a perfect way to open up a post about those who are undervalued. This is not only good news for Dwight Howard and Mike Dunleavy, but it's also fantastic news for NBA fans in general. No disrespect to the replacement refs, but you don't want a pediatrician performing heart surgery.
All order has been restored in the 2009-10 season, so it's time to put the referee situation behind us and talk about those fantasy players who are not getting the respect they deserve.
Using the data from the fine gents over at Mock Draft Central, I identified 10 players whose average draft position is well below their value.
FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.
Corey Brewer has not been a good NBA player. Taken seventh in the solid 2007 draft, Brewer joined a team in Minnesota desperately in need of quality on the perimeter. That the franchise spent its three highest picks in the recent 2009 draft on guards tells you that this problem has not been solved, by Brewer or anyone. Brewer played a bunch in his rookie season, failing to make a great impact on the floor, unless you consider being something between a calamity and a disaster on offense to be of great impact.
Billed as a potential stud defender, Brewer watched the effort around him lag, and his own energy can only do so much in the absence of expertise. Billed as a future Tayshaun Prince or Shawn Marion, Brewer has come off more like a devolutionary Joey Graham. It hasn't been exactly spectacular, right?
FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season. For the Timberwolves, this year is likely going to go down as the year Ricky Rubio didn't come to Minnesota. The only way that's not going to be the case is if first-year coach Kurt Rambis can get his young and unproven team to overachieve and contend for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Like we said, this will end up being remembered as the year Rubio didn't come to Minnesota.
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Corey Brewer used to think of himself as a winner. He isn't so sure anymore.
Brewer, 23, will be going into his third season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, still trying to establish himself in the NBA and still struggling with the weight of losing game after game on a team going through a painful rebuilding process.
"This is a big year for me, for the team,'' he said earlier this week after a workout at the IMG Training Center in Bradenton. "This (transition) has been tough. I went from a team that didn't know how to lose -- we took losing real hard -- to a team where we just lose and you get used to it. Things have got to change.''
Hard to believe that several NBA general managers can have regrets after two years, but it's true. The results of the 2007 NBA Draft are slowly reaping, which should teach a lesson to their 2009 brethren on Thursday about taking chances on raw college players, international prospects and even those who are allegedly "proven."
The biggest debate two years ago was whether the Portland Trail Blazers should take Greg Oden or Kevin Durant first overall. Oden was a franchise center out of Ohio State while Durant was the smooth scoring swingman from Texas. Durant had the better workout with the Blazers, apparently blowing the mind of coach Nate McMillan. Yet, the Blazers stuck with conventional thinking and took the big man.
With Tuesday's talent dump netting the No. 5 pick for Minnesota, the initial theory followed that said pick combined with the Wolves' own No. 6 could net the team Memphis' for-sale No. 2 pick, a selection coveted by several teams. Minnesota quickly blew back that idea, saying it would not be giving up both top-six picks in any such deal.
Not that things needed to get any more difficult for the 4-11 Timberwolves this year, but Corey Brewer will miss the rest of the season after an MRI confirmed that he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee.
From an offensive standpoint, Brewer won't be missed -- he was averaging just 6.2 points per game on 41% shooting -- but he's a talented defender and one of a handful of T-Wolves with a postive net plus/minus. Ryan Gomes, who already took the starting small forward job from Brewer earlier in the year, should expect to see even more playing time from here on out.
While injuries can happen to anyone at anytime, Brewer was already battling the dreaded "bust" label, so a season-ending injury this early in his second year is a huge disappointment. As the seventh overall pick in 2007, he was selected ahead of guys like Spencer Hawes (10th), Thaddeus Young (12th), Al Thornton (14), Rodney Stuckey (15th) and Nick Young (16th) -- any of those guys would look good in a Timberwolves uniform this year, even if Brewer hadn't gone down.
This summer the Timberwolves will have a decision to make: do they activate Brewer's fourth-year option or make him earn it in 2009-10? With most lottery picks it's a mere formality for a team to hold onto a rookie for the length of the rookie contract, but in this case, letting Brewer walk would let the team wipe $3.7 million off the cap just in time for the free agent feeding frenzy that will be the summer of 2010.
Actually, it was Al Horford, who finished with 29 first-place votes. Durant finished with 28. It's too bad the ballots aren't open -- I'd love to see which NBA coach actually thought Durant was no better than the sixth-best rookie this year. (Remember, coaches can't vote for their own players but aren't limited by position.) Luis Scola (26 first place votes), Al Thornton (20) and Jeff Green (15) rounded out the first team.
Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective. 
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BRADENTON, Fla. -- 
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in 
With Tuesday's talent dump netting the No. 5 pick for Minnesota, the initial theory followed that said pick combined with the Wolves' own No. 6 could net the team Memphis' for-sale No. 2 pick, a selection coveted by several teams. Minnesota quickly blew back that idea, saying it would not be giving up both top-six picks in any such deal.
Not that things needed to get any more difficult for the 4-11 Timberwolves this year, but 
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