That's six guys, three of whom are considered vital components of the young and struggling team, leaving the squad eight players available for practice. And practice they did. Fortunately, one of Yi Jianlian's old nemeses was available to fill in and help out.
ORLANDO -- After three seasons of banging his head against a wall, J.J. Redick finally has proven he belongs in the NBA.
He never thought it would take this long.
Redick may have come into the league as one of the most celebrated college basketball players in recent history, but it has taken a complete remaking of his game and his attitude to finally carve his niche.
"I've been thinking about it recently, and maybe I wasn't ready to do this last year, or my second year, and certainly not as a rookie,'' Redick said Friday night after helping the Orlando Magic hold off the Detroit Pistons 110-103. "I could not have stepped in and played well like this, but I've learned how to be a pro. And that wasn't easy.''
Vince Carter was about to deliver one of those "don't-you-wish-I-was-still-here" games Friday night in New Jersey, when he fell to the floor clutching his left ankle midway in the second quarter.
Carter, traded by the Nets to the Orlando Magic this summer, had 16 points in his first 15 minutes before he left with a sprained ankle. X-rays were negative and he told reporters that "hopefully,'' he could play Sunday in Toronto.
His mother, who was there, described it to the Orlando Sentinel as a "mild sprain.'' It happened on a drive to the basket when he stepped awkwardly on the foot of New Jersey guard Devin Harris.
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 shooting guard position is where you load up on scorers with three-point shooting range and the defensive ability to pick up steals. Of the top 24 scorers in the league last season, 12 of them were eligible at the shooting guard position. Dwyane Wade was out in front, leading the league in scoring and finishing ranked third overall in standard scoring systems.
Many of the top shooting guards from last season were selected in the value rounds. Rookie O.J. Mayo, veteran Jason Terry, and youngsters like Wilson Chandler, J.R. Smith, John Salmons and Nate Robinson all returned Top 75 value in the 9th round or later. Then there's the case of Eric Gordon, who as a rookie went undrafted and yet finished the '08-09 season ranked 48th overall. Looking at the average draft positions (ADP) as reported by Mock Draft Central (MDC) and Yahoo! Sports (Y!), let's see if we can find any value/sleeper picks from the shooting guard position.
The NBA FanHouse team is in the midst of previewing each squad prior to the start of the 2009-10 season. Tom Ziller spices things up a little by examining Yi Jianlian as a player to watch. In keeping with the theme I decided to highlight a New Jersey swingman who has more value than his current ADP would indicate.
Out with the old, in with the new. In order to free up some more cap space for the summer of 2010, the Nets shipped Vince Carter to Orlando in exchange for Courtney Lee and and a few other pieces (yes, Rafer Alston has officially become a "piece"). The new guard in New Jersey consists of two fantasy super-talents and a number of late-round value picks.
Following his successful rookie year with the Orlando Magic last season, Courtney Lee could have never imagined being traded. But such is the life in the NBA, where the Magic decided to ship one of their bright young stars for the opportunity to team Dwight Howard up with Vince Carter. As a result, Lee enters this upcoming season with the New Jersey Nets with an Epcot Center-sized chip on his shoulder.
FanHouse recently spoke to Lee at the NBA Live 10 launch event in New York about how long it took for him to get over the trade and why the Nets shouldn't be counted out before the season even starts. The video interview is below.
The Nets finished last season with a 34-48 record, and then went ahead and traded their second-leading scorer, Vince Carter, to Orlando. Yet they head into the 2009-10 season with more optimism than a team in their position should rightfully have.
Hey, that's the wonder of cap space. Virtually all of what New Jersey had done over the past two or three seasons has been leading to the summer of free agency in 2010.
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Courtney Lee knows it won't happen in just one season – he won't make New Jersey forget Vince Carter -- but he wants to make the Orlando Magic regret the day they traded him.
"I'm going to be a man on a mission,'' Lee said Thursday afternoon after a training session at the IMG Academy. "I just hope they'll be happy for me when I grow into the player that they wish they had. I'd like them to one day say 'I wish we would have kept him.'''
Rasheed Wallace is one of the last major free agent names to make a commitment, and if the reports turn out to be true (thanks to Hedo Turkoglu, you can never be too sure), he'll be suiting up to start the 2009 season as a member of the Celtics.
Our own Matt Steinmetz thinks that makes Boston the favorite to take home the title next year. But to me, that seems -- to put it as politely as possible -- a bit overly-optimistic.
Monday, the Nets faced practice without Devin Harris (groin), Courtney Lee (groin), Chris Douglas-Roberts (swine flu), Jarvis Hayes (hamstring), Tony Battie (knee), and Yi Jianlian (knee). 
ORLANDO -- After three seasons of banging his head against a wall, 
The shooting guard position is where you load up on scorers with three-point shooting range and the defensive ability to pick up steals. Of the top 24 scorers in the league last season, 12 of them were eligible at the shooting guard position. 
The 
Following his successful rookie year with the 
FanHouse 
BRADENTON, Fla. -- 
