FanHouse Luke Ridnour

Ramon Sessions may be the best point guard in the NBA whom no one ever talks about. Criminally underused as a rookie last year, he still caught fire down the stretch, averaging 7.5 assists in the final 17 games, topping double-digit dimes six times and dropping a ridiculous 24 in a single game, the most by any player in the league.

Despite his impressive finish, Sessions has been stuck behind veteran Luke Ridnour for most of his second year. He finally got a chance to start (albeit out of position) when Michael Redd blew out his knee last month, and in his first game starting at his natural position when Ridnour went down with a broken thumb two weeks ago, Sessions exploded for 44 points and 12 assists against the Pistons.

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Cup of Coffee
Caron Butler, much to the chagrin of many fantasy owners, is dealing with a sore hip flexor. Step in my favorite last name in basketball, Andray Blatche. Blatche helped jump start the Wiz to a near win over the Spurs until the team ran out of gas in the fourth and he posted a beasty dub-dub with 15 points and 16 boards. Bearing in mind that this outing was against Tim Duncan, feel free to jump all over/continue starting Blatche until Butler is ready to return.

Hot Cakes
Andray wasn't the only guy posting big board numbers last night though (and I'm not even counting Amare Stoudemire's 20-20 game) as Al Horford came up super-big-large against the Lakers to the tune of 15 points and 20 rebounds, all while making Pau Gasol look a lot less like he did in his Lakers opener. No one thought Horford was going to be big until the second half of the season, but, uh, here we are, and he's been fine. Expect bigger numbers going forward. And (again) I have to at least note Josh Smith's line last night -- 17 points, nine boards, nine assists and five blocks. It's just silly at this point.

By all accounts, Rajon Rondo should be at least a little bothered by the Celts' need to add a veteran point guard. It certainly did not look like it last night as he squared off against potential backup Sam Cassell and went off for 24 points, eight assists, four steals and five boards. Quite impressive, Mr. Rondo. Too bad Danny Ainge is still getting someone else. Which means that fantasy owners should think about selling on Rajon.

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

Cup of Coffee
You don't need me to tell you that Baron Davis is a "good start", especially on nights when he scores 34 with 14 assists. Which was the case on a slooooow night (number of games and surprising stat-wise, despite the fact that over 400 points were scored between just 4 teams) for the NBA. But this is the "L" we're talking about; there's always news.

Kelenna Azubuike scored more than Al Harrington last night. Does that say something about Harrington's season? Um, yes. Harrington's averaging almost 15 points a game but his overall numbers, treys excepted, are way off from previous years. Consider him a nice buy low at this point, especially considering the fickle nature with which Don Nelson tweaks his rotation. Azubuike is in the same boat -- behind Baron Davis (fragile?) and Stephen Jackson (crazy?) -- he could be in line for starter's minutes at the turn of a knee start of a lapdance drop of a hat.

Hot Cakes/Broken Eggs

Luke Ridnour is out indefinitely according to news sources out (and north) west. He's been dealing with a quad injury and has missed more practice and there are rumblings his days in Seattle (or wheva') could be over. Earl Watson is the best pure passer between he and Delonte West and should be grabbed if he's available in any leagues.

Quentin Richardson is headed to the bench, although Isiah Thomas says it's because of injury and not his stellar play, which means it's Jared Jeffries Time! For those of you that don't know, Jeffries is lengthy wingspanned defensive specialist who averages 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks per 40 minutes for his career. Which is what we in the biz call a "liability". Don't waste your time.

Randy Foye on the other hand, is an offensive bonus at point guard and he's now been cleared to practice. If he's somehow still available in your league, get your snatch on. If he's already owned, take one last stab at buying low. Sebastian Telfair and Marko Jaric have filled in admirably while he's been hurt, but it's Foye's team.

Look, it's fine with me if athletes are religious, or even if their faith gives them the strength. But if Luke Ridnour thinks that donning "the full armor of God" is going to make him into a better point guard, he's wrong. I imagine said outfit being pretty bulky and covered with lapis lazuli. That's like the opposite of "game ready," especially if you're trying to guard Satan.

You know how some people sell their souls to the devil in exchange for riches and fame? I like thinking that Ridnour turned to the Lord because, in the immortal words of Jay Bilas, he "couldn't guard a chair."

There are bigger fish, true. But this one actually looks it will happen in our lifetimes, as Seattle and Atlanta are reportedly near an agreement sending point guard (!) Luke Ridnour to Atlanta in exchange for the #11 pick in tomorrow's draft.

Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says the rumor has serious legs and could go down today. Of course, Atlanta is now apparently caught up in the Garnett cluster@%#%, so things could slow down as the Hawks wait for the official 'No chance in Hades you're getting Amare' statement from Phoenix.

What do the Sonics want with the #11 pick? Two scenarios:

• They want Greg Oden, so they'd package #2 and #11 in exchange for Portland's #1.
• They want one of these glorious swing prospects -- Jeff Green, Julian Wright -- to pair up with Kevin Durant and Ray Allen, thus creating an offensive juggernaut which leads to Jerry Sloan's face melting.

Given what we know about Sam Presti, I'd say Door #1 is the answer. Other trade scenarios between Portland and Seattle get messy because of salaries; just trading draft picks makes things a lot simpler.

Of course, Atlanta is still a big question mark. Ridnour was disappointing on the fifth-worst team in the league. Is he so much better than, say, Acie Law to offset his three-year, $20 million deal versus the rook's four years of chump change? I'm not certain.