I wrote in September that perhaps there would be no worthy center to start for the West in the All-Star Game.
But this isn't the way I want to see that solved. Do it on the court, not with the ballot.
When the All-Star ballot came out Tuesday, Phoenix power forward Amar'e Stoudemire strangely was listed as a center. Yes, Stoudemire has played center before, but he's started all eight games for Suns this season at power forward, with Channing Frye being the starting center.
It is true the ballot, which was selected by six media members from around the country, had to be decided upon before the season began in order to provide time for printing. But it has been apparent since at least September that Frye would Phoenix's starting center, with Stoudemire at power forward.
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.
In his NBA.com video recap of last Friday's Magic-Nets game, NBA TV analyst Rick Kamla made the unfortunate mistake of referring to New Jersey forward Yi Jianlian as a "Chinaman." After FanHouse contacted Turner Sports about the remark, the video was pulled from NBA.com. It ran on NBA TV Friday and has been available on NBA.com since Friday night.
Turner Sports spokesman Jeff Pomeroy relayed to FanHouse an apology to anyone offended by the remark from Kamla and the network, which manages NBA TV and NBA.com. Pomeroy said Kamla was not aware of the connotations of the word, and meant nothing malicious or offensive by it.
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.
Get used to seeing Blake Griffin on the bench for the next six weeks. Those of us on the East Coast woke up this morning to the news of Griffin's stress fracture in his left kneecap, while those out West -- notably in Los Angeles -- probably didn't get much sleep at all.
It's frustrating, no matter where your NBA allegiance lies, when a talent like Griffin goes down before we even get to see him lace up for the Clippers in a meaningful game. It wasn't that long ago that we lost the 2007 No.1 draft pick, Greg Oden, before the start of the '07-'08 season. Let's hope it doesn't take Griffin as long as it took Oden to return to action.
From a fantasy perspective it's hard to speculate who could "replace" Blake Griffin on your lineup since we actually don't even know who he is as a fantasy baller. But, I'll do my best to identify a few guys who are widely available in FleaFlicker and Yahoo! leagues.
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.
FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.
This is Yi Jianlian. He plays basketball for the New Jersey Nets. He was once a highly desired commodity in the NBA -- so desired that Yi's threat to abstain from joining the NBA when an undesirable team draft resulted in several Important Men, including a United States Senator, traveling to China to negotiate Yi's departure to Milwaukee.
After one year and a Bucks regime change, Yi was traded for a well-respected player, Richard Jefferson. Along with giving up the quite-good Jefferson, the Nets also agreed to take on the onerous contract of Bobby Simmons. (There was also some future cap relief for New Jersey, but suffice it to say Yi was a big deal in this trade.)
Given all the attention, you'd think Yi Jianlian is a great basketball player by NBA standards. But he is not. Yi is a pretty substandard NBA player. The Nets desperately need that to change.
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.
Opening night still seems so far away (too far away), but there are already questions as to whether Yi Jianlian will be available for New Jersey. Reports surfaced this week placing Yi in China playing for his native Guangdong in the National Games at the end of October. The Nets kick off the season October 28 ... which also happens to be the final day of the China Games.
But Nets boss Rod Thorn told the Newark Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro that Yi will not be missing any Nets games. Which implies that Yi will not be participating in the China Games. Which is not going to make the Chinese Basketball Association very happy.
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.
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