FanHouse Lukeridnour

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.

You know what actually made Milwaukee famous? The soul-crushing agony of defeat.

The Bucks had recently turned things around to a certain degree with Scott Skiles and Richard Jefferson. They were a half-game ahead for the 8th playoff spot, had been playing competitively, and had some young talent to complement their core.

And now this: Michael Redd blew out his knee last night, tearing his ACL and MCL, putting him on the shelf for the remainder of the season. Ouch.

When Scott Skiles took over in Milwaukee, there was a lot of hope that he would take the young roster and develop a defensive identity without his prototypical reliance upon players that are, say, less than dynamic.

You know the old expression, you want to make an omelet, you have to deal with Luke Ridnour and Malik Allen. Or something.

Anyway, as the Bucks defense improves, including a stout effort Sunday night versus the Knicks, the youth movement got a little boost from the injury bug. Luke Ridnour, the point guard Skiles traded for to run his offense, came down with back spasms during the Bucks loss to the Raps a few nights ago. The result was sparkplug point guard Ramon Sessions coming in to add 30 points and 17 assists in two games.

Many wondered why the Bucks added Ridnour when they had the explosive Sessions. But Ridnour has shown an ability to get Andrew Bogut involved and operate the offense. Sessions also has significant problems on the defensive end. Still, there has to be a balance between Sessions' explosiveness and Ridnour's savvy. Maybe this is the break that helps Skiles opt for the more dynamic rotation, just as Charlie Villanueva's production has increased with opportunities. Skiles needs to continue to give the young players with upside a chance to avoid being, well, Skiles.

As rumored, Cleveland plundered point guard Mo Williams from Milwaukee, losing only 33-year-old Joe Smith and 32-year-old Damon Jones in the process. Jones and OKC alum Luke Ridnour head to the Bucks; Smith and former Sonic Desmond Mason pack for Oklahoma. As I wrote a bit ago, it's a good pull for Cleveland -- Williams shores up a pitiful position and adds some offensive punch to a defensive-minded team.

There's another consideration, though: what's it do to Cleveland's pending cap space? Danny Ferry's public position on all prospective trades has been that the team didn't want to surrender its projected cap space for the summer of 2009. With Smith, Jones, Eric Snow and Wally Szczerbiak definitely off the payroll next offseason, the idea become such that the Cavs would be in good position to either trade for a disgruntled superstar at the deadline or reach out to a top-level free agent in July. (In actuality, once Daniel Gibson was extended, the team still needed to shred one more long contract to be serious players in free agency. The trade avenue would be alive regardless.)

Over the past few days, a rumor which would traditionally drive the world mad has slipped by under the cover of the Olympics. Mo Williams, a dynamic second-tier point guard who signed with Milwaukee for big money last summer, would head to Cleveland to augment LeBron James' single-headed offensive attack while OKC's Luke Ridnour would transfer to Milwaukee and the Cavs would give the Thunder something or other (probably some expiring contracts -- fancy that). BrewHoop sums up the situation flawlessly.

There are two competing questions in such a deal. The first, which we won't address fully in this post: is Ramon Sessions so good he makes Milwaukee's third- or fourth-best player (Williams) expendable? (Because Ridnour sure as spam ain't a sure-fire building block at this point. He'll start, but you'd think the goal would be to promote Sessions soon.) The question which actually matters to the league as a whole: can Williams push Cleveland over the top?

Cleveland was simply awful at the point last year -- 82games.com reports the positional PER was only 13. That includes minutes for Larry Hughes, Daniel Gibson, Delonte West and Damon Jones -- players substantially inferior to Williams. Mo offered a career-high PER of 17 last season, with good scoring, shooting and turnover numbers to go with a decent usage rate. (Usage measures the shot creation ability and offensive role of a player.) Williams would figure to be the second or third option in Cleveland, behind LeBron and perhaps Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Cleveland won 45 games and took the eventual champs to seven games. Philadelphia and Toronto have improved by some measure, and another summer of seasoning for Dwight Howard might make Orlando better. On the surface, it wouldn't seem Williams' production is the difference between 45 and 50 games. But when you consider what he'd be replacing, I think it'd be as big an acquisition as Jermaine O'Neal for the Raps. If the trade goes through and Cleveland gives up little, it could help snatch a top-4 seed for the Cavs and give LeBron a better shot at getting back to the top of the heap.

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
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.

Atlanta's been a good story this year; all that languid youth finally approaching expectations and making the postseason look (almost) reachable. Some would owe it to patience (Billy Knight has refused to sell low on guys like Marvin Williams, who's worth his weight in copper all of a sudden) and some might point to the good karma of not stooping to the tanking games of late 2006-07. Hell, some would just owe it to Josh Smith, who's been incredible.

But a Western road trip have turned things toward sour, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer Sekou Smith wonders if success might again slip away from Hawks fans.

Perhaps even more outlandish is that the Hawks seem to be tight-roping that dreaded point of no return, that fork in the road where they have to make an immediate and radical change of some kind or risk watching their entire season go down with their current (11 losses in their past 15 games and six of their last seven) slide.

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.

One of these days, the Sonics are going to refuse to play the Kings in preseason. Last year, Robert Swift ripped his ACL against Sacramento in late October. Last night, point guard Luke Ridnour took a Ron Artest 'bow to the face. His nose is broken and he'll be wearing a mask for a month.

Ridnour's buddies Nick Collison and Johan Petro both wore masks for a stretch last year, so maybe the fair-haired point guard can borrow one. It might be an adjustment -- LeBron James never seemed very comfortable in his; it's not a setback without perks, however. When Andrei Kirilenko donned his faceguard, he noticed an uptick in sympathy for the zebras, which lead to all sorts of finger-pointing at eternal masked man Richard Hamilton of the Pistons.

Luke had better hope he doesn't lose too much, though; Earl Watson and Delonte West are gunning for P.J. Carlesimo's heart, and P.J. Carlesimo probably isn't into kinky masquerade stuff since he just got his first lady friend at age 49. Basketball aside, Luke better hope he looks as mack as these players who've been masked before him.
Sorry, No Photos

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."