http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4701 Recent articles about John Salmons en-us From newly acquired rookie Donte Greene to their star player Kevin Martin, an in-depth look at each player from what they did in the off-season, what the rookies did to get on the team, and what to look forward to going into training camp in Hawaii and the upcoming season. Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:14:57 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/339579 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/339579 Besides being former Warriors, what do Mike Dunleavy and Jason Richardson have in common? In '07-08, Mike-D and J-Rich shot the ball better than ever before and put up career-high numbers in several categories. In fact, you could say they had "career years," and as a result, their fantasy owners prospered. Since drafting these type of players is essential to winning fantasy leagues, the purpose of this article is to show you that, often times, career years CAN be predicted. So what else do Dunleavy & Richardson have in common? Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:32:51 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/337576 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/337576 The Kings made some big changes this off-season. They traded Ron Artest for some value, their rookies were stars in summer league, their young players did well and they have every position filled with a full, healthy roster. The front office is definitely building for the future. Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:15:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/336578 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/336578 With the NBA season a little over a month away, Screaming Sports' Tommy D decided it may be time to look ahead ... and look ahead he did. Rather than examining who to draft when that faithful day arrives, Tommy runs down a list of potential post-draft options in the NBA Waiver Wire Preview. Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:10:22 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/334143 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/334143 With the NBA season a little over a month away, Screaming Sports' Tommy D decided it may be time to look ahead ... and look ahead he did. Rather than examining who to draft when that faithful day arrives, Tommy runs down a list of potential post-draft options in the NBA Waiver Wire Preview. Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:10:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/334142 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/334142 Who will be this year's Monta Ellis? Paulie Knep has an idea. In fact, he has 10 of them. Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:42:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332354 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332354 FIO and TalkHoops.net staff writer Zach Harper breaks down the Top 25 shooting guards heading into fantasy basketball drafts this season, including in-depth analysis about the Top 10 and some notes about the remaining players on the list. Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:50:50 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332301 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332301 LAST SEASON The Kings went 38-44 (would have been #8 in the East), which was semi-impressive for 1st year coach Reggie Theus considering Bibby, Kev-Mart & Artest all missed a chunk of games. In February, they traded Bibby (the last player left from their '01-02 squad that made it to the WC Finals) to Atlanta for spare parts. Somewhat strangely, the Kings finished 8th in scoring & pace factor, but 29th in rebounds & assists. OFFSEASON MOVES Key Additions: Bobby Jackson, Donte Greene, Bobby Brown, Jason Thompson Key Losses: Ron Artest, Anthony Johnson On June 30th, Ron Artest decided not to opt out of the final year (worth $8 million) on his current contract. The next day, he regretted the decision, saying that he was "blinded by friendship" and had "misleading information." Soon after, co-owner Joe Maloof told Artest to "take a deep breath and quit flying off the handle with comments that don't make sense." The Kings must have had enough of Ron's craziness, because they traded him to Houston for Bobby Jackson and rookie prospect Donte Greene less than two weeks later. B-Jax returns to Sacramento, where he was a fan favorite from 2000-2005 and was named the 6th Man of the Year in '02-03. He averaged 15.2 points on 46.4% shooting that year, both career-highs that have yet to be matched. After posting an excellent 19.2 PER in '03-04, his rating has fallen drastically (down to 13.5 last season). At 35 years old, I thought he was done, but he started a couple of games against Utah in the Playoffs (in place of Rafer Alston) and played fairly well. Donte Greene played just one year at Syracuse before turning pro. As a freshman, he led the Orangemen in scoring (a la Carmelo Anthony) and blocks (1.6), and set a freshman record with 90 made threes. Unfortunately, he had to attempt 261 treys to make that many, shot just 41.8% from the field, and is considered a project who lacks defensive intensity. To replace the veteran Anthony Johnson (now Orlando's backup PG), they signed the 23-year old Bobby Brown, who averaged a solid 6.3 assists to just 2.2 turnovers in Summer League play. Brown played in Europe last season, but before that he attended Cal St. Fullerton, where he averaged 20.2 points, 5.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 3.0 threes per game as a Senior. At #12, the Kings selected agile big man Jason Thompson. He becomes the 1st man from Rider University to play in the NBA since "Smokin" Herb Krautblatt scored 13 points in 10 games for the Baltimore Bullets in 1948. (OK, I doubt that was really his nickname, but the rest are actual facts). He usually played against weak competition, but in a game vs. Kansas St., he had 24 points (9-14 FG), 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers, while #2 pick Michael Beasley had just 13 points (5-11 FG), 10 boards, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. ROTATION / PLAYING TIME With Artest now in Houston, this team is officially Kevin Martin's. He averaged 36.3 mpg last season and should see 37-38 minutes of action, score 25+ points, and lead the league in free throws made in '08-09. Joining him in the backcourt is point guard Beno Udrih. Udrih struggled when he had to split time with Bibby, but in 51 starts, he averaged 35.2 minutes, 14.4 points, 5.0 assists, .9 steals, and .9 threes while shooting a solid 47.5% FG and 86.1% FT. Bobby Jackson will backup Udrih and see about 15 minutes of action. I'm projecting John Salmons to backup SG and SF while playing 28-30 mpg, while Quincy Douby & Bobby Brown battle for the remaining guard minutes. A lot of people are penciling in John Salmons as the opening night starting small forward, but I've got my money on Francisco Garcia (more below). While Salmons is a better ball-handler and playmaker, Garcia is the superior shooter, more natural small forward, and better team player. As a result, I'm projecting 'Cisco to start and play 32+ minutes per game. Mikki Moore started 79 games and played a career-high 29.1 minutes in '07-08, but that number will likely fall to 26-28 this season with more frontcourt depth. After being traded to the Kings, Shelden Williams got 12.9 mpg, so I'll project the same for '08-09. Veterans Shareef Abdur-Rahim & Kenny Thomas are still on the roster, but both are more likely to be traded than actually playing a key role. At center, Brad Miller is entering his 11th NBA season. He averaged 36.3 minutes before the All-Star break last year, but just 32.0 minutes after, which is closer to what I think he'll play in '08-09. Backing him up (and starting the first 5 games while he's suspended) is the 20-year old Spencer Hawes. Their center of the future is far from polished, but he should play 16+ mpg this season as he takes on a larger role. Their frontcourt wild cards are the rookies Greene & Thompson. Don't expect much playing time in the first half, but if they fall out of the Playoff race early, both could see decent minutes. DON'T SLEEP ON: Francisco Garcia It's time to draw a line in the sand. ESPN.com and Hoopshype currently list John Salmons as Sacramento's starting small forward, and in a recent Hoopsworld article, they named Salmons to their All-Breakout Western Conference team. I understand their line of thinking, as Salmons started whenever Martin or Artest was out last year, and he put up very solid numbers as a starter. However, I have a strong feeling that Garcia will start and I'm 99% sure that he'll finish the season as the higher ranked fantasy player. If you look beneath the surface, here are some reasons why: 1) Of Salmons' 41 starts, 30 occurred before 1/22/08, when Bibby returned to the starting lineup. As I said above, John is the better ball-handler & playmaker, so it made sense to start him when Bibby was out. But as long as Udrih stays healthy, those skills won't be as needed as they were at the start of last season. 2) Standing 6-7 with a 6-foot-11 wingspan, Garcia has the length to play small forward. Salmons is more of a shooting guard, and as you can see here, he played almost twice as many minutes at that position. If Kev-Mart gets injured again, THEN Salmons will have serious value. 3) Francisco is the better shooter. Last season, he made 1.4 treys per game at a 39.1% clip. Meanwhile, Salmons shot just 32.5% 3P and has never made more than .6 treys per game in his career. Ron Artest attempted nearly 4 threes per game in '07-08, which means that Garcia should easily set career-highs in threes made and attempted this season. 4) Salmons = Artest, and not in a good way. Upset about being benched after playing well as a starter, Salmons let his coach know about it, resulting in a minor beef between he and Theus. Unfortunately, he didn't do himself any favors by scoring just 7.4 points on 43% FG shooting in 40 games off the bench. Not only does Salmons like to complain a la Artest, but he also tends to be a 1-on-1 ball-stopper, two negative qualities that the Kings would like to reduce in '08-09. 5) At Louisville, the "Latin Assassin" was a 1st Team Conference USA player who led his team to the Final Four in 2005. His head coach that year was Rick Pitino. His assistant coach? Reggie Theus (ohhhh SNAP). Was it a coincidence that Garcia's minutes shot up last season in Theus' first year as head coach? I think not. Salmons is still worth drafting, but Garcia is going to be the more valuable fantasy player. Mark my words. BE CAREFUL OF: Brad Miller Let's start with the stats. In '07-08, Miller averaged 9.4 rebounds (his highest mark in 4 years), 1.0 steals (his highest mark in 3 years), 1.0 blocks (his highest mark in 3 years), and .39 threes (the 2nd highest mark of his career) while shooting 84.8% from the line (a career-high). So, if you think he's going to improve in all of those cats, you're quite crazy. Now consider how many games he's going to play in. The league has already suspended Miller for the first 5 games of the season for violating terms of the anti-drug program, which means a max of 77 possible games played. But guess what? Brad has played 77+ games just ONCE in his 10-year career, missing a combined 58 games over the past 4 years. Lastly, consider his situation. The Kings are in rebuild mode, and they could lose a lot of games this season. If that happens, Miller will likely see his minutes fall in the 2nd half, as youngsters like Hawes, Thompson, and Greene get more PT. Sactown already got rid of Bibby & Artest, and they could be looking to trade Miller, Kenny Thomas, and Abdur-Rahim this season. All three have two years remaining on their contracts (close to expiring), but Miller is the only one who could possibly turn a playoff team into a legit contender. But if that were to happen, his stats would likely go down even further, because he would play more of a supporting role on a more talented team. The former Boilermaker has been a Top 10 fantasy center for a long time, but that may be a thing of the past. ROUND BY ROUND TARGETS (Where you should draft these guys in an 8-cat Roto league with 12 teams and 14 man rosters) Click on the link to find out! Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:58:32 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/314779 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/314779 This is the second of five installments of my position-by-position rankings, where I consider the four major factors that affect a player's total value: talent (statistical performance), affordability, age and potential. To see a more detailed explanation of my approach, give my point guard rankings a gander. To summarize a player's stats, I'll use the NBA Efficiency statistic, which is defined as: EFF = ((Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks) - ((Field Goals Att. - Field Goals Made) + (Free Throws Att. - Free Throws Made) + Turnovers)) Essentially, the order of this list depends on the answer to the question - would you trade Player X for Player Y, assuming the goal is to win a title in the next three seasons, while also building a strong franchise for years to come? On with the rankings: 1. Kobe Bryant, Lakers Age: 29 EPG: 26.8 Contract: three years, $69.1 M ($23.0 M per) His salary is astronomical, which makes it difficult to rank him ahead of the almost-as-effective-for-half-the-price Manu Ginobili, but Kobe is probably the league's best one-on-one player and is the only guy who can match Manu's fire and competitiveness. 2. Manu Ginobili, Spurs Age: 30 EPG: 19.9 Contract: two years, $20.6 M ($10.3 M per) Ginobili should still be effective for the next three years, so his very reasonable contract makes him a reasonably close second to Kobe. His game has no holes and he is one of the best players in the league in the clutch. 3. Brandon Roy, Blazers Age: 23 EPG: 19.4 Contract: three years, $12.2 M ($4.1 M per) Who would you rather have - Roy for $4.1 million per season or Dwyane Wade for $15.8 million? I'd take Roy and spend the difference elsewhere. He's a terrific combo guard that has helped to bring the Blazers back to respectability. (See the rest of the list after the jump.) Mon, 19 May 2008 13:23:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/268570 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/268570 When it comes to small forwards, LeBron James is king, with Carmelo Anthony right behind him. He confirmed that he's 6'9 and 260 pounds, yet he's fast and athletic. He had an MVP caliber regular season with 30 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 7.2 APG 1.8 SPG and 1.1 BPG. Unguardable 1-on-1, LeBron is only 23 years old, and is a force to be reckoned with in the NBA. Player (Current Team/Former Team) PPG, RPG, APG, SPG, BPG * = Best in Category (R) = Rookie Steals 1+ Shown Blocks and Steals Shown if both are 1+ 1. LeBron James (CLE) 30*, 7.9*, 7.2*, 1.8, 1.1 2. Carmelo Anthony (DEN) 25.7, 7.4, 3.4, 1.3 SPG 3. Caron Butler (WAS) 20.3, 6.7, 4.9, 2.2 SPG 4. Shawn Marion (MIA/PHX) 15.4, 10.2, 2.2, 2, 1.5 BPG* 5. Andre Iguodala (PHI) 19.9, 4.8, 5, 2.2 SPG 6. Ron Artest (SAC) 20.5, 5.8, 3.5, 2.3 SPG* 7. Paul Pierce (BOS) 19.6, 5.1, 4.5, 1.3 SPG 8. Gerald Wallace (CHA) 19.4, 6, 3.5, 2.1 SPG 9. Corey Maggette (LAC) 22.1, 5.6, 2.7, 1 SPG 10. Rudy Gay (MEM) 20.1, 6.2, 2, 1.4, 1 11. Richard Jefferson (NJN) 22.6, 4.2, 3.1 12. Hedo Turkoglu (ORL) 19.5, 5.7, 5 13. Stephen Jackson (GSW) 20.1, 4.4, 4.3, 1.3 SPG 14. Josh Howard (DAL) 19.9, 7, 2.2 15. Mike Dunleavy (IND) 19.1, 5.2, 3.5, 1 SPG 16. Luol Deng (CHI) 17, 6.3, 2.5 17. Andrei Kirilenko (UTA) 11, 4.7, 4, 1.2, 1.5 18. Peja Stojakovic (NOH) 16.4, 4.3, 1.2 19. Ricky Davis 14, 4.3, 3.4, 1.1 20. Tayshaun Prince (DET) 13.2, 4.9, 3.3 21. Marvin Williams (ATL) 14.8, 5.7, 1.7, 1 SPG 22. John Salmons (SAC) 12.5, 4.3, 2.6, 1.1 SPG 23. Shane Battier (HOU) 9.3, 5.1, 1.9, 1, 1.1 24. Grant Hill (PHX) 13.1, 5.3, 2.9 25. Francisco Garcia (SAC) 12.3, 3.3, 1.6, 1.2 SPG 26. Travis Outlaw (POR) 13.3, 4.6, 1.3 27. Andres Nocioni (CHI) 13.2, 4.2, 1.2 28. (R) Al Thornton (LAC) 12.7, 4.5, 1.2 29. (R) Jamario Moon (TOR) 8.5, 6.2, 1.2, 1, 1.4 30. Boris Diaw (PHX) 8.8, 4.6, 3.9 31. Linas Kleiza (DEN) 11.1, 4.2, 1.2 Just Missed Out (R) Jeff Green (SEA) 10.5, 4.7, 1.5 Desmond Mason (MIL) 9.7, 4.3, 2.1 Martell Webster (POR) 10.7, 3.9, 1.2 Mon, 05 May 2008 12:23:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263617 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263617 Better late than never. The Kings took the season series 2-1 and Artest was the big hero from deep in the end, hitting 4 clutch 3 pointers to help the Kings knock the Hornets out of first place for the second time. The Kings are doing their part in the playoffs, even though they aren't in it. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:11:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/236522 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/236522 The Kings, led by John Salmons took the season series 3-1 and handed the Blazers one of their more dismal road losses of the year, and Josh McRoberts made an appearance. Plus, in honor of Brad Miller undergoing surgery, the team wore headbands. Check out the pics in the comments. Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:32:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/235853 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/235853 The Biggest Loser: By this point in the season, Jason Richardson (2.0) owners know to expect games like this from him every blue moon. Richardson was 4-12 from the field and 1-7 from three. He scored 9 points with 1 rebound and 4 assists as the Bobcats got torched by the Celtics backup squad. Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:52:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/230313 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/230313 Even though Melo dropped 47 points, 21 in the 4th quarter, that couldn't stop the Kings, playing without 3 starters and their top scorer playing sick, from feeling a mile high after holding off Denver for their 36th win. The Nuggets could lose the 8 spot if the Warriors win today. Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:17:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/230222 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/230222 The Kings played spoiler for a night, denying the Rockets their 50th win and a tie for 3rd place in the West with the Lakers. Instead they stay in 6th place, diminishing their chances for the Southwest division title and homecourt advantage. Great game to watch all the way down to the end. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:00:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/226751 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/226751