Hardwood Recap "AI: The Denver Project"

The big news of yesterday was the trade of Allen Iverson to the Denver Nuggets. I'm sure you have heard the trade already, but in case you haven't, the 76ers sent Iverson and a scrub to Denver for Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and two 2007 first round draft picks. At first glance, it seems that the 76ers got a good deal with the two first round picks, but take note, Denver's pick will be in the mid twenties, and the other pick they gave the 76ers was that of the Dallas Mavericks, which could end up being the last pick of the draft. Anyway, that's for a later discussion about the real NBA, but that's not what we talk about here. This is all about fantasy implications, so how does the trade affect fantasy hoops?

Let's start with the Denver Nuggets.
Everyone knows Carmelo Anthony and Iverson are #1 and #2 in scoring this season. And the obvious question is, how can they co-exist on the basketball court? The Nuggets are the 2nd highest scoring team in the NBA right now and they are currently averaging 85 shots per game. Melo and AI are each averaging 24 shots per game, so theoretically, both players could maintain their shot attempts and still leave over about 37 shots for other players(J.R. Smith, Marcus Camby, Earl Boykins). My guess, however, is that one or both of the players' shot attempts per game, and therefore points per game, will decrease. Besides scoring, I think Carmelo will be playing inside more often which could lead to more rebounding, and Iverson will most likely take over the point in Denver which should lead to more assists.

How about Philidelphia?
Phili gets Andre Miller, a solid PG and his value shouldn't change much. Andre Iguodala has been doing it all for the 76ers lately, but I assume his assists will drop. His scoring and rebounding should continue at the current rate.


In the two games last night we saw two winning streaks stay intact. The Suns continued their streak with a win against the Raptors for their 15th straight win, a franchise record. We also saw the Bulls beat the Lakers to win 12 of their last 13.

Toronto Raptors
T.J. Ford led the team in scoring with 19 points while adding 9 assists and 5 rebounds. He left the game with a lower back bruise but says he will play wednesday at the Clippers. Andrea Bargnani had 18 and 8 and he played 36 minutes. As long as Bosh is out, I think Bargnani is a good pick up and a good play.

Phoenix Suns
Amare Stoudamire had 28 and 10 on 11-14 shooting from the field and 6-6 from the line. He looks to be close to 100% now, but let's see if his knees can hold up for the rest of the season. Barbosa is not getting the minutes or the opportunities that he was at the beginning of the season, try to sell this guy before it's too late.

Chicago Bulls
Luol Deng finished the game with 23 and 12 and is really having an impressive season. Ben Gordon had another solid game off the bench with 22 points and is playing more consistently as of late. Ben Wallace was playing injured and only scored 4 points, but did grab 9 rebounds and dished out 7 assists.