Empty the Bench

- Greg Oden, C, Portland Trail Blazers: The comparison is almost too facile, but word that top overall pick Greg Oden will miss his entire rookie season begs the question: Does Portland have the next Sam Bowie on their hands? What’s more disconcerting than this missed season is the nature of the surgery: microfracture. We never know how a basketball player will respond to microfracture. Some like Amare Stoudemire, Jason Kidd and Zach Randolph have been just fine. Others, like Jamal Mashburn, Chris Webber, Antonio McDyess, Allan Houston, Anfernee Hardaway and Brian Grant have never been the same, losing nearly all of their explosiveness.

It appears that each individual’s body healing properties provide the best prognosis, which may not be a good sign for Oden. Apparently there was some indication that he had knee troubles in pre-draft physicals, but in general his body appeared to be worn down and beat up all over. It’s been said that he’s in the physical condition of a 30-year-old veteran. It’s not a good sign for such a young kid. We’re hoping for the best.

- Charlie Bell, G: Will someone please sign this kid? Bell is a proven combo-guard commodity who can log heavy, effective minutes at either guard position when the need arises. He’s an ideal third or fourth guard for an NBA team, and yet he’s not getting any attention. Apparently he and agent Mark Bartelstein were so offended with negotiations with the Bucks that Bell has vowed not to play for them in 2007-08, saying he’d go to Europe if need be.

Why haven’t the Miami Heat come calling? Or the Cleveland Cavaliers? Or the Boston Celtics in the wake of the KG deal (Boston doesn’t have the cap space now)? Bell’s career averages as a starter warrant more consideration: 14.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 three-pointers on 44.7 FGs and 77.4 FTs. There are a lot of teams that could use a reserve capable of those numbers.

UPDATE: Just hours after we wrote this, the Miami Heat stepped up and signed Bell to an offer sheet. Further proof that Pat Riley is an avid ETB reader. Bell is a restricted free agent, but after publicly stating he would not play for Milwaukee this season it appears unlikely the Bucks will match the offer.

UPDATE 2: Well, well, well. After lowballing Bell all summer and offering in the neighborhood of 3 years and $9 million, the Bucks stepped up and matched the offer sheet of 5 years and $18 million. It’s an odd move by Milwaukee as they don’t appear to have as great a need for Bell’s services and he’s bound to be upset about it after vowing never to play for the Bucks again. The guess here is that money heals all wounds and Bell shows up to camp happy and productive. Meanwhile, the Heat’s offseason just keeps getting worse. Miami isn’t looking like one of the top-5 teams in the East at this point.

- Rasheed Wallace, PF/C, Detroit Pistons: A motivated ‘Sheed Wallace is a deadly ‘Sheed Wallace, and despite rumors of being on thin ice in Detroit after his on-court collapse in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, it looks like the league’s biggest enigma has rededicated himself this offseason. Chris McCoskey reports for The Detroit News that Wallace has lost some 25 pounds this summer and is already in the best shape of his Pistons career; Dumars has even nicknamed him “Slim Jim.” That Wallace, who just turned 33 years of age, has voluntarily ramped up his conditioning should bode well for his mindset coming into the season, and he’ll obviously be quicker on his feet.

In the same report, McCoskey says that right now it appears Antonio McDyess will start at power forward, with Wallace sliding over to man the center spot. That means he’ll likely regain his C-eligibility in most fantasy leagues, and should be considered a top-10 pick at that position because of his statistical versatility. On the flipside, Wallace doesn’t exactly relish banging around in the post as it is, and with his lighter girth you can expect the big man to float the perimeter as much as ever, which is good when he’s on and bad for his field-goal percentage when he’s not. He’s also going to struggle guarding some of the East’s more beastly centers (Howard, O’Neal, Curry, Okafor), but the talent around him should make up for it.

- Devin Harris, PG, Dallas Mavericks: The future of the Dallas Mavericks is now secure after the lightening-fast Harris reupped with the team for five years and about $42 million, ensuring he’ll be suiting up for the Mavs through at least the 2012/13 season. Through his first three years in the league, Harris has shown steady improvement in almost every major statistical category (FG%, Points, Assists, FT%, Rebounds), and there’s no reason to think that curve won’t continue this year. Don’t be surprised if Jason Terry, the team’s other point guard who signed a lucrative extension last year, is either relegated to the bench or, for the right price, moved before the ‘08 trade deadline. A fringe fantasy performer until now, Harris should be on your radar in the late rounds. (ETB’s Fantasy NBA Rankings are on their way.)

- Amir Johnson, F, Detroit Pistons: There’s just no stopping the mighty Amir Johnson Hype Machine. After inking a new three-year, $12 million contract extension this summer as a restricted free agent, the talented, still-unproven 20-year-old revealed to The Sporting News’ Sean Deveney that GM Joe Dumars has personally promised him that “there will be no DNP’s” and that “this is [his] year.” Pistons brass is clearly banking on Johnson’s untapped potential–which he famously brandished in the D-League last year in averaging 18.9 points, 62.3% FG, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks with Sioux Falls–because he hasn’t yet done much on the big stage.

Anyone who has followed this kid has to be thrilled with promised minutes in the upcoming season. He’ll still be playing behind a pretty talented frontcourt (Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Jason Maxiell), but the team chose not to crowd the situation any further in the offseason by bringing in another vet who could possibly stunt Johnson’s on-court development. Head coach Flip Saunders has shown that he’s not one to roll with young guys, and everyone knows he needs to win games this year or face the chopping block. Fortunately for NBA fans, he won’t have much choice, as the core of his bench will now include Johnson, Maxiell, former Washington Wizards forward Jarvis Hayes, and rookie first-round draft picks Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo. It’s going to be an uptempo crew that should be fun to watch. Don’t draft Johnson in your fantasy league, but keep him on your watch list and try to catch him on your NBA League Pass; his consistency probably won’t be there in ‘07/08, but the kid can flat out ball.

- Allan Houston, G, New Jersey Nets?: Talks of comebacks for various retired NBA players was a rather vogue topic early this summer, but predictably, nothing really came of it. One guy who seems very serious about a return to the league, however, is shooting guard Allan Houston, who was last seen in New York collecting massive paychecks after bowing out to chronic knee injuries during the 2004 season. Unless there’s an unknown debt hanging on his neck we don’t know about, his motivations for getting back on the hardwood seem purely altruistic, so it’s hard to knock his comeback effort.

The Knicks and New Jersey Nets seem to think he has something left, too, as the Nets have offered him an “open invite” to training camp and the Knicks are said to be eyeing him as well. As The Record’s Al Iannazzone hints at, this could turn into a pissing match between the cross-river and Atlantic Division rivals, with the Knicks possibly unwilling to swallow their pride and miss out on a perhaps deadly specialty shooter off the bench. We’ll believe that Houston can not only make a team but also contribute when we see it, but if he can at least stand in the corner and launch three-pointers, he could have some value. He has no fantasy value, however, and should not even be considered on draft day.

- Peja Stojakovic, G/F, New Orleans Hornets: One of the bigger free agent busts from the summer of ‘06, Stojakovic flirted with a return to the court late last year after undergoing back surgery in December. The team wisely kept him on the shelf and looked towards the rest of their five-year, $64 million committment, and early reports say the career 40% three-point shooter is on track to begin the season in the starting lineup. We’re skeptical that he’ll ever fully regain his prolific scoring days of his Sacramento heydey (honestly, we’re just not big fans), but he’s bound to get little to no respect in your fantasy draft, and is definitely worth a late-round flyer. If he’s stays healthy, the 6-10 Stojakovic is a good source for percentages (FG, FT, 3-POINT) and points.

- JJ Redick, G, Orlando Magic: We’re not big Redick fans here at ETB, but this season he was looking like a decent deep sleeper for fantasy squads in need of triples. Opposing defenses will almost certainly need to key in on the inside-outside duo of Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard during the 07/08 season, making an ideal situation for spot-up shooters, which is all Redick ever will be. But in that simple role he could excel and have fantasy relevance in a similar fashion to fellow Caucasian non-athletes Jason Kapono, Kyle Korver or Matt Carroll. Unfortunately, Redick has been diagnosed with a broken hand. It doesn’t sound like the Magic consider the injury too serious, but it bears monitoring.

- Melvin Ely, F, New Orleans Hornets: We’ve always been a big fan of Ely. He’s not a starter, but whenever he gets minutes he seems to put up decent scoring and rebounding totals. The New Orleans Hornets have signed the 6′10″, 261 lbs. power forward to a two-year deal, and he should fit in nicely alongside the offensively challenged Tyson Chandler. Hilton Armstrong and Cedric Simmons are still a big part of the Hornets’ future plans, but they haven’t come along as quickly as some expected and will still need another year or two to become consistent contributors, so there should be minutes available for Ely, especially with David West’s injury history. We wouldn’t be drafting Melvin in standard leagues just yet, but keep him on speed dial for West’s next malady.