Empty the Bench

2007 NBA Draft Photo Credit: Sporting News/ZUMA Press/Icon SMI

ETB takes a look around the league and checks in with some picks from the 2007 NBA Draft that are making noise, with a bent toward fantasy relevance…

Kevin Durant, G/F, 2nd Pick, Seattle SuperSonics: Coming into the season I was one of Durant’s biggest proponents, insisting he would be one of the NBA’s top scorers in the next three years, but for the most part he’s underwhelmed with a dismal 40.6% FGs. I’m still a big fan though. He’s 19-years-old, he’ll be fine. Despite the poor shooting that kills your team FG%, Durant has provided great versatility this year: 19.8 points, 4.3 boards, 2.1 assists, 1.1 blocks, 1.1 threes and 0.9 steals on 86.5 FT%. If you have a guard-style fantasy team where FG% and TOs are categories you generally cede anyway, then Durant has actually made for an extremely strong play.

Al Horford, F/C, 3rd Pick, Atlanta Hawks: Horford has been one of the most impressive rookies in the NBA so far, averaging 8.8 points and 9.8 rebounds on 49.8% FGs in over 30 minutes of action. He’s also coming on strong with 34 rebounds in his last two games, and has been providing great interior consistency all season for what appears to be a playoff-bound Atlanta squad. I thought he could bang a bit and score at the NBA level, but he’s showing an ability to average a double-double as soon as this season and playing good defense with 34 blocks and 30 steals on the year.

Mike Conley, Jr., PG, 4th Pick, Memphis Grizzlies: Veteran loyalty is one thing, but it was pretty clear that Damon Stoudamire was little more than a role player at this point in his career and a defensive liability. Now that Marc Iavaroni has turned to Conley as his starter and is feeding the young lefty around 30 minutes a game, he’s finally doing what we thought he could do with 9.8 points, 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 3.5 boards in six starts. He should only improve from here on out.

Jeff Green, F, 5th Pick, Seattle SuperSonics: Green was one of the faster rookies out of the gate, but slowed considerably in December. He’s really not a fantasy entity right now, but has shown an ability to score and collect modest rebounding totals at the pro level so far. He was actually given a starting job toward the end of December (about time), and responded with three games of at least 14 points, but hasn’t reached double-digits since. This is the time of year when teams start to give rookies heavy minutes so keep an eye on Green. He’s not worth owning now, but is a candidate to have a small breakout as the season wears on.

Yi Jianlian, F, 6th Pick, Milwaukee Bucks: Yi impressed right off the bat this year with some inside-outside offense, decent defense and at least 1 block in his first eight games. Then we saw his Magic Milk commercial and were fully on board with the Chinese import. He’s clearly no Yao clone, with his ability to run the floor and play on the perimeter. Jianlian will be a solid player in this league, and has proven he can score with a 29-point game a few weeks ago, but he’s wildly inconsistent right now and could take a massive hit if the Zach Randolph-to-Milwaukee rumors come true.

Yi Jianlian Photo Credit: Imageinechina/ZUMA Press/Icon SMI

Corey Brewer, F, 7th Pick, Minnesota Timberwolves: If Randy Wittman would ever stop jerking every player in a Timberwolves jersey around, we might be able to draw some more substantive conclusions about Brewer. Like all the young kids in Minnesota, his minutes fluctuate wildly and Brewer is pulled every night after taking one or two bad shots. His confidence has suffered as a result. What we do know is that he’s going to be a solid pro in time, but it could be a couple years. Brewer’s offense is a work in progress (35.5% FGs, 69.6% FTs), but he’s already a plus defender and wing rebounder who could grow into one of the better two-way players around if he can ever get that jumper to start falling down.

Joakim Noah, F/C, 9th Pick, Chicago Bulls: More and more it looks like either Noah or Tyrus Thomas will have fantasy value in Chicago, but not both at the same time. They just do too much of the same thing on the defensive end, and neither has any offensive game to speak of. Noah has shown flashes with double-digit scoring games, but they’re few and far between. We’re still scratching our head about the Bulls drafting another offensively challenged big man, regardless of his other skills. Also, this tiff with assistant coach Ron Adams isn’t going to help him any.

Acie Law IV, 11th Pick, Atlanta Hawks: Law is still the Hawks PG of the future, but he doesn’t belong anywhere near a fantasy roster right now. He’s only putting up 4.6 points and 2.2 assists a game, and has been outplayed by journeyman Anthony Johnson all season. It looks like Atlanta will be in the playoff hunt for most of the year, so they may stick with the veteran all season. If there is a change in the backcourt keep an eye on Law though, he looks like the real deal.

Thaddeus Young, F, 12th Pick, Philadelphia 76ers: Young started very slowly, but he has started playing more minutes, is scoring more (a pair of 16-point efforts in his last four), has 7 total steals in his last four games and could be on the verge of a starting job according to the Philly Inquirer. On a related note, for whatever reason Philly’s first-round pick last year, Rodney Carney, is just not getting minutes. The best thing for all parties may be for Carney to get traded. It looks like new 76ers GM Ed Ed Stefanski wants to build around Iguodala, Dalembert and Young, so he will see more and more minutes as the season wears on. Young’s ball handling and shot selection will need some work before he can contribute consistently though.

Al Thornton, F, 14th Pick, Los Angeles Clippers: Thornton is another forward who is starting to score more and flirting with a starting job for his team. What’s more promising is Dunleavy is even allowing him to take a large volume of shots as the Clippers try to take some pressure off of Kaman on the inside. When we saw Elton Brand go down this summer it seemed like Thornton would be the biggest beneficiary, but it’s taken longer than first expected for him to crack Mike Dunleavy’s regular rotation and get consistent minutes, but has started six of the last eight games.

Rodney Stuckey, G, 15th Pick, Detroit Pistons: Stuck only has value in the deepest of mixed leagues, but has looked good so far. He missed the first 25 games of the season with a broken hand, but is starting to catch up and is now the first guard off the bench in Detroit. Stuckey is in a good situation where he won’t be asked to do too much too early, and has great veterans to learn from in Chauncey Billups and Lindsey Hunter. Despite limited playing time he’s already outperforming Acie Law and seems like a guy who will be around for a long time.

Nick Young, G/F, 16th Pick, Washington Wizards: Nick Young has the look of a scorer in his limited playing time, but not a whole lot else just yet. He has a strong mid-range game and can score in a variety of ways with creative shot creation, but honestly, he looks like a future 6th man who comes in for instant offense. Keep an eye on the Gilbert situation though. Young could get big minutes towards the end of the season depending on Arenas’ status and the team’s record.

Sean Williams, F/C, 17th Pick, New Jersey Nets: Williams was inserted into the starting lineup 12 games ago, and New Jersey has gone 9-3 since the change. He’s doing a lot of the things New Jersey’s veteran big men weren’t earlier in the season, like running the floor, rebounding and protecting the basket. Jason Kidd can make an athletic specimen like Williams look good on offense, and he cleans up around the basket well, hence the nice 54.6% FGs on th season. Williams should be owned in most fantasy leagues right now as his good FG% and combo of 8.6 points, 6.4 boards and 2.3 blocks as a starter are hard to come by. He’s already one of the better shot-blockers in the NBA.

Sean Williams Photo Credit: Jeff Lewis/Icon SMI

Javaris Crittenton, G, 19th Pick, Los Angeles Lakers: Playing behind Kobe, Fisher, Farmar and others Crittenton has found minutes hard to come by so far. He’s nowhere near worth owning in any fantasy leagues, but has finally started to see some playing time here and there and Javaris and show flashes of that athleticism and scoring ability (19 points on January 4th against Philly) that he will provide in years to come. Crittenton already looks to have a higher upside in fantasy leagues than Jordan Farmar, but Farmar is the reserve guard to own in Los Angeles this year.

Daequan Cook, G, 21st Pick, Miami Heat: The Heat’s season is over, and Dwyane Wade will pack it in soon in all likelihood. If/when that happens, he’s going to get 20+ minutes, at least, very soon for a Heat team going nowhere and in full-on evaluation mode. He has had some nice games, and he’s a pure scorer (12.0 points in two starts) who can do it all on offense. Cook has an excellent first step, is a strong leaper, penetrates well and can knock it down from all over. This is a guy to keep an eye on in all fantasy leagues, as he won’t hesitate to take shots if given the opportunity.

Arron Afflalo, G/F, 27th Pick, Detroit Pistons: We’re not big fans of how his first and last name are spelled, but the Pistons’ second first-round pick has worked his way into the rotation and has proved to be a heady player who stays within himself, doesn’t get rattled, plays solid defense, runs the floor, and can hit three-pointers. He was the Player of the Year in the Pac-10 last year and seems to have a lot of upside, but will have no fantasy value this season.

Glen Davis, F/C, 35th Pick, Boston Celtics: Big Baby has been showing some touch around the basket and that he can step up when the Celts need it, dropping 20 points in the big win against the Pistons last week. With such a thin roster Boston could need his offense and size down the stretch, and since the Celts tend to get up big he’ll have a chance to come off the bench for big minutes regularly. Unfortunately, Davis responded to increased minutes with an injury and one wonders if his poorly conditioned body will ever hold up to the rigors of consistent NBA playing time.

Jamario Moon, F, Undrafted, Toronto Raptors: We’ve got a lot of readers from north of the border, so we would have heard it if the undrafted rookie was left off this list. The offense is spotty at present, but he gets his fair share of put-backs. Moon earns his keep on the defensive end though, where his athleticism, shot-blocking prowess and defense has been a huge boost for the Raptors. Oh, and he’s also been invited to participate in the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk contest, which should be fun given his history of dunk contests and great leaping ability. Moon is easily one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this season, and given the long road he traveled to get here you know he’s always going to bring it.

In the interest of full disclosure:

Some early picks for rookies who would have a fantasy impact…

Some of our draft grades and analysis…

And…

ETB’s 2007 NBA Draft Dance Party

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