This Season's Changes
New York Knicks
There has been a lot said about Mike D'Antoni moving to NY, but from a fantasy perspective, owners should be ecstatic.
The Knicks averaged 96.9 points per game playing in the Isaiah Thomas circus. In their first game of the 2008-09 season the team scored 120 points, a feat they accomplished only once last year. D'Antoni averaged over 110 points per game for each of the past two seasons in Phoenix, and he is only beginning to perfect his offensive scheme as a coach.
Put a buy on the entire Knicks roster—yes, even Zach Randolph. Jamal Crawford will take what he learned from his mentor, Thomas, and apply it in this high-octane offense. David Lee is starting and is one of the most efficient players in NBA. In deep leagues Chris Duhon and Nate Robinson are viable options, and Quentin Richardson could have his best season since the head-banging Clipper days.
Phoenix Suns
Oh no, Mike D'Antoni is gone, sell, sell, se... HOLD THAT THOUGHT! Would it really be in new head coach Terry Porter's best interest to scrap the offense that his players are accustomed to and have been successful under? Sure some things will change; the Suns will clamp down on D harder and focus less on quick shots, but this is still a team that will score to win.
Speaking of winning, in their first game against the San Antonio Spurs this season, Porter and the Suns scored 103 points on their way to one. The Spurs gave up an average of only 90.6 points per game last year and didn't give up that many to Phoenix in four regular season meetings.
Matt Barnes and Grant Hill will split time this year so those are too guys you may want to avoid, but other than that Shaq, Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash, and Leandro Barbosa are all off to productive fantasy years under the former all-star point guard.
Dallas Mavericks
Although Avery Johnson had success in Dallas, with a very talented roster might I add, he was a roller coaster ride of a coach. Now under Rick Carlisle, Mark Cuban has brought a consistent leader to the Mavericks. There will be a new focus on defense and ball control in Dallas, which could be a good thing for the team, but scares fantasy owners.
This is the coaching move I am most unsure about. Can the Mavericks continue to average 100 plus points per game, something no Carlisle coached team has ever done? I am inclined to say no.
Jason Kidd averaged 9.5 assists per game and shot 42.6 percent last season when he came to the team, and I wouldn't expect his numbers to take a hit. I would expect the point declination to come from Josh Howard and Jason Terry's numbers, but I wouldn't worry about Dirk Nowitzki.
Detroit Pistons
Michael Curry knows the game of basketball, but has had very limited experience coaching it. As former NBA VP of Player Development, you can expect Curry to be a good mentor to his young players, and he is lucky to have veterans like Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups who have won a championship. Curry was an assistant to Flip Saunders and the team's focus should still remain on defense and quality opportunities on offense.
Curry was victorious in his first game and limited the minutes of his aging stars. You know what you'll get from the Pistons' players and don't expect anything more.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls have one of the deepest rosters in the NBA and first time head coach Vinny Del Negro has the added pressure of coaching the No. 1 pick of the draft. Del Negro is best known as the sharp-shooting wing from the Spurs, but he knows a thing or two about managing players, as he served under Steve Kerr as Assistant GM for the Suns last year.
This season Del Negro is using a lineup that nobody predicted. In the first game of the season he started Derrick Rose, Thabo Sefolosha, Drew Gooden, Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas. This leaves Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich coming off the bench, where they seem to be comfortable. On any given night it seems starting a Bull could be risky. Gordon will always fill it up, but if you are averse to risk I would look elsewhere.
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