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Mr. Anderson is a top 10 fantasy basketball player so far this season. (Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)

The “buy, sell, hold” ratings should be approximately interpreted as follows:

• Buy: the player is a solid trade target because his value is underappreciated yet reliable, or because he’s in a slump
• Hold: if you own the player, try to hold onto him, either because he’ll maintain solid value or to see how his value stabilizes before dealing him away; if you don’t own the player, wait until his stock drops a bit or until his uncertain value is clearer before trying to get him in a trade
• Sell: don’t believe the player’s recent production and sell high if you own him

With that, here’s the stock watch for Week 2: (continue reading…)

That anonymous hand on the right represents the hand of all Lowry's owners this season. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Beast of the Night: Kyle Lowry lit up the Lakers for 22 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and four three-pointers. He shot 42 percent (8-19) from the field, 100 percent from the free-throw line (2-2) and turned the ball over twice. Believe it or not, Lowry is putting up top three overall averages so far this NBA season.

Lines for Discussion:
D.J. Augustin: 10-18 FG (56%), 2-2 FT (100%), 4 threes, 26 Pts, 4 Reb, 9 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 4 TO; so far, he’s putting up better numbers than he did last season

Boris Diaw: 0-5 FG (0%), 5 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Blk; scorching start was unsustainable, but he’ll get back on track

Kyrie Irving: 8-10 FG (80%), 2-2 FT (100%), 2 threes, 20 Pts, 3 Reb, 6 Ast, 2 Blk; he’s averaging 14.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 0.8 steals, a block and 1.2 threes through the first five games of his NBA career (continue reading…)

Rose is back in beast mode. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Weekend Wonder: Derrick Rose averaged 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 1.5 steals, a block and 1.5 threes in two games over the weekend. He shot 50 percent from the field, 95 percent from the free-throw line and turned the ball over three times per game. These averages include his somewhat mediocre line from Sunday in a 40-point blowout victory over the Grizzlies. After a rocky start, Rose is calming the nerves of his insecure owners.

Lines for Discussion:
Ricky Rubio (12/30): 4-7 FG (57%), 2-3 FT (67%), 2 threes, 12 Pts, 6 Reb, 12 Ast, 1 Stl, 5 TO; he’s worth starting for now

Carlos Delfino (12/30): 6-11 FG (55%), 3 threes, 15 Pts, 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl; he’s finally back and will be a solid source of threes

Spencer Hawes (12/30): 7-9 FG (78%), 1-1 FT (100%), 15 Pts, 13 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk, 3 TO; I’m almost a believer (continue reading…)

Yep, this will be fun. (Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images)

The 2011-12 NBA season is finally within reach, ready to be ripped open by the childishly eager fingers of ravenous fans. For fantasy basketball owners, the joy comes with a bit of business. Once they cut through the excitement of seeing the first tip-off of the season, they’ll immediately wonder how their draft picks will pay off, what clues they can pick up in the early going and which players sitting in the free-agent pool might be worth a pickup.

While making heavy-handed conclusions after just the first day of games isn’t recommended, it doesn’t hurt to have a list of things to watch and hope for during the first official day of this unique NBA season. Below is a Christmas Day wish list for fantasy basketball owners who have players participating in the first day’s games. (continue reading…)

With Bynum's suspension, Kobe's wrist and an early back-to-back-to-back set, Gasol will be a workhorse in Week 1. Maybe pats on the head instead of punches to the chest will help, too. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

The 2011-12 NBA schedule is peculiar, for various reasons. For one thing, not only will each team play 66 games (in the NBA’s 66th season, no less), but every team is slated to play at least one back-to-back-to-back set – that’s three games in three consecutive nights – at least once during the season. This obviously has implications for older teams/players, guys playing through injuries, etc. Here are a few quick observations:

• The Lakers will be first to experience a back-to-back-to-back set, right from the Christmas Day start of the season. Given Andrew Bynum’s five-game suspension and Kobe Bryant’s bum shooting wrist, expect Pau Gasol to be heavily leaned on in the first week.
• The Boston Celtics (Week 16), Cleveland Cavaliers (Week 16), Detroit Pistons (Week 17), Golden State Warriors (Week 17), Memphis Grizzlies (Week 15), Philadelphia 76ers (Week 17), San Antonio Spurs (Week 17) and Washington Wizards (Week 15) all have a back-to-back-to-back set during what could be your league’s fantasy playoffs. While this might seem like a windfall for the fantasy-relevant players on these squads, it’s more nuanced than that (injuries, veteran players in need of rest and playoff standings).
• Having a back-to-back-to-back set doesn’t guarantee that the team will have five games that week (e.g., Minnesota Timberwolves in Week 10).
• Some of these three-in-three sets start in one week and end in the next.
• The New Orleans Hornets are the only team to have a back-to-back-to-back set in the shortened week before All-Star Weekend (Week 9), but they’re not the only team to have three games that week.
• Twelve teams have two back-to-back-to-back sets; the remaining 18 have just one.

Here’s a look at when each NBA team has three-in-three sets this season: (continue reading…)