fBasketballBlog

Brooks was a little monster, going off for a career night. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

[Read the full, original post at Dimemag.com]

Beast of the Night: Aaron Brooks went off for 43 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 turnover, while chipping in 6 threes, shooting 47 percent (14-30) from the field and 75 percent (9-12) from the line. He was helped by an insane triple-overtime match, but Brooks has been having himself a nice month so far.

Notable lines:
Antawn Jamison – 10-22 FG (46%), 3-5 FT (60%), 2 3ptm, 25 Pts, 19 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO

Mike Dunleavy – 9-14 FG (64%), 8-8 FT (100%), 4 3ptm, 30 Pts, 3 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Blk

Samuel Dalembert – 6-8 FG (75%), 12 Pts, 21 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO (continue reading…)

KG can't keep the ball away from the risks to his value for much longer. (Flickr/Keith Allison)

[Read the full, original post at Dimemag.com]

Buy Low:
Tony Parker

Caron Butler

Antawn Jamison

Devin Harris

David West

Andrei Kirilenko, Tyrus Thomas, Danny Granger, Jameer Nelson, Kevin Martin and any other productive fantasy players (continue reading…)

Another night, another jam for James and his owners. (NBAE via Getty Images/Joe Murphy)

[Read the full, original post at Dimemag.com]

Beast of the Night: LeBron James had a huge night, finishing with 43 points, 13 boards, 6 assists, 1 block and 5 turnovers in a losing effort last night. He added 4 threes and shot 48 percent (14-29) from the field and 92 percent (11-12) from the line. ‘Nuff said.

Notable lines:
Andrew Bogut – 11-17 FG (65%), 3-3 FT (100%), 25 Pts, 14 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk, 7 TO

Rajon Rondo – 3-9 FG (33%), 5-7 FT (71%), 11 Pts, 9 Reb, 13 Ast, 5 Stl, 1 TO

Kevin Garnett – 9-13 FG (69%), 7-9 FT (78%), 25 Pts, 9 Reb, 2 Stl, 2 TO

Derrick Rose – 13-23 FG (57%), 1-4 FT (25%), 27 Pts, 7 Reb, 10 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 3 TO (continue reading…)

It appears that the Toronto Raptors have agreed to send Shawn Marion over to the Dallas Mavericks in a four-team trade involving the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic.

Shawn Marion is set to join the Dallas Mavericks, which should help his numbers across the board.

Marion, who had a dismal 2008-09 campaign by his standards, should see his numbers rise across the board this season as he plays alongside Jason Kidd, who isn’t the same as Steve Nash but will surely learn to find his new teammate in the right spots very quickly.  He won’t play like he did from 2001 to 2008, when he was a perennial top-five fantasy player, but there is little reason to believe that being back in the states, in Dallas, will give a bit of refreshing wind in Marion’s sails.

Playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki could prove tricky, since they are both power forwards, though Marion plays just as well as a small forward, but the good news is that they are both versatile players who will give defenders matchup problems all season long.

Fantasy impact:

• Marion will get more touches, shots and better three-point looks than he did last season, as a result of playing with Kidd and Nowitzki.  Expect somewhere around 15 points, 9 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1 block a night.  He won’t be a top-three pick again, especially as he enters the upcoming season at 31 years old, but putting him in the top 20 of your draft lists shouldn’t be too far of a reach.
• Kidd will likely benefit by handing out more assists to the slashing and alley-oopable Marion.  His turnovers may see a slight increase if too many of his passes to a cutting Marion get picked off, but this should be negligible.
• Nowitzki probably won’t benefit or be hurt too much by Marion’s presence on the team.  Marion is a player who is effective without ever needing the ball in his hands, so Nowitzki’s offensive game shouldn’t be too different.  While Marion will take more shots than any of the players the Mavs look to be unloading, Nowitzki could be handing out another assist or so a night to his new teammate.  His shots will likely drop back to around 17 or 18 per night, which is where that figure has hovered around until he took 20 shots per game last season, but this will be evened out by higher shooting percentages.
• Josh Howard will likely see his struggles from last season continue and even deepen this year with the presence of Marion.  Howard is probably the one player on the Mavericks’ current roster whose style of play is most similar to Marion’s.  He’ll have to find his shots and spots a little more now.