B-Ball, B-Fast is a week daily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.Cup of Coffee
Joe Smith simply won't go away. Not that we necessarily want him to ... it's just that he doesn't seem to every become totally irrelevant. 12 years in the L after being a first overall pick and once the single handed destruction of the Minnesota T-wolve franchise, Smith has been getting kinda warm again. For December he had 10 double digit scoring games and averaged over 10 points a game and in 2008 he's over 20 per game. Granted it's only two outings, but hey, it does not make it untrue. Don't think it's going to last that long -- regardless of who is running the Bulls rotation and offensive schemes you can expect Tyrus Thomas to emerge sooner than later as the starting power forward -- so Smith is a prime sell high right now. Just make sure the commissioner knows about it.
Hot Cakes
"Kid Delicious" Kevin Durant returned from a one game finger injury absence on Thursday and scored 28 points with seven boards against the Suns. Everybody breathe. Durant appears to be fine (11 of 24 certainly isn't horrible) and remains a nice buy if his owner is struggling in the field goal percentage cat and you have some room to spare.
Travis Outlaw scored 21 on a disappointing 19 shots but there's nothing boring about 38 minutes of playing time, especially when the Blazers win. Outlaw outplayed (again) Martell Webster, but it looks like Webster might continue starting, although Outlaw will continue to get the majority of the PT, with the Blazers deferring to the classic "hot hand" occasionally. Outlaw's the guy you want.
Speaking of older doods, Michael Finley kept up his recent hot streak as the Spurs toppled the Nuggets, scoring 18 points with eight boards in 38 minutes of court time. That's nine straight games in double digits and his scoring has obviously boosted with Manu Ginobili out. Ginobili's missed four games and is nearing a return, making Finley an obvious sell high. He's going to see a drop in time and scoring clearly, but he should still start, which is a crucial point to use when trying to package him as part of a deal.
