Roundball Stew: Invest in Vucevic

Source: Rotoworld Basketball Articles

Matt Stroup considers the keeper value of Nikola Vucevic and looks at late-season options Lance Stephenson and Josh McRoberts in this week's Stew.

Vucevic (concussion) returns with 17 & 15 - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic (concussion) returned to action on Saturday, scoring 17 points and grabbing 15 rebounds with two steals and one block in 39 minutes.

Nikola Vucevic will play Saturday vs. ATL - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic (concussion) made the trip for Saturday's game against the Hawks will play.

Nikola Vucevic likely to play Saturday - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic (concussion) made the trip for Saturday's game against the Hawks and is likely to play.

Nikola Vucevic not medically cleared to play - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic (concussion) was spotted doing some shooting on Friday, but he hasn't been medically cleared to play.

Nikola Vucevic improving, out on Wednesday - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic (concussion) reported improvement, but he will not play on Wednesday, as expected.

Nikola Vucevic: (Concussion) Out Wednesday

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Nikola Vucevic: Vucevic (concussion) will not travel for Wednesday's game against Charlotte, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Nikola Vucevic ruled out of Wednesday's game - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Updating a previous item, Nikola Vucevic (concussion) will not travel to Charlotte and will not play against the Bobcats on Wednesday.

Nikola Vucevic: No Shootaround Monday

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Nikola Vucevic: Vucevic (concussion) missed morning shootaround and appears unlikely to suit up Monday versus Miami, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Nikola Vucevic looking very doubtful Monday - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic (concussion) did not participate in shootaround on Monday and is looking doubtful to play against the Heat.

Nikola Vucevic (concussion) doubtful vs. Heat - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

The Magic will "most likely" play without Nikola Vucevic (concussion) vs. the Heat on Monday, according to beat writer John Denton.

Vuvecic (head) still iffy to play Monday - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic (concussion) didn't practice on Sunday and he remains questionable to return for Monday's game vs. Miami.

Vucevic has mild concussion; out on Friday - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic reportedly has a mild concussion and not an illness, and he will not play against the Thunder on Friday.

Nikola Vucevic skips shootaround, game-time - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic (illness) did not participate in shootaround and is a game-time decision on Friday against the Thunder.

Nikola Vucevic sick, will not play Wednesday - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic is sick and won't be able to play Wednesday night against the Knicks.

Nikola Vucevic rips off 25 points, 21 boards - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic posted 25 points, 21 rebounds and four assists in Wednesday's loss to the Heat.

Mostly NBA Notes: Rudy Gay surging

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

When I first analyzed the Rudy Gay trade, I surmised the move was lateral for his fantasy value. I’ve since quickly changed my mind, even rating him 20th on my latest Big Board update after just a couple of games with the Raptors, as the drop in quality when it comes to teammates appears to be far more outweighed by his increased responsibilities. Call it the James Harden effect. After averaging 16.4 FGA with Memphis, he’s up to 21.0 with Toronto, including a whopping 6.0 3pt and also 5.7 FTA (all three would easily be career highs). Gay’s 12 rebounds Wednesday

Mostly NBA Notes: Dwyane Wade’s changing game

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

Dwyane Wade has averaged 20.8 ppg, 4.3 apg, 1.2 spg and 0.6 bpg, which are all career lows since his rookie season (expect for steals, which is his lowest mark ever). He’s actually shooting a personal best 51.1 percent from the field while committing the fewest turnovers per game of his career, but he’s followed last year’s trend of getting to the line far less (this is no fluke, as he’s attempted the fewest shots at the rim ever, although he’s countered that with easily his best mark there at 76.2 percent), and the biggest decrease in production has been in the defensive stats. Maybe it’s a sign of him entering a slight decline phase now on the wrong side of 30, and he’s taken a ton of punishment

The Daily Dose: Dose: Holy Vucevic!

Source: Rotoworld Basketball Articles

Gerald Wallace was a no-show and Nikola Vucevic went off for the Magic on New Year's Eve. Tuesday's Dose catches you up on what you missed while you were drinking champagne and celebrating a new year.

Vucevic goes nuts with 20 & 29; Alf scores 28 - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic had a career-night in the Magic's 112-110 overtime loss to the Heat, scoring a career-high 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting with a franchise-record 29 rebounds, two assists, three steals, and two blocks.

Mostly NBA Notes: Kobe Bryant refuses to decline

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

While it’s dropped since the earlier part of the season, Kobe Bryant’s 47.8 field goal percentage is the best of his career, which has occurred during his 17th year in the league. If you include the playoffs, Bryant has now played in 1,410 games – that’s already 150+ more than Michael Jordan. Bryant has slipped some defensively, but he deserves a ton of credit for how he’s performed on the offensive end so far this season on a team in otherwise complete disarray despite such a potent looking squad on paper. Bryant’s 2.2 3pt - and his 37.9 percentage from downtown - are both the second best marks of his career, while his “

Nikola Vucevic stays hot with 16 boards - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic had six points, a season-high 16 rebounds and two more blocks in Wednesday's loss.

Vucevic, Davis disappear for Magic - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic played just 18 minutes on Wednesday for two points and four rebounds, while Glen Davis saw just 19 minutes for four points, six rebounds and four assists on 2-of-9 shooting.

Day 8: Kyle Lowry Injury Means Opportunity

Source: Give Me The Rock by Nels

For people who like politics as much as I (and hopefully you) like fantasy basketball, last night was like the Finals, and seeing all those bar charts of blue and red just made me wish that we could allow 16 teams in our system to compete for that eventual Presidential Championship prize. I mean, we all know that it’s going to be the Heat and the Lakers in the Finals this year, but at least we have different teams competing; James Harden stepping up to lead the Rockets, the new-look Nets, the Bulls are-they-hanging-in-there watch, the quiet-but-always-solid Spurs (with the league’s best record

Day 8: I Hope Everyone Traded Kyle Lowry

Source: Give Me The Rock by Nels

For people who like politics as much as I (and hopefully you) like fantasy basketball, last night was like the Finals, and seeing all those bar charts of blue and red just made me wish that we could allow 16 teams in our system to compete for that eventual Presidential Championship prize. I mean, we all know that it’s going to be the Heat and the Lakers in the Finals this year, but at least we have different teams competing; James Harden stepping up to lead the Rockets, the new-look Nets, the Bulls are-they-hanging-in-there watch, the quiet-but-always-solid Spurs (with the league’s best record

Nikola Vucevic stays hot in Tuesday's loss - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic had 16 points, 10 rebounds, a steal and two blocks in 42 minutes of Tuesday's loss to the Bulls.

Day 6: Getting High on Lowry

Source: Give Me The Rock by Erik

I don’t remember where I heard it or read it. I think it was on listening to commentary during a pre-season game. Someone said that he didn’t think Kyle Lowry would do well this season. He was coming off a career year with the Houston Rockets and was now with a new team, the Toronto Raptors. The outlook wasn’t looking good that he would replicate his stellar season. I listened. It sounded logical, at least at the time. It lingered in the back of my head across majority of my fantasy drafts. Big mistake. Huge. Lowry is killing it in Toronto and his fantasy owners are taking his stat sheet to the bank. One shining example is our

Nikola Vucevic blows up for 18 & 13 vs. Suns - Nikola Vucevic | ORL

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic thrived against Marcin Gortat and the Suns, posting 18 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 13 rebounds, three assists and one steal in Orlando's second consecutive victory.

Top 35 Fantasy Centers for the 2012-13 Season

Source: Give Me The Rock by Nels

The Center position is always as shallow as the inch and a half if water it takes to drown someone and this year is no exception. You only have to look at the fact that we go all the way to #195 in order to corral the Top 35. Yes, only 35 out of the top 195 players are Centers. And if you’ve got 12 teams in your league and have to start 2 Centers, then someone might have to reach as far down as J.J. Hickson at 149 to fill out their roster. (That doesn’t include multi-position eligibility, but it’s always hard to figure out how to include that in Tiered rankings, because different sites allow different players at different positions).

The good news is, it’s usually easier to pick up guys who get decent rebounds and low

Mock Draft Results and Analysis 2012-13

Source: Give Me The Rock by Erik

I know you like mock draft results. Who doesn’t? I promised on on Give Me The Rock’s Facebook page, a little bit too soon, that I would participate in a Yahoo! mock draft and post the results. Three weeks too early, it was tough to get a slot in a mock I was sure would fill up. Maybe it’s my timezone. Whatever. I finally got into one in a draft position that was requested by the most people who replied to the thread, middle position.

As you may or may not know, I’m fond of doing mock drafts. I like to get around 10 or so under my belt before my first real

Deep League Sleepers for the 2012-13 NBA Season

Source: Give Me The Rock by Patrick

You shallow leaguers think it’s always about you and your awesome fantasy teams filled with all-star caliber players. If you happen to play in one of those easy mode fantasy leagues, Erik already gave you 15 sleepers to watch this season. Now it’s time to give the deep leaguers some love. Here is a look at some sleepers for deeper leagues in 2012-13 (aka, the deep sleep). For those of you in 14-team leagues and larger, the following guys just might still be available at the back end of your draft.

Luke Ridnour, G, Minnesota Timberwolves: The arrival of wunderkind Ricky Rubio last season was supposed to be

15 Sleepers for the 2012-13 NBA season

Source: Give Me The Rock by Erik

It’s that time of year again, fantasy basketball draft prep time. We hear you. We know what you’re looking for, and have been searching the web for all this time, and no we don’t mean naked Emma Watson pics. That’s the kind of thing you clear your browsing history for. Seriously, it’s time to talk about sleepers. Who we think are NBA players who have a chance to slip through the cracks and exceed their average draft positions. In short, draft day gold. Sleepers are technically supposed to be like Fight Club. They both have the same first two

Fantasy Fallout: Howard headed to Tinseltown

Source: Roto Arcade by deldon

The blockbuster months in the making has finally happened. The trade immediately made the Lakers co-favorites to win the 2012/13 title. AccuScore added 4.4 wins to Los Angeles after the move, while they took away 13.1 wins from Orlando, which gives an idea of just how big the ramifications will be. Let's take a team-by-team look at how their newly acquired players will affect fantasy values:

Los Angeles Lakers: acquired Dwight Howard, Earl Clark and Chris Duhon.

Howard's fantasy value shouldn't change a ton with the move to

Andrew Bynum: Trade to 76ers Official

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Andrew Bynum: The four-team deal involving Bynum to the 76ers was approved by the league office Friday and is now official, Yahoo! Sports reports. The deal also sends Jason Richardson to the 76ers, Dwight Howard to the Lakers, Andre Iguodala to Denver and Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and three first-round picks to Orlando. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Dwight Howard trade to Lakers now official - Dwight Howard | LAK

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Lakers acquire C Dwight Howard, F/C Earl Clark and G Chris Duhon from the Magic in a 4-team deal, Nuggets receive G/F Andre Iguodala, Magic acquire G Arron Afflalo, F Al Harrington, F Moe Harkless, F/C Nikola Vucevic, F Josh McRoberts, G/F Christian Eyenga, three future first-round picks and two future second-round picks, 76ers acquire C Andrew Bynum and G/F Jason Richardson.

Official: Dwight Howard traded to L.A. Lakers - Dwight Howard | LAK

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Lakers acquire C Dwight Howard, F/C Earl Clark and G Chris Duhon from the Magic in a 4-team deal, Nuggets receive G/F Andre Iguodala, Magic acquire G Arron Afflalo, F Al Harrington, F Moe Harkless, F/C Nikola Vucevic, F Josh McRoberts, G/F Christian Eyenga, three future first-round picks and two future second-round picks, 76ers acquire C Andrew Bynum and G/F Jason Richardson.

Dwight Howard Traded to the Lakers – Fantasy Implications

Source: Give Me The Rock by Patrick

As first reported by ESPN, it appears that the long awaited Dwight Howard trade saga has come to an end, as a four-team trade involving Howard was agreed upon in principal on Thursday evening. The teams will conference with the NBA on Friday to get league approval and make it official.

Sources indicate that the trade will send Howard to the Lakers. In exchange the Philadelphia 76ers will get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson, the Denver Nuggets will acquire Andre Iguodala, and the Magic will get

Andre Iguodala: Traded to Denver

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Andre Iguodala: A four-team trade that would send Iguodala to Denver has been agreed to and will be sent to the league office for approval Friday, ESPN reports. The deal would also send Dwight Howard to the Lakers, Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson to Philadelphia and Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and three first-round picks to Orlando. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Andrew Bynum: Traded to Philadelphia

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Andrew Bynum: A four-team trade that would send Bynum and Jason Richardson to Philadelphia has been agreed to and will be sent to the league office for approval Friday, ESPN reports. The deal would also send Dwight Howard to the Lakers, Andre Iguodala to Denver and Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and three first-round picks to Orlando. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Dwight Howard: Traded to Lakers

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Dwight Howard: A four-team trade that would send Howard (back) to the Lakers has been agreed to and will be sent to the league office for approval Friday, ESPN reports. The deal would also send Andre Iguodala to Denver, Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson to Philadelphia and Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and three first-round picks to Orlando. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

2012 NBA Draft Fantasy Basketball Impact – Part 3

Source: Give Me The Rock by Nels

Part 1 is here (picks 1-10)

Part 2 is here (picks 11-20)

21. Boston – Jared Sullinger (PF)

Sullinger’s reputation was sullied at the last minute by rumors of a back problem, dropping him from a potential lottery pick down to the Celtics at 21. (Okay, sorry, that was bad) If he turns out to be okay, then that’s a pretty

Court Report: LaMarcus Aldridge suddenly a shutdown candidate

Source: Roto Arcade by Matt Buser

LaMarcus Aldridge had a specialist take a look at his ailing right hip on Tuesday and "an abnormality" was found. All we know for certain as of right now is that he won't play Wednesday and is set to undergo further evaluation in the coming days, after which next steps will be decided. His being shut down looks highly likely, as the last thing the Blazers will want to do is risk long-term injury, although fantasy owners won't be faulted for waiting for official declarations regarding his

Nikola Vucevic: Starting at Center Tuesday

Source: RotoWire.com NBA

Nikola Vucevic: Vucevic will start at center for the Sixers on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Vucevic, Turner starting for Sixers vs. Bucks - Nikola Vucevic | PHI

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic and Evan Turner will start for the Sixers on Monday, sending Lavoy Allen and Jodie Meeks to the bench.

Day 60 of 124: Where Stephen Curry Can’t Catch a Break

Source: Give Me The Rock by Patrick

Line of the Night: Chris Paul (2.69) has put up a number of good-to-great lines for far this year for the Clippers and is currently ranked at #3 for the season on the GMTR player rater, but interestingly enough, his 36 points on 11-16 from the field, with 3 threes, 9 assists and 2 steals against the Nuggets last night is his first LotN of the season. Paul is shooting 49% from the field and 87% from the line this year, which short of Steve Nash, is about the best percentages you’ll find out of the PG position.

Honorable Mentions: Paul Millsap (2.15) continues to put up nice line after nice line despite the

Nikola Vucevic scores career-high 18 in loss - Nikola Vucevic | PHI

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Nikola Vucevic came off the bench on Wednesday, but got hot to finish with a career-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds, a steal and three blocks in 28 minutes.

Lavoy Allen, Nikola Vucevic play well in loss - Lavoy Allen | PHI

Source: Rotoworld Basketball

Lavoy Allen started at center for the Sixers on Friday and had eight points, 10 rebounds and zero blocks, while Nikola Vucevic came off the bench for 16 points, seveen rebounds and a block.

Court Report: J.R. Smith to the Knicks?

Source: Roto Arcade by Matt Buser

J.R. Smith appears to be close to signing with the Knicks, according to reports. It's not possible to project starter's minutes for Smith in New York as long as everyone is healthy, with Carmelo Anthony owning the small forward spot and competition at shooting guard coming from Landry Fields and Iman Shumpert. But Smith's three-point proficiency (career 37%) is sorely needed on this team, his role will most certainly be to help keep the team's offense on the ascension, and we've seen him do a lot with limited minutes in previous seasons. That said, the other thing that's

Day 51 of 124: Free Ayon!

Source: Give Me The Rock by Patrick

Alternative title: where Eric Gordon owners get screwed

Line of the Night: We’ve seen LeBron James (2.01) get the LotN on a number of occasions. And while his overall line wasn’t as strong as some of his others this year, LeBron’s 35 points and 8 rebounds in a 114-96 win over the Bucks was the best last night’s 6 games had to offer.

Honorable Mentions: Two games after shooting 2-12 from the floor, Carlos Delfino (1.89) led the Bucks with 24 points, hitting 5-8 from three and 8-12 overall and adding a couple steals in 32 minutes. The good news if you grabbed Delfino is that he’s hitting a ton of threes right now (16 over his last 4 games) and

Court Report: Andrew Bogut out for 2-3 months

Source: Roto Arcade by Matt Buser

Andrew Bogut underwent more tests on Friday, including a CT scan. Reports are now surfacing that he'll need between two and three months to recover from his left ankle fracture. This ends his fantasy hoops season for all intents and purposes, as even the early side of that timetable is into the beginning of April. Drew Gooden becomes a must-add in most formats and Ersan Ilyasova should see enough minutes moving forward to gain plenty of fantasy relevance. The Bucks will likely look to bring in a