LestersLegends.com

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OK, I am playing a little with his name, but Cleveland guard Lester Hudson has been on a mini scoring binge. In his past five games he’s averaging 29.4 minutes, 19.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.4 blocks, 1.6 steals, and 2.0 three-pointers per game.
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In the past three he has really stepped it up averaging 24.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 0.3 blocks, 2.0 steals, and 2.7 three-pointers.
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The Cavs are going nowhere fast so continued heavy minutes and production wouldn’t be a stretch. If you have a roster spot that you can open up, ride him while he’s hot.
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Also check out:

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• Doing Fantasy Basketball Favors
• Should You Dump David West?

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Kyrie Irving is the Point Guard of the future for the Cavs, and will eventually start playing more than the 26.0 mpg he’s averaging now, but there is still room for Ramon Sessions to be a fantasy factor.
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Irving is putting up better numbers for the Cavs at 14.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 5.6 apg, 0.8 bpg, 1.0 apg, and 1.2 3pg. The rookie is shooting 45.9 percent from the floor, 46.2 percent from downtown, and 78.6 percent from the line.
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He’s also owned in 86.0 percent of Yahoo! and virtually all of ESPN leagues.
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Meanwhile Sessions, who has been on three teams in five seasons (MIL, MIN, CLE) is owned in 57.0 percent of Yahoo! and 24.9 percent of ESPN leagues. For those looking for help in the assists category, Sessions could be your answer.
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He’s actually averaging more dimes than Irving at 6.2 despite playing three fewer minutes per game. Ramon is solid in a few other categories as well, producing 11.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.0 steal, and 1.0 three-pointer on a nightly basis.
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He’s not without his flaws as his shooting percentage (39.1) leaves plenty to be desired. Plus, he’s just one shy of his career high in three-pointers at five. He worked on his long distance game this offseason, but he’s not going to confuse anyone for Ray Allen anytime soon.
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Sessions has shot reasonably well from downtown (35.7) and from the stripe (83.3) though.
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Sessions will have some good games and some stinkers. That’s the life of an NBA bench player. So far he’s been real solid in three games, and salvaged a fourth game in which he only scored five points with eight assists.
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If you need help at PG, he’s reasonably available and even more reasonably productive.
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Also check out:

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• Roster Rubio
• Is MarShon Brooks On Your Fantasy Basketball Radar?
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Well, the decision has come down. Like Stephen A. Smith and others suspected, LeBron is joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. They have to be the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. Time will tell if this power trio will be enough to dethrone the Lakers.

From a fantasy perspective, I’m afraid all three will take a hit to their production. It would be hard not to take LeBron with the number one pick in fantasy drafts, but there has to be a case for Kevin Durant.

Image courtesy of ESPN

Cleveland’s #2 man Mo Williams will miss about a month with a shoulder injury. Delonte West figures to fill the void for the next few weeks. If you have a player on your bench that you can cut ties with, go ahead and snag West immediately. He will give you a nice boost in assists, three-pointers, and steals.

The Cavs will likely lean on LeBron James even more as well. Great news if you are a LBJ owner. Not so much if you’re playing against him.

Time for another fantasy basketball roundtable.

Brian of EmptyTheBench.com was responsible for this week’s Fantasy Hoops Roundtable debate topic.

Click here to see the full article.

This Week’s Topic:
Which NBA team do you feel is least fantasy hoops friendly as a whole? Please explain why.

My Response:
The team I feel is the least conducive to fantasy success is the Cleveland Cavaliers. I know they have LeBron James, but his rebounding ability steals from their bigs and his passing ability steals from their guards. After King James the pickings are slim.

Mo Williams is solid, but he’s probably in the bottom third of NBA #2 men. They have a trio of big men in Shaq, Big Z, and Varejao that somewhat cancel each other out. They don’t have a true point guard and their wing players are below average. 

***Update: Mo Williams out a month (click to see the next course of action).

It gets even worse when you look at the other side of the ball. As of Friday, January 15th they are #3 in scoring defense allowing just 94.3 points per game. They allowed 100+ points in just 11 of their first 41 games (26.8 percent). They also lead the league with lowest field goal percentage allowed at .434. Plus, they are eighth in the league with three-point percentage allowed at .338.

Panelists
Brian of EmptyTheBench.com
Ryan Lester of LestersLegends.com
Alex/Mike of BleacherCreatureRotoTalk.com
Erik of PointsInThePaint.com
Nels of GiveMeTheRock.com
Tommy of HoopsWorld.com

ESPN is reporting that the Cavs and Suns have agreed on a trade that send Shaq to the Cavs for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second round pick in today’s NBA Draft, and some cash. 

The move is somewhat of a Band-Aid for the Cavs.  Sure Shaq helps, but I’m not sure he’s enough to put them over the top.  Odds are both Wallace and Pavlocic will never play a minute for the Suns as they are strong buyout candidates.