FBA: Early Season Trends
Get what you can as soon as you can for Chris Webber in roto leagues. Even at age 33 and with one knee shot to hell, he has some incredible gifts. None of them, however, includes the sure ability to stay on the floor. And if Webber somehow manages to avoid injury, he'll still do more harm than good, particularly in turnover leagues. He's a streaky shooter and is barely serviceable in the post, so his field-goal percentage has been predictably awful since 2003 microfracture surgery robbed him of elevation. But he also takes too many liberties as a passer and can be a liability from the free-throw line. A trade is unlikely to help: Mo Cheeks gives Webber maximum floor time, despite his glaring defensive shortcomings. Some other coaches wouldn't be so forgiving, especially if Webber's offense continues to erode.
Likely free agents worth jumping on early: Hakim Warrick, Sean May and Bostjan Nachbar. Warrick has evolved from garbage-time bench bandito to Memphis' best post player in the course of an offseason. OK, Pau Gasol's injury played a role, but Warrick clearly is adapting to the NBA. He'll be better if he starts hitting free throws, and will star if he ever stumbles across a 3-point stroke. ... May is undersized, but he knows how to use his rump to get position to score in the post and rebound. He'll play a lot of minutes if Emeka Okafor stays at center, and his numbers could surprise if he takes his cues from Karl Malone (drop weight and extend his game away from the basket). ... Nachbar is a 6-9 lights-out shooter whose confidence and conditioning are up. Playing heavy minutes off the bench and spotting up to convert Jason Kidd and Marcus Williams dimes, he could be a poor man's Peja Stojakovic.
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