PROTECT THE PAINT

5. Shaun Livingston G Oklahoma City Thunder: A career thus far plagued by injuries, most notably the one suffered in February 2007 against the Charlotte Bobcats in which he suffered a debilitating knee injury, dislocating his left kneecap after landing awkwardly following a missed layup, resulting in the left leg snapping laterally. Livingston injured almost every part of his knee, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament, the posterior cruciate ligament, and the lateral meniscus, badly spraining his medial collateral ligament, and dislocating his patella and his tibia-femoral joint. Ouch. During a brief stint late in the season, Livingston averaged 7.8 points on 53% shooting with 3.3 rebounds and 2 assists in 23 minutes per game. Will see time off the Thunder bench to make up a solid three-guard-rotation with rookie James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Landry is a strong defender of the paint and a rebounding force (Credit: picapp.com)

4. Carl Landry F Houston Rockets: A solid rebounder and finisher in the paint. With Ron Artest gone, and Yao Ming done for the season, Landry will see the floor much more. Averaged 9.3 points and 5 rebounds in only 21:18 minutes a game. If he’s on the floor for 30-35 minutes per game, his numbers should flourish. Landry attacks the rim, shooting a solid 75% from the line. The bottom line is this guy is just flat out tough. How many people do you know who could evade assailants in a foot race after being shot in the leg? That is exactly how tough Landry is.

3. Ryan Anderson PF/C Orlando Magic: He is the one of the reasons Courtney Lee was shipped to New Jersey.  The Orlando Magic love their 3-point shooters, and Anderson will fit right into their system with his ability to launch from deep. Anderson is fierce on the offensive glass, and has been tearing up the NBA Summer League competition. With Rashard Lewis being slated to move back to small forward after Hedo Turkoglu’s departure, Anderson could open up the middle for Dwight Howard by forcing big men out of the paint to defend his shooting. Will improve the Magic’s spacing. Few sets will be run for Anderson to score, but his offensive rebounding will get him many easy buckets.

CDR will have a solid year with Carter gone (Credit: picapp.com)

2. Chris Douglas-Roberts G/F New Jersey Nets: CDR must be one of the happiest player in the NBA now that Vince Carter has departed for Orlando. It is obvious New Jersey is going young, and Douglas-Roberts is a superb talent. He displayed potential late last season, and averaged over 12 points in the games he started. In April he averaged 10.8 points with 2.1 assists and 2.5 rebounds in almost 27 minutes a game. As his minutes increase we expect CDR to settle into his role, and be a solid performer at the NBA level.  At 6’7”, he has the athletic ability to move to the 3 if Courtney Lee is the starter at off guard. CDR was the leading scorer (18.1 points a game) on the Memphis team that went to the NCAA Title game in 2008. Too bad about those free throws. Carries a heavy chip on his shoulder, and look for him to do something about it this year.

"See what happens when I get minutes Nellie?" (Credit: picapp.com)

1. Anthony Randolph F Golden State Warriors: The youngest player in the NBA last season didn’t get consistent minutes until the team was eliminated from playoff contention and decimated by injuries. Don Nelson isn’t the most nurturing of coaches with young players and chances are Randolph would have blossomed sooner under the tutelage of a different coach. Scored 24 points and 16 boards against Tim Duncan and the Spurs in one of the final games of the year. Could one day soon be considered the best player from the 2008 Draft. Lamar Odom had nothing but praise for Randolph after they faced off last season, stating he could be a HOF caliber player.

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