Most disappointing players

I always like to hear the bad news first, so before we here at FSR get to the most improved players tomorrow, we’ll start with our list of most disappointing players midway though this fantasy basketball season. As a note, I tried not to include guys who seasons are disappointing only because of injury (like Agent Zero and D. Wade).

PG-Kirk Hinrich, Chicago Bulls

A fantastic way to off this list, probably the most disappointing player from arguably the leagues most disappointing team. Hinrich’s ppg and field goal percentage rose each of his first four years as a professional, but this year just about all his numbers are down. He’s only shooting 38.8 percent, his lowest since his rookie year, and averaging a career-low 11.3 ppg. His assists, steals, threes and minutes are also all down, meaning if you were hoping Hinrich would be a good number two point guard to have on your team you were wrong. Way wrong.

Honorable mention-Stephon Marbury, New York Knicks

Marbury losses out because he has missed a lot of time due to injury and his numbers have been declining since 2004. Additionally, Starbury is a sweet nickname while Captain Kirk is a supremely lame nickname.

SG-Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets

Carter is having an odd year. His minutes and shooting percentages are almost the same as last year, but he’s averaging five less points per game as Richard Jefferson has suddenly become a better scorer than Vinsanity. In fact, almost all of his numbers are down-rebounds, blocks steals, threes, free throws have all decreased from last year. He’s still a great guy to have on your fantasy team, but no doubt his owners expected more.

Honorable mention-Ray Allen, Seattle Supersonics

I think a lot of savvy fantasy people knew that Allen wouldn’t be averaging 25 ppg playing with two other elite scorers, but I don’t think anyone expected him to average only 18.2 ppg. More than anything, Allen is a victim of the Celtics snail-like pace factor. Unfortunately for his owners, his name is bigger than his stats, making trades involving Allen difficult.

SF-Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls

Blame this one on expectations rather than actual performance. There have been reports that Bulls were reluctant to include Deng in a trade for either Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett, which if true seems absolutely ridiculous now. He’s been injured this year, but injury or not all his numbers are down except for turnovers. Furthermore, as someone who watches almost every Bulls game, Deng consistently gets outplayed by his backup Andres Nocioni and the team seems reluctant to play the two at the same time too often. One has to wonder if this is as good as this 22-year-old is going to get.

Honorable mention-Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets

T-Mac’s numbers are still good (22 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.1 apg) but it has become clear that McGrady is no longer a consistently great player. Funny that both fantasy owners and the Rockets organization realized this the same year.

PF-Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana Pacers

O’Neal is the runaway winner here, and it’s not even because of his injuries. When O’Neal has played this year, it’s been well below his career averages. Add to that the Pacers are scoring more points this year and you begin to understand why ‘Jermaine O’Neal’ has become something of a dirty word in fantasy basketball. It’s gotten so bad that the average third-round draft pick is being dropped in some leagues.

Honorable mention-Mehmet Okur, Utah Jazz

Congrats to Memo for making this one close. Okur has gone from an All-Star last year to a fringe fantasy player this year. Now that he no longer scores as much, it only magnifies his deficiencies in rebounding and blocks.

C-Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors

Wow, so that’s what happens when you pick a guy with a girls name first in the draft. Andrea is only averaging 22 minutes a game and shouldn’t even be on your fantasy radar, which is especially disappointing given his productive rookie campaign (11.6 ppg). It’s too early to call him a bust, but he’s a year away from being part of a joke also involving Kwame Brown.

Honorable mention-Boris Diaw, Phoenix Suns

Speaking of jokes, what do you call a Sun who plays 30 minutes a game and can’t put up decent fantasy numbers? Boris Diaw (I’m still working on that one). Just because I listed him on the most recent five potential pickups doesn’t mean he hasn’t still been a disappointment. He’s played better during Grant Hill’s absence, but Diaw still can’t play with Amare Stoudemire and he still can’t (or won’t) finish at the rim.