Tony Battie

Battie gives the team a solid veteran presence on the bench. He will play the role of good soldier in an attempt to show the kind of professionalism the Sixers hope to instill in their young big men. The only floor time he’ll see will likely be in blowouts.

New Jersey will be the veteran center's fifth NBA team, and unless injuries hit the Nets' young bigs, Battie's role will mainly be relegated to towel-waiving from the bench. Battie has been consistently mediocre over the course of his 12-year career, yet always finds a way to contribute.

Battie missed the entire 2007-2008 season due with a torn rotator cuff. A two-year starter, Battie will likely be shifted to the bench following last season's emergence of Hedo Turkoglu. Battie is a nice complementary player for the Magic, but he won't do much for your fantasy team.

Battie will likely miss the entire season with a torn rotator cuff.

Battie is a solid veteran back-up, but his value to the team does not appear in fantasy stats. He is a solid rebounder and decent defender who will help Milicic develop, but is not a scoring threat. Depending on how much time he sees, he could be good for 6 points and 4 rebounds per game.

Kelvin Cato should get the majority of the minutes at center, so Battie’s value is dependent on Cato’s health. Battie is in the final year of his contract, so there’s motivation to seize any opportunity should it present itself.

After being traded to Cleveland last season when the Celtics acquired Ricky Davis, Battie saw a slight decrease in both is playing time from 21.8 minutes to 19.5 and in points per game from 5.9 to 5.4. He did battle a knee injury in February of 2004 with Cleveland and missed nearly a month. Battie isn't known as a great blocker or rebounder at center, but has always maintained a fairly decent field goal percentage and is a great role player. Cato may end up playing ahead of Battie at center, so don't count on Battie to be one of your starting centers fantasy wise.

It's odd to say this, but at some points last season Battie was the best player on the floor for the Celtics. He has shown an ability to create his own mid-range jumper and hit it often (53.9% FG). He will still rebound and block shots, but if he takes that next step, there is no reason to think Battie can become a 10+ points a game scorer.