Johan Petro

A career backup who couldn't revive his career in New Jersey, his fourth team in seven seasons. May see more minutes due to Humphries' absence, but fantasy owners should know not to bet on Petro's potential anymore.

Lopez took the proverbial “next step” last season and progressed across the board as the Nets constantly struggled to find offense and leaned on Lopez for productivity. He responded by playing all 82 games, averaging 18.8 points and 8.7 rebounds while still managing to shoot 50 percent from the floor despite having to take more shots (nearly 14 per game, up from 10 in 2008), and not having a fully healthy Devin Harris feeding him the rock for much of the season. Lopez gets to the line fairly often and strokes it at nearly 82 percent – tops amongst seven-footers, making him an elite asset in fantasy.

Petro was re-signed for reasons we can't explain other than no other player on the team had a rear end big enough to keep Nene's seat warm. He remains a project, and teams who are eyeing division and conference titles don't have time for projects.

Entering his fourth NBA season, Petro is still waiting for a breakout year. He was given the starting center job last season after Kurt Thomas was traded, but didn't do much with it, coming close to a permanent benching behind the likes of Francisco Elson. Petro, who averaged six points and 5.1 rebounds last season, is capable of a good game now and then -- he scored in double digits 11 times in 27 starts with three double-doubles -- but he is inconsistent and usually gets pushed around on the defensive end. He has yet to master basics like the pick-and-roll, and with little offensive game he's left to scrap for points off the glass. The team would like to see more of Robert Swift, but his injuries leave the door open for Petro. Mouhamed Sene, also injured entering camp, could be headed back to the D-League.

Petro was in and out of the starting lineup last season, averaging 6.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He'll back up Robert Swift at center and likely see about 10-12 minutes a game, down a bit from the 18 minutes a game he logged last year. Petro runs the floor well and can block shots, but his inexperience shows nightly.

When Bob Hill replaced Bob Weiss as head coach last season, one of his goals was to develop his young centers, Petro and Robert Swift. And while Petro ended up starting more games than Swift, the experiment will continue into this season. He’s still young and very raw, so there are no guarantees that he remains the starter all season.

A first-round pick out of France, Petro might not even suit up for the Sonics this year as he is could spend most of his time in Albuquerque, N.M., with the Sonics' Developmental League team. If he does make the Seattle squad, he'll patrol the bench, barring injuries.

Petro is a very athletic big man with solid shot blocking and rebounding abilities. The range on his jumpshot is about 10 feet. He's still very raw and will be a project. His work ethic has been questioned as well. Look for Petro to either be picked very late in the draft or not be picked at all.