Richard Hamilton

Hamilton negotiated a buyout of his contract with the Pistons to earn his freedom and immediately signed with the Bulls. Already a champion with the 2004 Pistons, Hamilton is precisely the kind of steadying veteran shooting guard the Bulls have coveted to play alongside Rose. Though he’s more well known for his mid-range shooting, Hamilton has quietly developed a great three-point shot. With Rose commanding so much attention from opposing teams and Boozer, Noah and Gibson setting devastating screens, Hamilton should find himself open a lot this season. There’s a strong possibility the 33-year-old guard could be the Bulls’ second or this leading scorer this season behind Rose. Don’t let him pass you by in the later rounds of your draft if you’re in need of scoring, modest three-pointers, and solid assists.

The Pistons' longtime shooting guard was limited by injuries all last season, appearing in a career-low 46 games. He managed 18.1 points per game, though, still proving to be an efficient scorer when healthy. Still, the presence of Ben Gordon suggests that Hamilton is unlikely to average much more than 30 minutes per game. Barring an injury to Gordon and a serious improvement on last year's 40.9% field goal percentage, Hamilton profiles as a fantasy bench player.

It�s tough to get into Joe Dumars� head and understand why he decided to sign Ben Gordon to a five-year, $55 million deal less than a year after handing out a three-year, $34 million extension to Hamilton. Rip is just too good of a player not to average at least 30 minutes per game, regardless of whether he�s in Detroit or gets traded elsewhere. Last season, Hamilton was a major disappointment in the fantasy realm, as he finished outside of the top-100 for the first time in over six years. The main area of decline was his field-goal percentage, which can at least partially be attributed to the loss of Chauncey Billups. Hamilton�s effective field-goal percentage on jumpers dropped off dramatically from 49.9 percent in 2007-08 to a pedestrian 44.8 percent last season. It�s tough to buy into a complete bounce-back season for Rip considering the circumstances of the team he is playing on, but a return back into the top-100 is certainly possible.

Hamilton is a known commodity at this point in his career. He’s perfected moving without the ball and nailing the catch-and-shoot midrange jumper. He always scores around 20 ppg on good shooting percentages, with 3-4 rebounds and 3-4 assists per night. Hamilton has made his career as a catch-and-shooter that scores efficiently and does not turn the ball over. He’s very quick for a 6-7 wing, and though he doesn’t weigh very much he uses his length to get his shot off over most defenders. Hamilton has also slowly improved his long-range shooting, up to almost a full 3-pointer per game.

Rip’s game is like clockwork. He won’t hit acrobatic layups leaping over three defenders or hit three-pointers from half court. He will move without the ball, run defenders through an array of screens and picks, and hit mid-range jumpers at a very high rate of success. The lack of eye-popping numbers and SportsCenter dunks might cause some fantasy owners to overlook Hamilton, but that’d be a major oversight – steady, dependable production is a rare and valuable commodity. You can pencil Hamilton in for around 20 points, four boards and three dimes per night with excellent percentages, and you never have to worry about his roster spot again.

Hamilton is coming off his first season in Flip Saunders’ offense, which caused him to have a career-year in some areas while hurting his production in others. The offense is predicated on the point guard handling the ball almost exclusively, with intricate passing schemes that lead to wide-open midrange jumpers. Hamilton is an excellent mid-range shooter, so this offense fit him like a glove, as he set a career-high with 20.1 ppg and shattered his previous FG shooting record by making 49.1% of his 16.5 attempts per game. On the other hand, because he handled the ball much less, Hamilton’s assists reached a four-year low (3.4 apg), and defensively his production also waned with five-year lows in rebounds (3.2 rpg) and steals (.7 spg). As the Pistons will likely run a very similar scheme this season, look for Hamilton to continue to be more of an offense/shooting percentages role player than the all-around contributor that he had flirted with becoming in 2005 under Larry Brown.

Hamilton used to be known as just a scorer, a one-trick pony for fantasy purposes. In the last couple of seasons, though, he has rounded out his game just enough to be a more solid contributor. He uses tireless movement without the ball and a constant barrage of picks to get open for his deadly midrange jumper. However, he has also taken on more of a playmaking role recently, splitting the points and assists fairly evenly with point guard Chauncey Billups for decent contributions in each (18.7 points, 4.9 assists). He shoots a solid percentage from the field (44%) and an excellent percentage from the line (86%) to go along with about four rebounds and a steal per game. Hamilton’s biggest area of weakness is the lack of 3-pointers on his resume, something you wouldn’t expect for a scoring shooting guard. There is also some uncertainty as to how Hamilton will fit into the motion offense of new coach Flip Saunders that has traditionally used more pick-and-roll than off the ball screens to get people open. Nevertheless, Hamilton should be a relatively safe and productive second tier shooting guard this season.

Fresh off a great run through the playoffs, Hamilton should be ready for another productive season. Hamilton is almost tireless at times, running through numerous picks and back-screens just to get the basketball. There’s no question that Hamilton is at the top of the class at what he does, but don’t mistake Hamilton for an all-around fantasy player. Even at his best, Hamilton fails to contribute in threes, rebounds and assists. Sure, Hamilton will score 20 points per game and shoot a good percentage from the line, but he will leave fantasy owners lacking elsewhere. Feel free to snag Hamilton in the eighth round.

Fresh off a fat new contract ($63 million over seven years), Hamilton will continue to be the focus of the Detroit's offense in 2003-4. He should average right around 20 points and four rebounds per game. Rip had his best shooting percentage, 44%, from the field with the Pistons last year, and should be able to maintain that, as Detroit will move the ball around to get the best shot. Hamilton even laid to rest some injury concerns in 2002-3, as he started all 82 games -- his previous career high was 57.