Jamario Moon

Moon is the type of player whose real-life value often goes beyond the box score, as evidenced by his two-season run trailing only Chris Bosh in on-court/off-court plus/minus for the Raptors. The bad news is that fantasy basketball is all about the box score; real value doesn�t matter. The good news is that Moon should be able to find regular playing time no matter where he goes if the coach recognizes his value. For this reason, we expect Moon to still get reasonable playing time despite now sharing a position with King James in Cleveland. Moon is a 6-8 super athletic swingman that can help take some of the defensive pressure off of LeBron, and in this defensive caddy role, Moon should be able to rack up steals and blocks (2.2 combined steals/blocks for career). Moon also showed hints of a developing long range jumper last season, knocking down almost a trey per game on 35.5 percent shooting from behind the arc. Playing off of James and Shaquille O�Neal in a Cleveland offense designed for the wings to get open treys, Moon has the chance to really make three-point shooting a strength of his game. He will be a role player both in real life and in fantasy, but his unique combo of skills makes him an intriguing mid-late round prospect.

The winner of the thoroughly-unofficial 2008 “Where the heck did THAT come from” award, Moon started the year as an undrafted 27-year-old rookie and finished it on the NBA All-Rookie second team. A super-athletic “garbage man” in the tradition of Gerald Wallace, Moon racked up averages of 8.5 points, 6.2 boards 1.4 blocks and 1.0 steals in just 28 minutes per game. Just entering his physical prime, he’s well positioned to do more of the same this year. Don’t expect him to score a whole lot – he’s purely a defensive specialist.

Moon had a good season in the CBA last season and is freakishly athletic, but is a long shot to make the Raptors' 15-man roster.