Centres

Kendrick Perkins, Boston Celtics: With Kevin Garnett out of action, Perkins has a chance to elevate his production, though that hasn’t really happened yet. Still, he showed in December (11.3 PPG, 9.9 RPG) that he could be a fantasy force, which makes him at least worthy of flier status in deeper leagues.

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Greg Oden’s knee injury continues to linger, keeping Joel Przybilla in the starting lineup. His work on the boards remains exemplary, though he has logged just two double-digit scoring efforts in 2009…Owners looking for a boost in the shot blocking department needn’t look any further than Denver, where Chris Andersen has marked 25 shots “return to sender” in the last six games…We talked up Roy Hibbert in this space a couple weeks back and we’re not giving up on him yet. The rookie can’t stay out of foul trouble, averaging a disturbing 4.8 fouls in just a shade over 16 minutes a night in Indiana’s last six games. He’s a flier to be sure, but those grasping for straws can think about it…Matt Bonner was a beast from beyond the arc last month, knocking down better than two treys a night and averaging 10.8 points and 6.1 rebounds. Don’t overlook him.

Forwards

John Salmons, Chicago Bulls: Any concerns about a decreased role in the Windy City for Salmons should have been assuaged now that he has logged better than 30 minutes in each of the Bulls’ last three games. Outside of a 25-point effort his scoring hasn’t been what it was in Sacramento, but his production should increase as he becomes more comfortable in Chicago. He’s worth owning in all leagues.

Matt Barnes, Phoenix Suns: Injuries have depleted Phoenix’s frontcourt, which has helped Barnes get back into the flow of the offense. He has also benefited from the coaching change and renewed emphasis on pushing the ball. Barnes reached double figures in four of five games before lighting up the Lakers for 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven dimes on Sunday afternoon. Don’t hesitate to pick him up in deep formats.

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Everyone’s favourite document forger, Yi Jianlian, returned to the starting lineup for the Nets on February 23, though he hasn’t found the range (12-for-31) just yet. He was scoring well before his injury, which makes him at least an interesting roll of the dice in most formats…Now that Brian Scalabrine has joined KG on the sideline, Glen Davis is getting the starting nod. In three starts, Big Baby is averaging 16.7 points per game – he may not be long for the fantasy world, but he’s worth a short-term roster spot…One of the players heading west in the Salmons trade, Andres Nocioni, seems to be enjoying his relative freedom in the offense. The fifth-year forward is a volume shooter who is too loose with the ball, but he can score, drop threes and even chip in on the glass…It didn’t take long for the Thunder to find a spot in the starting lineup for Thabo Sefolosha, who posted 15 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday. Those in deeper leagues should act now before less informed owners take notice…Who is James Singleton? Anyone that can’t answer that question should take a quick peek at his game logs – we may be on to something here…Dominic McGuire continues to get a ton of burn in DC and averaged seasonal bests in both points (6.2) and rebounds (7.0) during February. That’s not great production, but it might raise some eyebrows in deep leagues.

Guards

Ronnie Brewer, Utah Jazz: Utah’s swingman is morphing into a legitimate fantasy force, scoring 16 or more points in all but one of the team’s 11 February tilts. His range isn’t great, but he shoots an excellent overall percentage for a guard, converting 55.7 per cent of his shots this past month. There’s no reason for him to be available in any league at this juncture.

Anthony Parker, Toronto Raptors: The 33-year-old struggled for much of February but ended the month on a high note, dropping 62 points over Toronto’s final three games. He has been very hit (13.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 4.6 APG in January) or miss (6.9 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.4 APG in December) this season so don’t mortgage your future to acquire him, but when he’s on he deserves a roster spot.

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Sebastian Telfair averaged 11.9 points per game in February though he continues to misfire with great regularity from the field. Be prepared to take a hit in field goal percentage for his modest contributions in points and assists…Even with Mickael Pietrus returning to action on Friday, Courtney Lee continues to start for Orlando, and why not? Lee has averaged 14.4 points a game in his past five starts and launched a dozen three-pointers (hitting four) his last time out. At the very least he’s worth watch list status in most formats…In two games with the Celtics, Stephon Marbury has scored eight points, all of them coming in his Boston debut. Keep a watchful eye on Starbury.

The Orlando Magic is having a fantastic season, building on last year’s success and riding an improved defense towards what could be a 60-win campaign. However, it’s reasonable to wonder if Orlando is hitting a wall, after losing six of 14 games in February, a record that might have been .500 for the month had it not been for a great comeback against the Sixers Saturday night.

The Magic is firmly entrenched in first place in the Southeast Division, and isn’t really being challenged for third overall in the Eastern Conference, but with Cleveland not slowing down, Orlando is slipping a bit further away from the Cavs and is not gaining on Boston, either. Is this a legitimate contender? The talent is definitely there, but is this team tough enough to go deep in the playoffs? That’s the big question facing the Magic as the season winds down.

Adding Rafer Alston at the deadline was a stroke of genius, plugging a big hole left by the injured Jameer Nelson. Hedo Turkoglu is starting to play more like the man who was the NBA’s Most Improved Player last season as opposed to the inconsistent, often poor-shooting performer he’s been most of the season. Orlando lost Mickael Pietrus to another injury, but Courtney Lee has stepped in admirably and, with his recent performance, is providing the Magic with the most consistent play it’s gotten out of the two-guard spot all season.

Best of all, Orlando comes home for a pair of games this week in the hopes that it can start to string some wins together after a middling few weeks. If it hopes to successfully chase down Cleveland or Boston, the Magic can’t afford any more letdowns this season.

While the Magic offense isn’t quite as good as it was last season, when it was the top-scoring team in the East, it’s not exactly chopped liver this year, remaining among the best in the association.

Rashard Lewis was a big part of that attack earlier this season. In fact, he was on a serious tear the last time we checked in on him, but his touches have been down the past couple of months, and February was a real bust, as his shooting went into the tank. Less shots + less makes = unhappy fantasy owners. On the plus side, Lewis snapped a slump and ended the month on a high Saturday, leading the way with 8-for-12 shooting from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line for 23 points. Orlando, one of the most prolific 3-point shooting teams in the NBA, was filling it up Saturday with 15 treys, and Lewis led the way, canning five of them (on eight tries) and pitching in with three assists as well. And with shootout inducing Phoenix coming to town Tuesday, Lewis has a chance to put together back-to-back solid efforts for his owners for the first time since January. Lewis still isn’t getting any more touches than he did last season, and when he is getting the looks, the fact that his shot has been in decline for three years running is a concern. He remains an amazing source of 3-pointers – give him at least one in 52 straight games – but I could see him slipping into the fourth round in next year’s drafts.

Like I said, the Magic likes to employ the deep ball. In fact, Orlando tied a franchise mark last night when it heaved up 37 shots from beyond the arc Saturday. Holy long distance attack, Batman. Lee wasn’t exactly red hot, but he led the parade with 12 attempts among his team-high 18 shots for the game. That’s the most touches the rook has ever had in a game – a fantastic sign for his owners. By the way, you can count me among his newest owners, as I got fed up waiting for Rudy Fernandez to earn more PT in Portland, dumping the Spaniard for a different freshman. So far, I’m pretty stoked about the results.

Saturday’s win over Philly was huge. Coming off a disheartening home loss to a severely struggling Detroit team on Friday, there was definitely reason to begin questioning whether Orlando was a contender or pretender. But coming back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter in Philly against a Sixers team that plays pretty well at home will help shut up the critics. The Magic dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Philadelphia 36-20, with Lee draining 13 points himself, the most he’s ever scored in a single stanza. Orlando is now 21-9 on the road, third best in the NBA, and that’s got to scare the crap out of any potential playoff opponent because stealing wins on the road during the postseason is what makes a champion. So as long as the Magic maintain its no fear policy on the road, it will be handful for anyone.

If the season ended today, Orlando would meet the 76ers in the first round — a match up that the Magic would probably be chomping at the bit over. Orlando has now won four straight and eight of its past nine games over Philly. By taking all three games against the Sixers this year, Orlando has swept them for the first time since 1997-98. That Magic squad was a .500 team led by Penny Hardaway, by the way.

The thing about the Magic is it really lives and dies by the 3-ball. It had made just 10-of-30 through three quarters, well below its season average of 39 per cent. So you’d think Orlando would scale back on the perimeter game in the fourth quarter, right? Uh, maybe not. The Magic attempted another seven treys in the final quarter, hitting five of them to change the complexion of the game. Like any jump shooting team, Orlando is prone to slumps, but full marks for plowing through on Saturday.

Centres

Shaquille O’Neal, Phoenix Suns: With Shaq no longer sitting out a game in back-to-back situations, there’s no longer any reason for him not to be owned in all leagues. He’s probably on a roster in your league already, but just in case he’s not he should be added immediately.

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After reaching double figures in scoring just twice in Chicago’s first 42 games, Joakim Noah has done it three times in the last four. His board work was rock solid in January (7.4 RPG) so if his scoring is coming around he would make a quality pickup especially while Drew Gooden remains out…Hilton Armstrong has started the Hornets’ last four contests – his numbers haven’t opened many eyes yet, but he’s at least worth watching in deeper leagues.

Forwards

Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves: The rookie wrapped up an excellent month of January (12.6 points, 10.0 rebounds per game) with his sixth consecutive double-digit point performance on Friday against the Lakers. His minutes are still fairly low, which should help him avoid the rookie wall, making him a potentially solid long-term investment for the rest of the season. It won’t hurt that since Love has picked it up, Minny has turned its season around.

Jason Thompson, Sacramento Kings: Sacramento has been a disaster this season, but the play of Thompson has to be considered a silver lining for the Kings. Over his last 11 games, the 12th overall pick of last year’s draft has scored at least 10 points and posted four double-doubles. At this point he’s a must own in all leagues.

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In four games since returning from a brief absence, Brian Skinner has averaged 9.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per night – those aren’t numbers worthy of consideration in shallow leagues, but he holds value in deeper formats…Love isn’t the only player in Minnesota’s frontcourt producing fantasy-worthy numbers as Ryan Gomes totaled 13.2 points and 5.4 boards per game (both seasonal bests for a month) in January. Consider adding him if you’re shorthanded up front.

Guards

Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic: After missing most of the past two months due to injury, Pietrus returned with a vengeance on Tuesday, pouring in 27 points and 10 rebounds against the Pacers. Before he got hurt he was averaging 13.2 points and 3.8 boards per outing in December. Don’t wait too long to pull the trigger on Pietrus, who plays a solid all-around game and is a more than capable shooter from downtown.

Flip Murray, Atlanta Hawks: What has gotten into Murray in recent weeks? The journeyman has reached double figures in 10 of his last 11 games, including three outings of 20 or more in his last six. However, Murray contributes little outside of his scoring – he doesn’t dish out many assists or do much work on the boards and most of his points come from inside the three-point line.

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Names we mentioned last week that have done nothing to diminish our enthusiasm: Milwaukee’s Ramon Sessions (15.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 4.5 APG in four games without Michael Redd), Toronto’s Anthony Parker (hit double digits in scoring in each of the final 10 games in January) and Charlotte’s Raja Bell (137 points in his last seven contests)…Another name we’ve mentioned numerous times in the past remains inexplicably available in some leagues – Daequan Cook knocked down 35 threes in January and averaged 11.1 points per game…Those looking for additional help from beyond the arc should consider Eddie House. The veteran knocked down an amazing 23 triples in his final five games of the month – get him while he’s hot.