Happy Halloween!!! Now that that's been said...

Let's get to the point. Fantasy basketball season officially kicks off today. We have two games today, Suns vs. Lakers and Bulls vs. Heat.

Things to consider for these first two games:

1) CHI vs. MIA - Watch Dwyane Wade to see how he performs. There has been a definite worry by several commentators that Wade will view the regular season as practice for the postseason, and this could mean big problems for those who drafted high on the former Marquette guard.
Ben Gordon is another player to watch. Everyone is going to be talking about how he put up 38 points on stellar FG%, but further analysis of his preseason numbers you see a pattern of much worse shooting, and I'm worried we won't see anything new this season.

2) PHO vs. LAL - Watch Amare and see what I spoke to in the prior post. Amare's knees have cost him his explosive power, and it will be interesting to see how that affects the way the whole team plays. Also keep an eye on Nash and watch for the lack of crispness in his passes we saw in the preseason. Boris Diaw's minutes and production will also be on fantasy owner's minds as he could be called upon to play a bigger role this year with the aforementioned declines.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: ANDREW BYNUM - Let's do some math. Kobe is questionable for this season opener. Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm are out with injuries. Now let's look at the Andrew Bynum's statline from their last preseason game against the Suns - 16 points on 8 of 9 shooting, 9 boards, one block on 26 minutes of PT. As long as the Lakers struggle with injury, look to Bynum to put up good numbers and appear to be a sleeper. I say "appear" because I don't suspect the youngster will retain his spot in the post regardless of his talent or how he performs in his role. The Lakers will always be Kobe's team, and once he comes back expect Bynum to dwindle into fourth scoring option again. In addition, as is typical with rookies, Bynum turns over the ball A LOT - 2.5 TOPG in the preseason. Nevertheless, you can make big gains in the short run by taking advantage of tonight's big game and the next couple of weeks while Bynum gets starter minutes, then perhaps turning those gains into a quick trade.

Rob's Forecast: 24 pts on 11 of 14 FG and 2 of 3 FT, 9 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 3 TOs