Jason Williams

Williams did not play for any team last season, but the Magic felt they could use his play-making abilities on their squad this year and picked him up in the offseason. Williams' days as a regular contributor are over, but he will have some fantasy value if he can beat out Anthony Johnson for the backup point guard job.

Williams has missed 60 games over the last three seasons because of various injuries, including a recurring knee. He and Jason Hart will combine to back up Baron Davis at point guard. He’ll be capable when healthy, but there won’t be enough playing time. If Davis gets hurt and Williams is running the show, he’ll be a good source of assists and steals, but beware the field-goal percentage, which has dipped below 40 percent for his career.

Williams, who suffered through an injury-plagued season that limited him to 61 games, is entering the final year of his contract. As such, the Heat tried to upgrade the position in the offseason, losing out on Mo Williams before settling on Smush Parker. Whoever wins the gig, the point guard spot in Miami will not produce good assist numbers because Dwyane Wade handles the ball more than anyone. In a departure from his days as “White Chocolate,” Williams plays under control these days and is a decent floor-general, passing well and keeping turnovers to a minimum. Parker, on the other hand, is turnover prone but a good three-point shooter. The two guards may wind up in a more-or-less equal “point by committee” rotation.

Well. THAT worked out better than expected. Last year, Williams did an excellent job of toning down the flashier aspects of his game to fit within a system where he was usually the third or fourth option, and he won a title in the process. But his title-winning season wasn’t much of a fantasy season – he scored just 12.3 ppg and his assist average of 4.9 per game is his career-low. Part of the problem was his health; J-Dub played in just 59 games due to a variety of injuries. A partially-torn patella tendon required offseason surgery; he was only cleared to begin rehab on July 31. Bear all this in mind when drafting, and remember that Miami is a team built for the playoffs, and that Pat Riley is likely to conserve the health of key players during the regular season. As such, it shouldn’t surprise you if Williams continues to miss time or play somewhat limited minutes.

There are two ways this can go. J-Dub, or White Chocolate or whatever he’s calling himself these days, can embrace his role as Shaquille O’Neal’s caddy and Dwyane Wade’s assistant, avoid highlight-reel no-look passes into the front row and rehabilitate his image as he helps bring a title to South Beach. Or, he can complain about shots, spend too much time trying to get featured on SportsCenter, and Miami will flame out in the second round of the playoffs. The best case scenario would be Williams posting career-high totals in assists – and one would think he could do that by simply passing to Shaq and getting out of the way – but possibly struggling to maintain a scoring average in double-figures. Also, being Shaq’s teammate makes for open looks at the basket (Damon Jones shot 43% from three last year), so Williams should work on his outside shot. A repeat of last year’s 32% from three won’t cut it.

Williams improved in the real-life aspect of his game, cutting his turnover total to 1.9 per game, but last year was a down year in most of Williams' fantasy metrics. White Chocolate regressed from 8.3 assists per game in 2002-03 to 6.8 in 03-04. Williams did improve his shooting percentage to 41 percent, but he'll have to up his other numbers to be a reliable fantasy starter. Williams, when healthy, is a also a good source of steals and threes.

Williams is expected to be the starter in a crowded position on the roster, but he'll be hard-pressed to top last season's performance. Then again, he should set his goals even higher - perhaps even earning a berth in the 2004 All-Star Game. After all, he will be surrounded with even more talent than his first two seasons in Memphis. He will continue to pile up assists and will hoist up many three pointers.