Hughes was invited to training camp on a nonguaranteed contract. He has been out of basketball since 2009-10. Of course, Hughes was a productive player for a long time in the league, and could be a valuable insurance shooting guard and perimeter defender if he makes the team.
Hughes has the potential to be a big scorer for New York, but was hobbled by toe and ankle injuries and was in and out of the lineup after arriving from Chicago. If completely healthy, he could approach the numbers he put up with the Wizards - 20 points, three assists, six boards and a steal per game - but health is a major question mark. Like Al Harrington and Chris Duhon, Hughes is playing for his next contract.
Hughes has been one of the more frustrating fantasy players for years. After years of good-but-not-spectacular play, he put it all together in 2004-2005, averaging 22.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.7 apg, and nearly three steals a night. Unfortunately, he's been declining ever since, and it looks like his future is as a role player. He'll back up the talented troika of guards, but if Gordon sticks around, Hughes will have a hard time getting minutes.
Hughes’ first year in Cleveland was a lost one. His second was even worse. He showed very little of the game that made him a fantasy stud in Washington back in 2005, and posted four-year lows in points (14.9 ppg), rebounds (3.8 rpg), steals (1.3 spg) and free-throw percentage (67.6) and a three-year low in field-goal percentage (40). Can he bounce back? Hard to say. One of Hughes’ problems has been a host of nagging injuries, which have robbed him of his lift and explosiveness. But Hughes is still young, and injuries heal. The bigger problem is his apparent incompatibility with LeBron James. Many thought he and James – players with very similar skill sets – would create matchup nightmares for any opposing defense. In reality, it appears that with James on the floor, Hughes just can’t find a comfort zone – and James ain’t going anywhere. It may be that Hughes won’t deliver on his immense potential unless/until he leaves the Cavs.
Coming off a career-season with the Wizards, Hughes was expected to be the Scottie Pippen to LeBron James’ Michael Jordan in Cleveland last year. Instead, Hughes’ numbers dropped dramatically across the board even before he suffered the thumb injury that caused him to miss half the season. Hughes’ roto potential lies in his combination of slashing scoring ability, instincts to play the passing lanes and grab steals, and the use of his size (6-5) and ball-handling ability to generate rebounds and assists. Unfortunately, his strengths are all poor-man’s versions of James’s strengths and for that reason the full range of Hughes’ game wasn’t often on display. Hughes still produced decent all-around numbers last season (15.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.5 spg) but without a signature category and carrying a history of health concerns (missed at least 15 games in five of the last six seasons), Hughes enters this season as more of an afterthought than the borderline roto superstar many expected a year ago.
Hughes made the leap from ‘solid fantasy contributor’ to ‘fantasy stud’ in the 2004-’05 season, averaging career highs in almost every category. His 22.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game placed him among the top-10 in each category among NBA shooting guards. What really set him apart, though, were his NBA-leading 2.9 steals per game, which also landed him a spot on the NBA All-Defense team. Throw in a 3-pointer per game and that at age 26 he is just reaching his prime, and he’s a potential first round fantasy pick, right? Not so fast. This offseason, Hughes signed a contract with Cleveland to play with LeBron James. Hughes has played alongside dominant scorers such as Allen Iverson and Gilbert Arenas in his career, so presumably he will be able to fit in next to LeBron and still get his own numbers. But the uncertainty of whether he can replicate his career season while adapting to a new team alongside arguably the best perimeter player in the NBA (who happens to play a very similar style to Hughes) drops him slightly in this year’s rankings.
Hughes surprised many with his ability to shoot the three, score points, and steal the ball on a regular basis last season. With the arrival of Antawn Jamison, Hughes will find it tougher to find shots as the third option behind Jamison and Gilbert Arenas. Hughes will still be a good option for steals and threes as the Wizards starting shooting guard and could be a nice late round pick in your draft this season if he can improve his woeful FG percentage (under 40 percent) from a year ago.
The Wizards signed Hughes to a free agent deal last year in the hopes that he could harness his abundant talent in Washington. The results were mixed. Hughes, who has never met a shot that he didn't like, will likely come off the bench this season to provide the team with some offensive spark, but he won't be asked to run the offense again. That job now belongs to Gilbert Arenas.
