It's safe to say the Pau Gasol trade is working well for the Lakers, who would look like the clear favorites to win it all with a healthy Andrew Bynum. As is, they are still right in the picture, behind only the Spurs as the team most likely to win the title this season. Gasol isn't the best defender around, but his passing skills are perfect for the triangle offense. The 2008 NBA playoffs are going to be quite entertaining.

Jeff Green, Brevin Knight and Joakim Noah all need to be added in deeper fantasy leagues. Green has really improved his rebounding in this his fourth month in the Association, Knight should rack up assists and steals with Sam Cassell now out of LA, and Noah has a chance to stake claim as the team's starting center after the roster shakeup. Noah has really impressed at times during his rookie campaign.

Despite being the No. 1 seed in the West just a few days ago, I'd be mildly shocked if the Hornets make the postseason. The Heat are 1-26 over their last 27 games. Wow.

Hakim Warrick is proving to be a more than capable NBA player since being inserted into the starting five once Pau Gasol was shipped out of town. He could stand to block a few more shots, but he's averaged 20.8 points over the last six contests and is a huge help in field goal percentage.

Is it too early to declare LeBron James the second greatest player of all-time? What he's doing as a 23-year-old is simply amazing. Very few players in the history of the league are capable of averaging 30 ppg while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field, and he's also fast becoming one of the game's best defenders. Last week, he averaged a triple-double over four games (28.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 10.5 assists).

Manu Ginobili is a top-10 player in NBA basketball. The only reason few realize this is because he's averaged just 27 minutes per game throughout his career, as the Spurs continuously focus on long-term goals. In fact, Ginobili has come off the bench in nearly half his games during his career. When on the floor, there's nothing he can't do. A terrific defender, Ginobili can get to the rim with the best of them and sports deadly touch on his shot, including from long range. If the league held a one-on-one tournament, he'd be a top-5 pick.

The Jose Calderon versus TJ Ford battle over the rest of the season should be interesting. No way Calderon is quickly removed from the starting lineup after what he's done this year, but Ford is awfully valuable when healthy as well. At 6-3, 210 lbs, the team might try experimenting with moving Calderon to the two and playing both guards at the same time. Either way, both players' fantasy value takes a slight hit with the current arrangement.