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Anthony Maggio

The Return of MoPete

July 13, 2007 8:53pm CDT

It seems like Morris Peterson has been around forever—but maybe that's just the post-coaster queasiness talking.

Since being taken with the 21st overall pick by Toronto in the 2000 draft, Peterson has honed his craft north of the border while his fantasy stock has ridden a roller coaster with more ups and downs than most professional hoopsters experience in an entire career. Fantasy owners have been harnessed in for much of the ride, generally arriving late to the party or sacrificing too much to get MoPete, as his two best seasons thus far were proceeded by decent ones and followed by his two worst non-rookie campaigns.

But by signing with the Hornets for four years and $23 million sometime this week, Peterson will be getting off the three-year cycle he seemingly started over for a third time last year.

With Anthony Parker, Fred Jones, Andrea Bargnani, Juan Dixon, and Jorge Garbajosa all earning at least 22 minutes per game last season while with the Raptors (Jones was swapped for Dixon in late February), there wasn't much room on the floor for Peterson. His minutes dipped from 38 per game in 2005-06 to a career-low 21 per night last season. He put up career worst assist and steal totals, his second worst scoring campaign, and his third worst rebounding season. MoPete's percentages (sans free throw shooting) were near his career averages, he simply wasn't getting enough time to be effective.

That won't be a problem for Peterson in the Big Easy.

Peterson signed a big money deal that in effect spelled out the end of Desmond Mason's tenure with the Hornets after two seasons. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Peterson will immediately be inserted as the team's starting shooting guard, pushing Peja Stojakovic up to his natural spot of small forward. Throw in Chris Paul, David West, and Tyson Chandler, and the Hornets have a center that could potentially lead the league in rebounding and doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective, a power forward with a solid midrange game who helps in all facets of the game, a pair of shooters to stretch the defense with Peterson and Stojakovic, and a point guard who can penetrate as well as anyone in the league and also score. With the exception of Stojakovic and his chronically gimpy back, those are four athletes who should be able to play an up-tempo style and cause some problems on defense with their length.

As for Peterson, he'll get to do what he does best: camp out behind the three-point line and wait for Paul to get him an open shot. With Peterson and Peja on the floor, defenses that are good enough to collapse on Paul and get a hand in someone's face will likely opt for Stojakovic, meaning Peterson should get more open looks than he ever has seen in his career. This is great news for fantasy owners, as Peterson's three-point percentage has been remarkably consistent throughout his NBA tenure—bottoming out at 33.7 percent in 2002-03 and peaking at 39.5 percent in 2005-06.

Certainly West, Stojakovic, and Paul need to get theirs offensively before Peterson does his thing, but Mason was the team's fourth leading scorer last season at 13.7 points per game, and he wasn't a three-point shooter. Peterson should be able to get up to 16 points per game and even challenge his career-best mark of 16.8 points per night. Four rebounds, an assist or two, and a steal per night are also in the cards for Peterson, meaning he will once again be a viable fantasy option and will no longer require a dose of Dramamine to have him on your roster.

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