If you’re looking for a deal right now, you’ve probably already missed out on the likes of Danilo Gallinari, Channing Frye, Aaron Brooks, Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, and Marc Gasol. Even Greg Oden seems to be doing much better this year than last year — of course the jury is still out on whether he can last the year.

With recent injuries to key players and other players returning from injury, you may still be able to find some players who can help you, especially if you find that you are a little low in certain categories.

Let’s take a look at what we have…

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There is a chill in the morning air.

That means two things to me.

1. College Football is starting up.

2. It’s time to sign up for Fantasy Basketball and start doing the research to pick the best Fantasy Basketball team that we can.

For my first blog of the Fantasy Basketball season, I’m going to look over the candidates for the first two rounds of the Fantasy Draft. The first two rounds are extremely important because if you don’t have the right top echelon players on your team, you’re in real trouble. A bunch of good players later on aren’t going to make up for missing out in the top two rounds.

So here are my observations about the top 30 or so players who could be available when you pick in the first couple of rounds and why you should or shouldn’t consider them.

The Top 2 Picks

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Well, I missed both of them in the previous round.

The unstoppable Cleveland juggernaut was stopped.

The surging Denver Nuggets likewise.

Poor free throw shooting has not yet been the Achilles Heel that it always has been in the past. I’ve got to think that Don Nelson could have coached a team to a victory over the Magic, if he had had the opportunity. I don’t know that the coaches opposing Orlando were savvy enough to take advantage of Orlando’s weaknesses.

The Lakers, on the other hand, have faced very good and experienced coaches and have struggled somewhat, but have still come out on top. Sloan, Adelman, and Karl have all been there before and know how to run a team, and the Lakers still managed to come out on top.

Orlando defeated one of the top players in the world in LeBron James, but they are about to face one of the other ones – Kobe Bryant. In my book, they are probably equally capable of putting the team on their shoulders and winning, so I don’t think it’ll be any easier for the Magic in this series than it was in the last one.

So here we come to the prediction…

Orlando Magic at Los Angeles Lakers – The Lakers have the home-court advantage. The Lakers have a very experienced coach in Phil Jackson who might be able to mix and match lineups and mismatches better than the coaches of other Magic opponents have thus far been able to do. That being said, though, I don’t think Orlando will be easy to beat. None of their weaknesses have really come out yet, even against quality opponents like Boston and Cleveland. Who is to say that Los Angeles can really find the chinks. As a fan, I really hope Dwight Howard and his clan will figure out a way of pulling it off — after all, they have been underestimated by just about everyone from the get go. Unfortunately for Laker haters (myself included), I think Phil and Kobe will figure out a way of bringing another championship back to Los Angeles. Prediction: Lakers in 7

We have had some pretty good series thus far. Expect them only to get better from here on out as the top teams have proven themselves worthy to be in the Eastern and Western Conference Finals

Western Conference Finals

Denver Nuggets (2) at Los Angeles Lakers (1) – A month before the end of the season, I would have said that nobody had a chance of taking out the Lakers. Since then, the Nuggets have gone on a rampage, smashing team after team. Most teams can keep up with them for a time, but a quick spurt always manages to put the Nuggets up by 20 sometime through the game and allowing them to coast to victory. Of course, the Hornets and the Mavericks are nowhere close to the talent level of the Los Angeles Lakers. Look for this to be a very good series, with both teams having opportunities of beating the other team on their own court. The Denver Nuggets could win this one. One thing is for certain — this is going to be a long series. The Nuggets are well rested. The Los Angeles Lakers went 7 with a pesky Houston Rockets team that ended up finishing without its star center, Yao Ming. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Nuggets in 7.

Eastern Conference Finals

Orlando Magic (3) at Cleveland Cavaliers (1) – The Orlando Magic are doing better than I expected, even with the disadvantage of their top player being a poor free throw shooter. The Cleveland Cavaliers looked dominant against the Pistons and the Hawks. The Magic are much better than any competition that they have faced thus far, but don’t look for the Magic to be able to stop this juggernaut. LeBron James and his posse are on a roll, beating opponents by over 10 points per game in the playoffs and winning just about every game in the regular season at home. The Orlando Magic will have a very tough task. The Cavaliers are rested. The Magic went the distance with the defending champion Boston Celtics. I think the Magic will be able to take a couple from them though. Cleveland might start out a little rusty, and the Magic are young enough that the length of the previous series will likely do little to slow them down. Cleveland in 6

Now that the first round Eastern Conference matchups have finished, it’s time to make the prediction on who will be the competitors in the Eastern Conference finals.

Atlanta Hawks (4) at Cleveland Cavaliers (1) – Cleveland was dominant in the first round, just as everyone predicted. Atlanta just barely knocked off the Miami Heat. Atlanta is good enough at home to win at least one game. I’m not sure they can win all of their home games, though — or any of their games in Cleveland. I really, really like Atlanta. I want them to make it a series. They are so talented that they definitely have the potential to steal a few games. But I really don’t they will actually do it. Prediction: Cavaliers in 5

Orlando Magic (3) at Boston Celtics (2) – Can I pick against both of these teams? No? Orlando’s free throw shooting is going to end up being their Achilles Heel. You’ve just got to believe that. But the Boston Celtics giving it just barely enough to win isn’t necessarily very inspiring either. We know that Boston can give away games at home. They’ve already done it. They’re bound to do it some more. I’ve got to think, though, that they aren’t going to lose the seventh and deciding game against the worst free throw shooting team in the league, are they? Prediction: Celtics in 7