It’s all about Ricky Buckets these days.

First, Ricky Davis is traded to the Miami Heat (with which he played seven games back in 2000-01) along with Mark Blount in exchange for Antoine Walker, Michael Doleac, Wayne Simien, and a protected first round pick.

"OK, Ricky … I want you to imagine you’re on the beach in Miami..." (David Sherman/NBAE/Getty Images)

Later that night…because he was traded to the Heat—with whom I think he’s going to rock—I drafted Ricky Buckets early in the sixth round of the League Freak draft. He was the 51st player across eight cats last season and I nabbed him at pick No. 63 in my head-to-head, eight-cat league. Been caught stealing…

Then, not 24 hours after the League Freak draft concluded, we taped the NBA TV Preview Show on Thursday afternoon with Fred Carter, Peter Vecsey, and Frank Isola. Among the topics in the two-hour extravaganza was Ricky Buckets going to Miami. Freaks, I was chided for asserting that Miami went from pretender to contender with the additions of Davis, and to a lesser degree Blount.

Let’s break it down so all the haters can gain a better understanding of the scenario in Miami. Here is their shiny new depth chart following the deal…

Center: Shaquille O’Neal / Alonzo Mourning
Power Forward: Udonis Haslem / Mark Blount
Small Forward: Ricky Davis / Dorrell Wright
Shooting Guard: Dwyane Wade / Penny Hardaway
Point Guard: Jason Williams / Smush Parker

By getting Ricky Buckets, the Heat now has a legitimate Big Three, as all three have the explosiveness to go for 30 on any given night. Also, J-Will now has another finisher to find (and fewer bad shots to launch), Wright and Penny can come off the bench instead of dying in the starting lineup, and Blount gives Pat Riley a terrific four-headed monster at the power positions.

Love the trade for Miami. Love, love, love it. It tastes so good when it hits your lips.

And I love, love, love the trade for Ricky Buckets’ fantasy value for a variety of reasons.

First of all, the Heat has lost five perimeter players in the offseason: Jason Kapono (10.9 ppg), Eddie Jones (9.5 ppg), Antoine Walker (8.5), James Posey (7.7 ppg), and Gary Payton (5.3 ppg). That’s 41.9 ppg that needs to be replaced by Davis, Parker, Hardaway, and Wright.

Smush isn’t known for his unselfishness so let’s generously give him 8 ppg behind J-Will. Penny is on the wrong side of 35 and his accuracy (36 percent) and willingness to shoot (4.0 ppg in 23.3 minutes per game) have been major problems in the preseason. Wright has shown he just isn’t ready to put it all together. Defensively, he’s been right on time with 2.1 blocks and 1.4 steals per game this preseason. However, he’s shooting 24 percent from the field, which has limited his production to 4.9 points in 23.9 minutes.

Ricky Buckets averaged 17.0 ppg last year in Minnesota and he dropped 19.5 ppg in 05-06 despite the midseason trade from Boston to Minnesota. His career-best scoring average is 20.6 set back in 02-03 with the Cavs and I could easily see a return to the 20s this season.

Don’t forget about the other goodies Ricky brings to the table. Since breaking out in 02-03 he’s been good for five assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and one three per game. Plus, he’s nailed 45 percent from the floor and 78 percent from the line for his career.

In addition to the 41.9 ppg that needs to be made up, you need to consider the facts that Wade isn’t due back until late November at the earliest and Shaq has played 99 games the past two years. There are going to be a lot of nights where Ricky Buckets is the No. 1 option for the Heat. And as we all know…Ricky loves the spotlight. The dude was born in Las Vegas.

As for the Wolves, this move continues the rebuilding process set in motion with the KG trade over the summer. Davis was standing in the way of youngsters Rashad McCants, Gerald Green, and Corey Brewer. Here’s the Wolves’ projected depth chart following the Davis deal.

(Editor’s note: I reserve the right NOT to feel embarrassed on opening night if I am completely wrong about this depth chart because the Wolves have had confusing rotations ever since Flip Saunders left town. To wit, Randy Foye got 22.9 minutes per night last year!?!)

Center: Theo Ratliff (not for long) / Michael Doleac (along for the ride) / Mark Madsen (out with a nasty case of Jet Ski)

Power Forward: Al Jefferson (should slide to center…)/ Craig Smith (…so BeastMan can start at the four) / Juwan Howard (the next veteran to be traded)

Small Forward: Corey Brewer (1.4 steals in 24.9 minutes this preseason) / Ryan Gomes (keep him on your radar) / Antoine Walker (can you say “buyout”?)

Shooting Guard: Rashad McCants (Green has more upside, but he’s still too Green) / Gerald Green (.298 from the field in preseason) / Greg Buckner (caught in numbers game)

Point Guard: Randy Foye (I worry about his role) / Marko Jaric (Wolves determined to play him) / Sebastian Telfair (could buzzkill Foye)

To me, because you know going into the season that you’re going to lose 50-plus games, you have to play your young guys major minutes to accelerate the learning curve. As such, Foye has, has, has to play 35+ minutes a game. Has to. But I fear that Randy Wittman, in this most experimental of seasons, won’t give any of his prospects that much run—save for Big Al.

Regarding the big positions, I really like Craig Smith in deep leagues because I think he can flirt with a double-double if given 30ish minutes per game. If the Wolves move Big Al to center, thereby benching their trio of fossils, Smith could then blossom into the power forward of the future. And if that plan doesn’t work out, then you know PF is a position to address next season. If you play Smith 24 minutes a night, how are you going to find that out?

Ratliff is doing his best to thwart the forward progress of Smith, as the 34-year-old center is averaging 3.3 blocks in 19 minutes this preseason. I gotta admit, he has looked great. But because he tends to break down and his huge contract expires next summer, he isn’t likely to keep it up. McCants and Green are going to trade off having big nights this season, merely teasing the fantasy world. Brewer will give you strong defensive numbers, but his offense has a long way to go and Gomes will play a lot of three this year.

Here’s my current ranking for the Wolves using the eight-cat method.

1. Al Jefferson
2. Randy Foye
3. Corey Brewer
4. Craig Smith
5. Gerald Green
6. Rashad McCants
7. Ryan Gomes
8. Theo Ratliff
9. Marko Jaric
10. Antoine Walker

Draft accordingly and we’ll see ya during the season. Peace!

During the regular season, NBA TV fantasy expert Rick Kamla writes a weekly column, Living the Fantasy, on NBA.com. E-mail him at fantasyhoops@nba.com