Dec. 13 -- I have been given charge of Happy Fun Ball for this week. Max Work is moving onto other pursuits, green pastures, etc. The plan is the same: give you the goods on the free agents to target, to avoid, and to torture yourself over as well as other tidbits from our favorite sports association, staying loyal to Max’s format. It’s easy to be loyal to a style when you lack any good ideas on how to change it.

I watched the Warriors-Pistons game last night and I am just so impressed with the Pistons’ offense. Flip Saunders has done this team a world of fantasy good. All five of their starters have good value and they are fun to watch. The past two years the Motor City Bad Boys have been tough, brilliant defensively, and always found just enough offense to win, but fun to watch they were not. Apologies to all Pistons fans, but it’s true. This year, it’s a different story. They can run, their half-court sets are far more dynamic, and they are a joy to watch. Understand, I am a Celtics fan and admitting this is not easy. But where I see beauty I have to remark on it.

Enough preamble, onto the players you should be looking at from the free agent list. I will review one player from each position who is ready to help you this week.

Jose Calderon, PG, TOR -- The rookie from Spain has earned the starting nod at point guard in Toronto with his excellent decision-making. While the team is in shambles, Jose is shining. He has started the last six games and has averaged 8.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.6 steal, and, most importantly, 7.7 assists. Teams in need of assists will not find better help than in Jose Calderon. He is only likely to improve on his numbers, so the time to grab Jose is now.

Raja Bell, SG, TOR
Raja was all the rage before the season started. He would step into Joe Johnson’s shooting guard position and reap the benefits. He wouldn’t have the assists or rebounds of Johnson, but his high percentage shooting would yield a career high in threes and possibly points. Early returns were up and down. Lately, however, Bell has found his stride. In his last three games (up to December 9) he averaged 19 points and 2.6 threes a game. With two games against the Hornets, the fifth worst team in the NBA defending the three, and four overall, Raja is primed for a good week.

Ruben Patterson, SF, POR
With Darius Miles’ breakout season cut short by knee surgery, it looks like Patterson will be the player to step into the breech. Viktor Khryapa will also see some time, but Patterson’s superior defense will keep him on the floor longer than young Viktor. This is good, because Ruben did threaten in late November that if he didn’t play at least 25 minutes a game he would be prepared to spend the rest of the season on the inactive list. It now looks like the conditions of this threat will be avoided. Ruben will be a decent source of points and steals, and has always shot an excellent percentage from the field (51 percent lifetime).

Al Jefferson, PF, BOS
I, like many fantasy nuts, was sure that we would witness the blooming of a beautiful flower in Boston this season. Wait, that sounded all wrong. I did, however, expect Al Jefferson to bust out. A sprained ankle, a lot of missed training camp, and weakened conditioning all led to an unimpressive start to the season for the young man from Prentiss, Mississippi. Al was dropped in a lot of leagues and is available in most leagues lacking rabid Celtics fans. Al’s game has picked up as his conditioning and coordination with teammates has improved. He has averaged 8.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and one block a game over the past five and his minutes are on the rise. If he is available, now is the time to strike, as his minutes will only increase as the season progresses.

Melvin Ely, C, CHA
If April is the cruelest month, then center is the cruelest fantasy position in basketball. It is hard to find decent talent on the wire, so expectations should be tempered. With that introduction, I present to you Melvin Ely. Melvin has been impressive off the bench for the Bobcats. He torched the Lakers on December 4 for 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He is capable of decent scoring (with excellent percentages) and rebounding for you if you are waiting for one of your centers to return from injury. Over his last five games he has averaged 11 points, five rebounds, 1.2 blocks, while shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the line.

1. The center position is so thin I almost recommended Rasho Nesterovic instead of Ely. The problem with Rasho, of course, is that he is Rasho Nesterovic. Then, just when you think you are smart and have him pegged as a fantasy non-factor, he throws out a six block performance like he did against Boston on Friday night. For those of us thin at center, games like that can be tempting.

2. If your leaguemates have overlooked the recent play of Andres Nocioni, don’t make the same mistake. Andres has been a solid, if unspectacular, source of points, threes and rebounds from the small forward position. His teammate, Luol Deng, has been ridiculous over his last five games (21.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals and is shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 84.6 percent from the line) and is long gone from all but the shallowest leagues. Consider Andres as a cheaper, less productive alternative.

3. Remember Carlos Boozer? Tall guy, rebounds a lot, blew off LeBron and the Cavs for the Jazz? Ringing a bell? Anyhow, keep an eye out for his return in the next few weeks. He has been dropped in many leagues and could be a nice mid-season addition if he ever returns to the court.

4. Shaquille O’Neal may be back as soon as today. I think Mourning will still see minutes. No one on the Heat wants to go through a long Shaqless period again and his minutes will be curtailed.

5. This just in: neither Chris Webber nor Marcus Camby are injured. Check back in January.

6. Don’t get too fired up about Juan Dixon’s 28 points against the Hornets. He will have these games, sometimes even stringing together a few in a row, then will come back to the more familiar terrain of single-digit scoring. Has happened every year of his career.

7. Those of you waiting for Brevin Knight to lose his grip on the starting point guard job in Charlotte are going to have to wait a while longer. Raymond Felton doesn’t appear ready for the job and Brevin is averaging more minutes this season (31.9) than he did last year (29.5). Plus, the 2.6 steals a game are pretty endearing.

8. I’d like to close with a shout out to Richard Pryor. The man was straight genius.

Guy Lake is a fantasy expert for NBA.com. His column Expert Eye for the Roto Guy runs every Monday as part of the NBA.com Premium Scouting Report. Contact him at guylake@talentedmrroto.com

The views expressed by the TalentedMrRoto.com represent only the views of the writers; they do not represent the views of the NBA or any NBA team.