Who Will Step Up and Save the NBA in a Lockout Shortened Season?

The lockout is dragging into it's fourth week, and it's like being in the middle of armageddon.  Back and forth, one offer after another, but no deal.  The worst part of the whole process is the optimism that comes from hearing that the sides are close.  One day, the deal is close, then one day later the sides break off the talks, and we are left with a week or more with no discussions.  For NBA fans, all we have now is hope.  Hope that ANYTHING at all can be salvaged from this year of basketball.

It's a giant leap to assume that the players and owners will reach an agreement to save this season at this point, and, even if they do, the season will be forever tarnished by the lockout.  But, because I miss the NBA, I have decided I am going to proceed with the hope that somehow there will be an agreement and that there will be a good year of NBA basketball.

From the fantasy viewpoint, assuming the lockout is over soon, the question I am asking myself is, "Which players will rise to the top of NBA production as a result of the stoppage?"  I want to know, because it seems a sure thing to me that the lockout will affect players in different ways.  Shooters will have only a short pre-season to find their range and new and young players will be under the gun to put up numbers without the benefit of the rhythm that is built into the NBA schedule.  Also, there will be tremendous pressure on the veterans to step up and save the day with the fans.  We also have the question of which positions will benefit the most from a short season.  Are we likely to see above normal production from the big players?  Finally, who will be the surprise producers coming out of the lockout?  There are still players unsigned who could end up in a good situation and take off this year or just have a great year.  This seems inevitable.

Some players will probably be relatively unaffected.  For example, a player like Derrick Rose.  There won't be the same pressure on Rose that there is on the 8-10 year veterans, but he is established enough so that he should be able to push the whole thing aside and get down to business quickly.  It's the second and third year players that I wonder the most about, especially the ones pushing for playing time, already.  Fortunately, many of them are playing in europe and in other spots around the world, right now.  This should help at least some.

I am confused on the response of veterans, though.  Will they come back with a vengeance or will the lockout hurt their production?  This is a serious question, and I guess we'll just have to wait and see.  For me, I need them to step up both in the media and on the floor and prove to me that the lockout isn't going to kill basketball.  I hope they do.

Noone is talking much about the affects of the lockout, yet...I guess since there isn't any end to it in sight.  But I would appreciate comments on the situation and what we are likely to see in its aftermath.  Please feel free to leave a comment and share your opinion of the affects of the lockout on the NBA players...