Last Man Standing
A.J. Price left last night’s game with an ankle injury and did not return, putting Jordan Crawford (21 points, four rebounds, seven assists, three treys, and one steal) squarely on the pickup radar. However, we were able to dig up that Price was actually available to return via Mike Prada at the Bullets Forever blog, and the only unresolved issue is why he didn’t actually step foot on the court. Still, that’s enough smoke for me not to go crazy adding Crawford at the expense of anything but dead weight on my roster. Bradley Beal had another bad game with eight points on 3-of-14 shooting. He’ll get it together as the year goes on, but he’s not a must-own player in 12-team formats right now even with his general upside.
The biggest fantasy story coming out of the Wizards’ side of the box last night was Kevin Seraphin, though, as the drop questions were coming in fast and furious. Seraphin even did his part to get off to a slow start, but a dominant fourth quarter gave him 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting with five rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block in 22 minutes. Randy Wittman is doing something weird right now, and I’m not quite sure what it is, but I’ve seen enough of what Seraphin can do with his minutes to consider him a good stash at worst and an emerging producer at best. With Nene (foot) a total question mark and Emeka Okafor a total injury risk, Seraphin will be the last man standing down the stretch.
Shake Me Up
Chris Kaman moved into the starting lineup and promptly uncorked 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting with eight boards, a steal, and a block in 32 minutes, and will probably remain a must-start player as long as he is healthy. We saw more of dominant O.J. Mayo (25 points, 9-of-15 FGs), while Darren Collison hit a speed bump with just nine points on 2-of-10 shooting to go with three rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Elton Brand benefited from Kaman’s presence as Rick Carlisle had hoped, scoring 11 points with 12 boards and two blocks in 30 minutes. I can think of a few reasons to discount Brand’s fantasy value, but for the next few weeks while Dirk is out I’d be hard pressed not to add him after this line and utilization. Brandan Wright, for all of the talk about his improvement here and elsewhere, was a DNP-CD and can officially be dropped after a small productive run.
Vince Carter (seven points, 2-of-8 FGs, five boards) is playing like a guy with a hip injury that needs Shawn Marion (knee) to come back so he can rest. Rick Carlisle expects Marion to travel with the team this weekend, so don’t be surprised if the old guys pass the baton. Jae Crowder had another decent, low-minute game with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting (including a three) with two rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 21 minutes. Barring a change in his deployment, there’s not much value in standard formats.
Drew Down With Teague
Devin Harris (hamstring) and Al Horford (illness) did not play last night, leaving a thin Hawks squad to play a mostly disappointing Warriors squad last night. Josh Smith continued his regimen of bad shots, hitting 6-of-16 shots from the field, but at least he put up big numbers with 16 points, 10 boards, four assists, three steals, two blocks, and a 4-of-4 mark from the foul line. I’ve been calling him a buy low candidate for weeks, and yes this line comes against the Warriors with Horford out, but he’s simply going to improve and that’s that.
Lou Williams got back on track with 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting (3-of-8 3PTs, 5-of-7 FTs), three rebounds, six assists, and a steal. I have no idea why people were jumping off his bandwagon. He’s about as consistent as they come in the form of a mid-to-late round play. Jeff Teague (nine points, four rebounds, four assists, one three, 27 minutes) owners continue to be frustrated by Larry Drew’s random benchings, but he’s still putting up early round value and needs to be glued to lineups.
What’s an extra $11 million between friends?
Andrew Bogut is heading to L.A. to visit his doctor about his ankle, and there’s nothing to see here except for a failed trade and Richard Jefferson’s extra $11 million on the Warriors’ salary cap. So with no Al Horford for the Hawks last night and no Bogut around, rookie Harrison Barnes hauled off with 13 rebounds to go with 19 points and turned some heads in the process. The rebounds are a fluke, and Carl Landry was in foul trouble, but this was a distinct step forward for the rookie. Now he just has to hold it together, and because he doesn’t have a real friendly fantasy game, I’m willing to make him do it again before jumping on that bandwagon in 12-team leagues. It doesn’t hurt that Mark Jackson is all over the board with his rotations.
Likewise, I’m not panicking on Carl Landry (10 points, five boards). The Warriors need his inside presence and he’s already a better player than David Lee, who is better in fantasy than he is in reality. Lee scored 18 points with 10 boards and five assists, and will enjoy life without the threat of Bogut. Jarrett Jack (nine points, 3-of-3 FGs, 17 minutes) is playing well but he’s not getting much run, and with Stephen Curry (12 points, seven assists) not showing glaring signs of injury risk I’m alright with dropping Jack for a hot free agent. As for Klay Thompson, I’m not panicking on him in the slightest. He’s going to look great during his inevitable bounce back.
Dwyane Pain
Dwyane Wade has long been the Ben Roethlisberger of the NBA, with nagging injuries that get over-reported that he usually plays through. This isn’t to say he doesn’t miss his share of time, and any way you slice it owning him can be a stressful affair. Last night was no different as Wade required an X-ray right before game-time, only to decide to play, and then suck all night on his way to six points on 2-of-10 shooting with three rebounds, six assists, and one steal in 29 minutes. His effort was lacking and he just looked out of place, and I’m not even considering the play in which he got rejected by Eric Bledsoe. He said he aggravated his foot injury after the game and it wouldn’t surprise anybody if he missed tonight’s game, or even a few games. At this point, owners should welcome whatever is going to make him healthy. Mario Chalmers (five points, three assists) went quiet after being named the best looking man in Alaska, which is sort of like being named valedictorian at traffic school. He’s clinging onto 12-team value and needs to get the arrow pointing back in the right direction.
The Human Joystick
After a few big games DeAndre Jordan (eight points, six rebounds, zero blocks, 26 minutes) has returned to being an enigma, so owners can put the champagne back for now. Blake Griffin had a big night with 20 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, and two blocks, but as usual the story will remain the same until he clears up the obvious issues of free throw shooting and defense. Jamal Crawford looks like old Kansas City Chiefs punt returner Dante Hall out there, and put up another 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting with three steals and two 3-pointers. He played just 24 minutes tonight, and I’m going to stop hedging and say I’m officially concerned about Chauncey Billups’ return. Eric Bledsoe is earning minutes on a go-forward basis every night and everybody that sees Billups play has said he looks great. If the latter remains true, I don’t see how Crawford’s value doesn’t take a slight to decent hit. I’m not having a fire sale by any means, but it’s just food for thought.
News and Notes
Aaron Brooks (ankle) sounds like he’s good to go for Friday, which will break the Sacramento media’s hearts. It's going to be exponentially harder to slobber over Jimmer with Brooks and Isaiah Thomas (personal) around. Tyler Zeller (face) could return as soon as Saturday. I think minutes will be an issue but he has a relatively friendly fantasy game and I like him in 14-16 team leagues. 12-teamer guys need to be ready to move if he plays well. Hedo Turkoglu knocked a screw loose in his broken hand, extending his timetable by an estimated month. It sure looks like a lost season for Turkoglu, and this opens the window a bit more for rookie Moe Harkless and eventual backup swing guard E’Twaun Moore. As for Jameer Nelson and his list of seemingly minor ailments, you gotta love Jacque Vaughn holding the player out for his own good. It’s something the Warriors blow on an every-year basis.
Thursday Night Lights
Gerald Wallace (ankle) and MarShon Brooks (ankle) sound like they’re coin flips to play tonight, but Wallace is the only one worth consideration in most formats if they go. Andray Blatche left practice yesterday with a migraine, and if he cannot play then you can upgrade the outlook for Kris Humphries by a smidge. Rajon Rondo’s ankle, as mentioned is the big story on Boston’s side of the line.
The Knicks believe that Ronnie Brewer will play tonight, but he’s hands off after knee issues blew the lid off any fantasy value he had the other night. Their opponent, the Spurs, will have everybody available but Manu Ginobili’s back is a question mark.
Danilo Gallinari missed practice on Wednesday with a knee issue, which added to his ankle and hip issues make him a banged up guy. It’s never comfortable to target a player with all of those ailments, but a gamble to acquire him could pay off knowing he’ll right the ship if he’s not hurt seriously. Just don’t expect big things against a Heat team that’ll be angry after losing last night. Dwyane Wade’s ailing body will dominate news coverage, and if he doesn’t go look for big nights out of the rest of the bunch.
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover after a 10-game night, so I’m going to jump right into it. Be sure to follow me on Twitter for real-time news and info, and also check out my live chat later tonight during the games.
Drummond Up Interest
Kyle Singler started for Rodney Stuckey (flu) last night, and generally looked good with 16 points, four boards, a block, and a three. He has operated as the team’s sixth man, but with Corey Maggette (calf) returning tonight they’re heading into a timeshare in that department. Stay away for now. Brandon Knight has been as hit-or-miss as anybody in the league, and he was ‘on’ last night with 15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and a three. He is on the wrong side of 12-team value in 9-cat leagues, but in both 8- and 9-cat formats he should stay on the right side of that line before long.
Greg Monroe went for 19 and 18 with six assists and one block, in what the natives are now calling a ‘Wednesday.’ Andre Drummond played just 11 minutes and looked fine, but Lawrence Frank wanted to get a win and he’s not ready to trust the rookie yet. He’s a stash with a lot of upside and a relatively easy rotation to crack, even if Jason Maxiell (eight points, 12 rebounds, three blocks) is playing well and in a contract year.
Giveaway Holiday
Jrue Holiday got his turnovers under control with just one giveaway last night, but his 4-of-13 mark from the field kept last night from being a celebratory moment. He had 12 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, and was the only Sixer other than Lavoy Allen (14 points, six boards) to not get murdered in the box score. A blowout loss to the Pistons is a game I’m going to ignore for all intents and purposes.
Mo Better Blues
Rumors of Paul Millsap’s demise were certainly exaggerated, and the second-to-third round producer went to work on the Celtics to the tune of 20 points, 12 boards, four assists, a steal, and two blocks. Derrick Favors made things easier for owners holding their lottery ticket tightly, scoring 14 points on 2-of-5 shooting (10-of-14 FTs) with nine rebounds and a steal in 26 minutes off the bench. Mo Williams played 38 minutes and basically cost the Jazz the game with some questionable shots late, but he didn’t emerge with any new injury reports and the 14 points, five assists, and two threes were a welcome sight even if he hit just 6-of-19 shots.
I had Gordon Hayward ranked very high in the Bruski 150 and his ADP was probably about four rounds lower, so owners using that as their guide are probably breathing a sigh of relief now that he’s consistently putting up late mid-round value. He scored 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting (including two threes) with six rebounds, three assists, and one block in 31 minutes. The key here is going to be his comfort level and not experiencing any major setbacks in his development, as he profiles to be a better second half play, especially if the Jazz trade away some of their depth.
Chasing Stockton
Rajon Rondo left last night’s game with a sprained ankle, but did manage to get the 10 assists he needed to keep his double-digit assists streak intact. It’s hard to say how the Cs will play this, but if they are at all record-oriented they may opt to keep him going so he doesn’t lose his rhythm. Jason Terry strikes me as a guy that might have trouble fitting in if he’s not getting his touches or respect in the locker room. Three points on free throws with a bottom-barrel stat line in 22 minutes is a red flag for chemistry issues, as it’s doubtful Terry is disappearing due to lack of skill, especially on a night in which Rondo played just 25 minutes. I’m not saying that it’s that, just putting out an educated guess.
Jeff Green brought the pain to Al Jefferson last night on this dunk, and it was the type of moment that can get a young, talented, and inconsistent player back on track. He scored 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting (6-of-7 FTs) with four rebounds and two assists, but did not have a steal or block in his 27 minutes. He’s in very speculative add territory for 12-team leagues, as we can’t just forget his body of work this year. Leandro Barbosa (16 points) is worth a look as a short-term pickup if Rondo misses time with three games to go this week. Brandon Bass scored eight points with three boards and two blocks in his 32 minutes, and it’s doubtful his finger impacted him much, if at all. Just another underwhelming night at the office.
The Big East Crossover
Ben Gordon (personal) did not play last night and Gerald Henderson (ankle) still has a ways to go, and nobody is taking more advantage of the opening than Kemba Walker, who scored 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting with four rebounds, five assists, four steals, a block, and a three. He also crossed over Alexey Shved something nasty for the game-winner a la the Big East tourney when he was with UCONN. He’s a top-20 play right now and he’s creaming last year's 36.6 and 78.9 percent marks from the field and the line with averages of 43.4 and 86.5 this season, respectively. One other key to his success has been his decrease in 3-point shooting (3.4 to 2.4 3PA/gm), probably because he’s only hitting 17.6 percent of shots from deep this season. Decreases in distance shooting are almost always going to help a player’s field goal percentage, but it’s my guess he’ll start taking more when he starts making more. I also find it unlikely that he keeps up 7-8 point increases all year, and the counting stats will take a hit when the aforementioned shooting guards return. It’s a sell-high moment for sure, just get the deal you want.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to ban Byron Mullens drop questions for the rest of the year, at least until he drops into late round value territory. He put up 12 points, 15 rebounds, a steal, and four blocks and continues to get positive reviews for his improvement and toughness. Ramon Sessions (18 points, six boards, four assists) will continue to provide solid value until the backcourt gets crowded again. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist cooled off with two points on 1-of-4 shooting with two rebounds, two assists, and no steals or blocks in 17 minutes, and with the Bobcats on the verge of a road win it’s clear Mike Dunlap will pull him if he's not producing in close games. Owners should expect this going forward and plan ahead for the slowly ascending roller coaster ride, and I still like him to be owned in all 12-team formats.
The Grey
Brandon Roy (knee) and J.J. Barea (ankle) did not play last night, and while both were hopeful to play last night, and hopeful to play on Friday as well – I only believe Barea at this time. Nikola Pekovic (ankle) also did not play, which wasn’t all that surprising even if Bam Bam says he doesn’t use crutches. Predictably, the last men standing in Minny were free to do their thing, so Luke Ridnour (16 points, five boards, 10 assists, two steals, one three) and Alexey Shved (13 points, two rebounds, two assists, one three, 23 minutes) were productive. Shved owners likely wanted to see more out of their new toy and the five turnovers and late-game defensive failure didn’t help, but owning him right now is a vote for attrition and not necessarily game-to-game performance. We know he’s a good player, but his value will be tied to whether or not the lot of injury-prone guards and wings will cooperate.
Andrei Kirilenko has taken over the role of team leader and went supersonic last night, scoring 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting (including three treys) with 12 rebounds, two assists, a steal, and two blocks. Yes, this is a great sell-high moment for an injury-prone player operating in a best-case scenario right now. Malcolm Lee even got into the act in his start at shooting guard, scoring 10 points with four rebounds, three assists and one steal in 35 minutes before leaving the game with cramps. He missed all five of his 3-point shots and his line would’ve looked a lot better had that not happened. Give him a look if the same roster gets trotted out on Friday. Dante Cunningham posted another useful line off the bench with eight points, seven boards, one steal, and three blocks in 28 minutes, and has been a nice mid-to-late round value over the past week. The guy that’s theoretically supposed to have all the value in Kevin Love’s injury wake, Derrick Williams, finally had something resembling a decent night with 10 points, nine boards, and a block, but he hit just 3-of-12 shots and 4-of-7 freebies. Yawn.
Love is going to have X-rays on his broken right (shooting) hand on Tuesday, and those will be sent to New York for a specialist to review. If all goes well, he starts rehabbing it, and if even more goes well he can hit his goal of returning by early December.
Eddie Winslow vs. Perkle
Zach Randolph had already achieved his seventh straight double-double with 20 points and 11 boards before being ejected for a dust-up with Kendrick Perkins last night, which turned into an altercation in the tunnels after the game. Before I get into all that it’s worth noting that Z-Bo has quickly secured his place in the ‘old guys you probably shouldn’t bet too heavily against’ club. This year’s board of governors: Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett.
This is going to be an interesting situation for the league with DeMarcus Cousins getting suspended for two games for seeking out Sean Elliot to give him a piece of his mind. This is especially true because Elliot has not made any statements for the record to explain how Cousins said or did anything wrong, and plenty of sources have doubts that Cousins crossed any punishable lines. Here you have two players about to come to blows with plenty of witnesses, whereas in the Cousins case it’s unclear if there were any witnesses to hear the non-physical interactions between he and Elliot. Of course, Cousins has a reputation and that’s what a lot of this is about, but it will be interesting to see how the league walks the tight rope and Randolph’s owners need to be on red alert for a suspension.
Yes, there was a game
As for the game itself, the hard-fought game left only one true winner on the Grizzlies side other than Randolph, and that was Rudy Gay. Gay had a season-high 28 points on 12-of-21 shooting with six rebounds, five assists, and two threes, which brings him a few rounds away from his draft day ADP. Tony Allen is droppable in 12-team formats after another sub-20 minute night, but he’s still producing for the 14-16 team crowd. It’s a testament to his fantasy friendly game that he can do that while posting relatively miserable numbers by his standards. Be ready to move if he can improve his role.
On the OKC side it was same ol’, same ol’. Russell Westbrook played well by many observers’ standards, but hit just 6-of-19 shots to provide fuel for criticism once again. Never mind the fact that he scored 17 points with six rebounds, 13 assists, and two steals. Kevin Durant scored 34 points with 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks, and it was elementary that he wouldn’t stay quiet for long.
The interesting thing for me is watching media slowly figure out the Scott Brooks situation, as Kevin Martin was cooled by the game plan once again. Martin scored seven points with three rebounds in 33 minutes, and it’ll probably take two years for everybody to figure out that Brooks did the same thing to James Harden in Game 1 of the Finals. And look at how that turned out. The same exact thing is happening with analysis of Serge Ibaka (17 points, eight boards, one steal, four blocks, 39 minutes), as writers are in awe of his newfound defensive approach and scoring ability. I said it the other day and I’ll say it again, he’s the same exact dude. Rotoworld readers may want to go out of their way to show the basketball Twitterati where the bathroom is, too.
Fear and Loathing
The Pacers are at the Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing stage of rock bottom, as they simply can’t put the ball in the hoop. It’s pretty baffling when one thinks about it. They have two decent point guards in George Hill (three points, 1-of-10 FGs, four rebounds, four assists) and D.J. Augustin (three points, 15 minutes), Roy Hibbert (seven points, eight rebounds, two blocks, 25 minutes), David West (seven points, nine boards, 23 minutes) and up-and-coming Paul George (12 points, 5-of-17 FGs).
This isn’t a team that should just roll over, but that’s exactly what they’ve done and the local rag is now teeing off on Frank Vogel. I’ll admit, watching their offense is tough, but it’s not like the Scott Brooks stand-and-wiggle offense from the past two years. Hill is getting them into their sets late and they’re not finding any continuity, which is also the job of the point guard.
But this has been the book on Hill for a while, that he’s more of a combo guard than a point, and the oft-confused Indy Star is calling for D.J. Augustin to start. In this case I can agree with them for once, as Hill has been putting up numbers at times but he’s not getting the job done, and something needs to be done to cure the cause of the cold. When that happens, it will be the rising tide to lift all boats, so owners will want to keep an eye on fringe players like Lance Stephenson (four points, three boards, four assists, 30 minutes) and Gerald Green (13 points, six boards, two threes). As for Green, last night’s performance is a positive step toward him staying on my deeper 12-team league teams, but he has to survive the rest of the week to get a stay of execution.
Ersanity
Monta Ellis missed shootaround with a thumb issue and was in and out of the locker room during warm-ups, but played and hit 6-of-15 shots for 16 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. News is always hard to come by out of Milwaukee, and owners will want to pay close attention to see if there is anything more to the thumb issue down the road. Samuel Dalembert (18 minutes, 14 points, six boards, one steal, three blocks) started off hot last night and got benched, which is pretty typical for Scott Skiles, but the Bucks are winning and they throttled the Pacers last night so it's hard for anybody to complain.
For most Bucks, the lopsided effort means owners should weigh their fantasy output accordingly. The only real good news from a fantasy perspective came for Larry Sanders (nine points, five rebounds, one steal, two blocks), who performed his usual role and returned pretty normal numbers. He’s still putting up mid-round numbers and owners will probably want to just ride things out, as I can’t imagine the trade market for a Skiles-led player being hot enough to warrant the swap.
Ersan Ilyasova (five points, four rebounds, 2-of-9 FGs, 22 minutes) continues to dominate my inbox, and last night might have been the most telling night we’ve seen for the Turkish Tornado. He was visibly underconfident, passing up open lanes, shots, and even when he made shots he cursed himself up and down the court. There were a few occasions in which Ilyasova played good defense only to have the opposition score, and Skiles was forcefully clapping and trying to keep his player’s spirits up. I’m sure he believes that you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet, but you can tell Skiles knows that Ilyasova is riding the edge pretty hard. Here’s my take. Ilyasova is at his realistic floor and it’s awful. He’s not going to shoot 27.9 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from the line all year long. When he gets it going, he has a very strong chance of snapping back into some version of the form we saw last year, which happened to return top-20 value. I’m not giving up on that during an outlier dip on the graph in Week 3. As for buying low, I’d limit it to relatively safe offers involving overvalued players with subtly declining, late-mid round value.
Panic at the Disco
There were a lot of ‘panic guys’ that bounced back last night, and Greivis Vasquez was one of them. He left the game to get his ankle re-taped, suggesting there could be an ongoing issue there, but whatever the case is he balled with a career-high 24 points, five rebounds, nine assists, and three treys. The talk of dropping him was crazy to me and hopefully you secured him in a buy low offer. Austin Rivers (10 points, two treys, 36 minutes) had his first reasonable night of the year, but we need to see him string a few together before getting too excited. Robin Lopez disappeared with just five points, one rebound, one steal, and one block, and I think he’ll have too much working against him with Anthony Davis around.
Davis had a slow night with eight points, four boards, two steals, and three blocks, but the use of the term ‘slow night’ with this output is a testament to his value. I took him in the first round during a 9-cat industry league and got laughed at, which is exactly where he is producing on a per-game basis. It’s early, but I think I’m going to win that bet. Ryan Anderson (20 points, 12 rebounds, 2-of-10 3PTs) and Al-Farouq Aminu (14 points, full line) are locked into long-term fantasy value, and those that thought Dwight Howard had anything to do with Anderson’s 3-point shooting were drastically mistaken. The only thing that can slow Anderson down is Eric Gordon’s ball-stopping ways.
Ebb and Flow
I practically begged folks to buy Harden low during his string of good defensive opponents, and some of you contacted me and let me know you did, so congratulations. He predictably went off against the Hornets, scoring 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting with three rebounds, four assists, and a block, with his only blemish being a 1-of-7 mark from deep (he hit 9-of-11 from the line). Jeremy Lin strikes me as a guy that can lose his confidence for stretches, and after the air ball heard round the world from Monday he followed up with a 2-of-10 shooting mark, four points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block. Because he contributes across the board, owners should look at his shooting slumps as buy low periods, too. Even with Toney Douglas hitting four threes for 12 points in 16 minutes, he’d have to do that for two straight weeks to unseat the people’s champ in Houston.
Don’t look now but Omer Asik is climbing the charts with his increased offensive production, as he put up 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting with 12 boards and two blocks last night. He’s still a turnover machine, but he’s returning early mid-round value over the past week. Chandler Parsons (13 points, 10 boards, 4-of-14 FGs, two threes) had a typical good news/bad news night, Patrick Patterson fell off with six points and five boards with nothing else, and Carlos Delfino totally disappeared with one point and five missed field goals. Parsons is worth owning in most formats and the other two guys are strictly 14-16 team guys right now.
Bulls on Parade
There were some big numbers on the Bulls side of the box in last night’s win over the Suns, which will be a common thread for all teams this season. Joakim Noah scored 21 points with 12 boards, five blocks, one steal, and two blocks, Luol Deng posted 21 points with a relatively full line, and Carlos Boozer came back to life with 28 and 14 with three assists and a steal. Noah has been on fire and Deng joins him in the early round value club, but Boozer really needed this game to get off the schneid. The three should all be productive with no real depth behind Taj Gibson, but in Boozer’s case Tom Thibodeau has no problem yanking him if he’s not scoring. So essentially, his fate is in his own hands.
All three are injury risks, which we’ve discussed in bulk, with Thibodeau running his players into the ground. Don’t sell the farm to move Noah or Deng, but keep that in the back of your mind as you go. Kirk Hinrich returned to the lineup and played 27 minutes, scoring three points on 1-of-3 shooting with five rebounds, seven assists, and two steals. He’ll be a mixed bag all year whenever he’s healthy. Nate Robinson returned to his backup role that happens to include standalone value, as he scored 11 points with four assists, a steal, and two 3-pointers. Make sure he’s not on your 12-team waiver wire playing behind injury risk Hinrich.
Dudley Does Wrong
Jared Dudley lost the small amount of goodwill he had forged with owners after a few low-end outings, scoring five points on 2-of-5 shooting with a three and one rebound in 22 minutes. Shannon Brown wasn’t much better with 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting, and Sebastian Telfair (who showed up in this space before) scored 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting with four threes, two rebounds, four assists, and a block. If Dudley and Brown aren’t getting it done, then Alvin Gentry has shown that he’s willing to roll with Goran Dragic (12 points, five assists, three steals) and Telfair in the backcourt together. Until we see him do it again, Telfair is a very risky, speculative add in 12-14 team formats only.
Luis Scola had a nice night with 24 points and 14 boards, and he should be locked into lineups going forward. Marcin Gortat (11 points, eight boards, one block) has slowed down but has faced some bigger, more athletic frontcourts in the Bulls, Nuggets, and Jazz in his last three games. It’s certainly a buy low moment. Markieff Morris (eight points, 10 rebounds, one steal, one three, 3-of-12 FGs) was having an active night before he suffered a lower-back bruise and left the arena on crutches. P.J. Tucker had six points, eight boards (seven offensive), three assists, one steal, and one block, but will need Morris to miss time to have any sort of stability in deeper formats. More notably, borderline guys like Dudley and Brown will get a bit more slack.
Last Man Standing
A.J. Price left last night’s game with an ankle injury and did not return, putting Jordan Crawford (21 points, four rebounds, seven assists, three treys, and one steal) squarely on the pickup radar. However, we were able to dig up that Price was actually available to return via Mike Prada at the Bullets Forever blog, and the only unresolved issue is why he didn’t actually step foot on the court. Still, that’s enough smoke for me not to go crazy adding Crawford at the expense of anything but dead weight on my roster. Bradley Beal had another bad game with eight points on 3-of-14 shooting. He’ll get it together as the year goes on, but he’s not a must-own player in 12-team formats right now even with his general upside.
The biggest fantasy story coming out of the Wizards’ side of the box last night was Kevin Seraphin, though, as the drop questions were coming in fast and furious. Seraphin even did his part to get off to a slow start, but a dominant fourth quarter gave him 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting with five rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block in 22 minutes. Randy Wittman is doing something weird right now, and I’m not quite sure what it is, but I’ve seen enough of what Seraphin can do with his minutes to consider him a good stash at worst and an emerging producer at best. With Nene (foot) a total question mark and Emeka Okafor a total injury risk, Seraphin will be the last man standing down the stretch.
Shake Me Up
Chris Kaman moved into the starting lineup and promptly uncorked 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting with eight boards, a steal, and a block in 32 minutes, and will probably remain a must-start player as long as he is healthy. We saw more of dominant O.J. Mayo (25 points, 9-of-15 FGs), while Darren Collison hit a speed bump with just nine points on 2-of-10 shooting to go with three rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Elton Brand benefited from Kaman’s presence as Rick Carlisle had hoped, scoring 11 points with 12 boards and two blocks in 30 minutes. I can think of a few reasons to discount Brand’s fantasy value, but for the next few weeks while Dirk is out I’d be hard pressed not to add him after this line and utilization. Brandan Wright, for all of the talk about his improvement here and elsewhere, was a DNP-CD and can officially be dropped after a small productive run.
Vince Carter (seven points, 2-of-8 FGs, five boards) is playing like a guy with a hip injury that needs Shawn Marion (knee) to come back so he can rest. Rick Carlisle expects Marion to travel with the team this weekend, so don’t be surprised if the old guys pass the baton. Jae Crowder had another decent, low-minute game with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting (including a three) with two rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 21 minutes. Barring a change in his deployment, there’s not much value in standard formats.
Drew Down With Teague
Devin Harris (hamstring) and Al Horford (illness) did not play last night, leaving a thin Hawks squad to play a mostly disappointing Warriors squad last night. Josh Smith continued his regimen of bad shots, hitting 6-of-16 shots from the field, but at least he put up big numbers with 16 points, 10 boards, four assists, three steals, two blocks, and a 4-of-4 mark from the foul line. I’ve been calling him a buy low candidate for weeks, and yes this line comes against the Warriors with Horford out, but he’s simply going to improve and that’s that.
Lou Williams got back on track with 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting (3-of-8 3PTs, 5-of-7 FTs), three rebounds, six assists, and a steal. I have no idea why people were jumping off his bandwagon. He’s about as consistent as they come in the form of a mid-to-late round play. Jeff Teague (nine points, four rebounds, four assists, one three, 27 minutes) owners continue to be frustrated by Larry Drew’s random benchings, but he’s still putting up early round value and needs to be glued to lineups.
What’s an extra $11 million between friends?
Andrew Bogut is heading to L.A. to visit his doctor about his ankle, and there’s nothing to see here except for a failed trade and Richard Jefferson’s extra $11 million on the Warriors’ salary cap. So with no Al Horford for the Hawks last night and no Bogut around, rookie Harrison Barnes hauled off with 13 rebounds to go with 19 points and turned some heads in the process. The rebounds are a fluke, and Carl Landry was in foul trouble, but this was a distinct step forward for the rookie. Now he just has to hold it together, and because he doesn’t have a real friendly fantasy game, I’m willing to make him do it again before jumping on that bandwagon in 12-team leagues. It doesn’t hurt that Mark Jackson is all over the board with his rotations.
Likewise, I’m not panicking on Carl Landry (10 points, five boards). The Warriors need his inside presence and he’s already a better player than David Lee, who is better in fantasy than he is in reality. Lee scored 18 points with 10 boards and five assists, and will enjoy life without the threat of Bogut. Jarrett Jack (nine points, 3-of-3 FGs, 17 minutes) is playing well but he’s not getting much run, and with Stephen Curry (12 points, seven assists) not showing glaring signs of injury risk I’m alright with dropping Jack for a hot free agent. As for Klay Thompson, I’m not panicking on him in the slightest. He’s going to look great during his inevitable bounce back.
Dwyane Pain
Dwyane Wade has long been the Ben Roethlisberger of the NBA, with nagging injuries that get over-reported that he usually plays through. This isn’t to say he doesn’t miss his share of time, and any way you slice it owning him can be a stressful affair. Last night was no different as Wade required an X-ray right before game-time, only to decide to play, and then suck all night on his way to six points on 2-of-10 shooting with three rebounds, six assists, and one steal in 29 minutes. His effort was lacking and he just looked out of place, and I’m not even considering the play in which he got rejected by Eric Bledsoe. He said he aggravated his foot injury after the game and it wouldn’t surprise anybody if he missed tonight’s game, or even a few games. At this point, owners should welcome whatever is going to make him healthy. Mario Chalmers (five points, three assists) went quiet after being named the best looking man in Alaska, which is sort of like being named valedictorian at traffic school. He’s clinging onto 12-team value and needs to get the arrow pointing back in the right direction.
The Human Joystick
After a few big games DeAndre Jordan (eight points, six rebounds, zero blocks, 26 minutes) has returned to being an enigma, so owners can put the champagne back for now. Blake Griffin had a big night with 20 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, and two blocks, but as usual the story will remain the same until he clears up the obvious issues of free throw shooting and defense. Jamal Crawford looks like old Kansas City Chiefs punt returner Dante Hall out there, and put up another 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting with three steals and two 3-pointers. He played just 24 minutes tonight, and I’m going to stop hedging and say I’m officially concerned about Chauncey Billups’ return. Eric Bledsoe is earning minutes on a go-forward basis every night and everybody that sees Billups play has said he looks great. If the latter remains true, I don’t see how Crawford’s value doesn’t take a slight to decent hit. I’m not having a fire sale by any means, but it’s just food for thought.
News and Notes
Aaron Brooks (ankle) sounds like he’s good to go for Friday, which will break the Sacramento media’s hearts. It's going to be exponentially harder to slobber over Jimmer with Brooks and Isaiah Thomas (personal) around. Tyler Zeller (face) could return as soon as Saturday. I think minutes will be an issue but he has a relatively friendly fantasy game and I like him in 14-16 team leagues. 12-teamer guys need to be ready to move if he plays well. Hedo Turkoglu knocked a screw loose in his broken hand, extending his timetable by an estimated month. It sure looks like a lost season for Turkoglu, and this opens the window a bit more for rookie Moe Harkless and eventual backup swing guard E’Twaun Moore. As for Jameer Nelson and his list of seemingly minor ailments, you gotta love Jacque Vaughn holding the player out for his own good. It’s something the Warriors blow on an every-year basis.
Thursday Night Lights
Gerald Wallace (ankle) and MarShon Brooks (ankle) sound like they’re coin flips to play tonight, but Wallace is the only one worth consideration in most formats if they go. Andray Blatche left practice yesterday with a migraine, and if he cannot play then you can upgrade the outlook for Kris Humphries by a smidge. Rajon Rondo’s ankle, as mentioned is the big story on Boston’s side of the line.
The Knicks believe that Ronnie Brewer will play tonight, but he’s hands off after knee issues blew the lid off any fantasy value he had the other night. Their opponent, the Spurs, will have everybody available but Manu Ginobili’s back is a question mark.
Danilo Gallinari missed practice on Wednesday with a knee issue, which added to his ankle and hip issues make him a banged up guy. It’s never comfortable to target a player with all of those ailments, but a gamble to acquire him could pay off knowing he’ll right the ship if he’s not hurt seriously. Just don’t expect big things against a Heat team that’ll be angry after losing last night. Dwyane Wade’s ailing body will dominate news coverage, and if he doesn’t go look for big nights out of the rest of the bunch.