Robert Fung is an avid basketball fan, a 10+ year fantasy NBA veteran, and the Basketball Team Lead on Rotokingdom.net. Chicago born and raised, he grew up with the Michael Jordan era and continues to root for the Bulls.
In Roto leagues with a standard 82 games played max, the goal is to compile the best cumulative stats out of your active positions with only 82 games at each position. Players on your bench do not contribute to your cumulative stats. There are only 82 games in the regular NBA season. Therefore, if your starters were magically healthy for the full season, your bench would go completely to waste.
There are a few strategies to use for your bench: trade bait, specialized players, and DNP fill-ins. Trade bait means that you could use your bench players to add value and trade up for a better player. Specialized players may be useful in roto, if you find that your team is deficient in one area (produced by your bench specialist) and could afford less in other areas (produced by your starter).
The focus of this article is the DNP fill-in situation. Players miss games for personal reasons (weddings, funerals, babies, etc), DNP-CD (Coach’s Decision not to play them), or injuries. Only a couple dozen top 200 players played all 82 games, so you’re bound to be short on games played. However, you have the option to play your bench player at any time in the season for a makeup game – just swap him in for your active starter and swap out when he’s done with the games that you want. This gives you the flexibility to reach a little in the latter rounds of the draft, to pick somebody with great potential that may or may not pan out. You can do the same in H2H leagues, but you’re very much under pressure to have all of your players perform out the gates and can’t usually afford to wait too long for a slow start.
Here are some players that could have much improved value under specific circumstances, and are different from your traditional sleeper in that you may need to endure a slow, painful start and may need to exercise patience:
Paul Millsap – Millsap has shown flashes of potential as a traditional down-low banger power forward, but, last season, he had an extended opportunity to showcase his skills. As a starter, he posted 16-10-2 with 1 spg, 1 bpg, 54% FG shooting, and only 2 TOs. He also racked up a ridiculous 19 straight double-doubles. Unfortunately, that only happened because Carlos Boozer was injured. Carlos Boozer has been the team’s starting PF for 5 years, and regained his starting spot when he returned from injury. Fortunately for Millsap, Boozer has publicly demanded a trade and management is trying to shop him. Another bonus for Millsap is that Utah re-signed him this past season despite Portland’s offer to steal him. The cat is out of the bag and Millsap was serviceable even as a backup, so Millsap will most likely get drafted in rounds 6-8, but could post 3rd or 4th round value if Boozer is traded mid-season.
James Harden – Harden is a rookie, and rookies are usually over-hyped and tend to underperform based on their draft position, because there is an adjustment period and rookies usually don’t get as much opportunity. However, he is a rookie that plays for a team (OKC) that is very committed to the youth movement (their core three of their starting five have less than 3 years experience). The incumbent starter (Sefolosha) at his position (SG) performed admirably last season, especially on the defensive end, but given time, Harden could get the start and post mid teens scoring with some treys, boards, and dimes. The team sorely lacks his perimeter shooting, so the team definitely has a need, and nbadraft.net most likens him to Ginobili or Roy, so he should have the talent. With the hype, Harden’s likely to go in rounds 8-10, but could outperform that by a few rounds.
Tracy McGrady – TMac has been drafted in the 1st through 5th rounds of the draft every year for the past 9 years. While his percentages could be a bit higher and his TOs a bit lower, he has provided great all-around numbers with career averages of 22-6-5-steal-block-three, including his first two years, where he was given less than 23 mpg and scored in the single digits. He’s had a lot of injury trouble in recent years, and is coming off microfracture surgery, but, if he ever plays, you could get great value out of your last pick. Without the IR spot in H2H, TMac could be a season-killer in H2H, but could be a season-winner in roto, since you can let him rot on your bench all season without a penalty.
Randy Foye – Foye improved as the starting PG for Minny in each of his 3 years. Last season, he posted 16-4-3 with a steal and 1.6 treys. This past offseason, he was traded to Washington, where he’ll likely be a backup G. However, a couple things could swing his way. He’s always been more of a combo guard than a playmaking PG. The starting SG (Stevenson) has been on the team for 3 years, but hasn’t really made a strong contribution and is almost 30. Additionally, Gilbert Arenas, the team’s superstar PG, is coming off 2 years of surgeries and foiled returns. Arenas is reportedly in his best shape, 100% recovered, and has all of his quickness, but the injury risks and concerns won’t go away for at least a little while. If Foye gets 30+ minutes at either position, he could easily outperform his draft position, which is in the late rounds to even undrafted.
Brandon Rush – Mike Dunleavy, the team’s starting SG, had a breakout season 2 years ago, but was cut short last season by a nearly career-ending knee injury. Coach decided to give the first-round rookie, Rush, a try in the final months of the season. As a starter, Rush posted 16-5-trey with nearly a steal and a block on 47% FG shooting. Recent reports say that the coach is hoping Dunleavy returns for the first-game of the season, significantly ahead of the initial return date which was slated for January. If Dunleavy can’t go, or does go and injures himself again, Rush could be big money. Since Rush is likely to get drafted in the late rounds, if at all, he’s well worth the risk in a roto league.
Darko Milicic – Darko was drafted as the 2nd overall pick in the 2003 draft and is easily labeled a ‘bust’. He’s been traded to his 4th team in 6 years, and every year we hope for that breakout. The hope isn’t just based on draft hype, however. In less than 7 mpg, over the course of nearly 100 games in 3 seasons with DET, his 36-min averages were nearly 12 points, 6 rebounds, and a beastly 3 blocks. He maintained or slightly beat those 36-min averages in ORL. Unfortunately, he’s never been given 36 mpg and topped out a just under 24 mpg. People, including Knicks GM, expect Darko to finally break out under a fast-paced D’Antoni offense. The only things holding him back are himself, and Eddy Curry, who, despite reports that he’s dropped 30 lbs and is ready to ball, is the recipient of the coined term ‘Curry Line’, which is a phrase used to describe a player with more turnovers than assists, steals, and blocks. With Darko’s previous history, it may take him some time, but if he can shed his label of bust and beat out other 1-cat bust, Eddy Curry, he could be a fantasy gem. He’s another player likely to be drafted late or undrafted.
Stephen Curry – Curry is another lottery pick, but in a different situation than James Harden’s situation. Curry was THE leading scorer in the NCAA last year, and also posted good apg/rpg and great spg. Curry’s team doesn’t have great options at his position (PG), and is a fast-paced offense. My biggest concern isn’t even the rookie hurdle, it’s the ‘genius’ known as Nellie. Coach Nelson employed probably over a dozen starting lineups last year, some of which included regular season PG tryouts. On top of that, he benched (read: DNP-CD) his indisputably best players for entire random games at random times. That’s a huge risk, even for a veteran. Stephen Curry will be drafted late or undrafted, and could easily get in Nellie’s doghouse, but the talent is certainly there.
