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.
Wouldn’t you have loved to roster Joel Przybilla for his near triple doubles with blocks in ’04-‘05, Boris Diaw for his fantastic year in ’05-‘06, or Al Jefferson back in ’06-’07, or Eric Gordon last year? All those guys were likely undrafted and available on the waiver wire to start the season and broke out for tremendous value. Pickups like those can lead you to a strong finish, so it’s important to keep an eye on all players and not just the big names. It goes without saying that value is in the eye of the beholder (read: player must fit your strategy), but here are some suggestions for guys to pick up right now with the percentage owned in Yahoo! League in parenthesis.
Larry Hughes (58%)
I won’t normally list players with such a high ownage rate, but Hughes is too good to pass up right now. Nate Robinson and Al Harrington are two of the league’s most productive bench players. NateRob is out for at least another week, which means the burden in the backcourt goes primarily to Duhon and Hughes. Hughes certainly has the talent to make the best of it, posting about 12-3-3- with almost 1.5 steals and 1.5 treys in the past two years with under 30 mpg and peaking four years ago with about 22-6-5-3 steals-trey. With nearly a 33% increase in minutes, expect Hughes to rack up the points, steals, and treys with some boards and dimes.
Shallow leagues: pick him up if you have somebody that didn’t pan out
12 team leagues: pick him up
Deeper leagues: pick him up immediately
Marreese Speights (39%)
Speights has some good potential, but he’s stuck behind Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert right now. He’s produced very well in just 23 mpg. In three games, he’s shown a 100% increase in points, rebounds, assists, and steals with just a 50% increase in minutes. Add stellar percentages, a block, and manageable TOs and you end up with mid-draft value off the waiver wire.
Shallow leagues: not until the frontcourt opens up
12 team leagues: pick him up if you have somebody that didn’t pan out
Deeper leagues: pick him up immediately
Ryan Gomes (34%)
Gomes has never put up sexy statlines, and most likely won’t (at least this year), but he’s a good complementary player (doesn’t hurt you anywhere), he’s consistent (going into his 4th year with this kind of production), he’s efficient (good percentages and low TOs) and he’s healthy (perfect attendance the last two years). You could do a lot worse than good points, a handful of boards, and a steal and a trey when replacing your last draft pick.
Shallow leagues: not worth it
12 team leagues: pick him up if you don’t see a breakout candidate on the wire
Deeper leagues: pick him up immediately
Anthony Morrow (25%)
Ammo is for gamblers, just like half the GSW roster. He is capable of ridiculously big scoring and 3s games, but you just can’t count on Coach Don Nelson. Nellie constantly changes his lineups and doesn’t play players just because he doesn’t feel like it.
Shallow leagues: wait until Stephen Jackson gets traded
12 team leagues: wait and see if he can break into Nellie’s faves, or if you’re a risk-taker
Deeper leagues: pick him up and pray
Rafer Alston (18%)
Devin Harris is out at least 2 more weeks. Keyon Dooling is also out. That makes Alston the defacto starting PG, because he’s the only true PG on the roster. Skip can kill your percentages, but can also be good in points, assists, steals, threes, and even boards, while managing decent TOs. Prior to this year, he’s had value for 5 years straight.
Shallow leagues: probably not enough value due to percentages
12 team leagues: pick him up if you play small ball (percentages not advised in roto leagues)
Deeper leagues: pick him up immediately
Chuck Hayes (19%)
The Rockets frontcourt is pretty weak and Hayes is getting the opportunity he needs.
Hayes will be a great source of boards and steals and can pitch in points from time to time. He’s especially good in small ball teams, because he doesn’t go to the line often and will average at least 1 spg from your C.
Shallow leagues: not worth it until he gets more assertive on offense
12 team leagues: pick him up
Deeper leagues: pick him up immediately
Beno Udrih (13%)
Kevin Martin will be out for at least 8 weeks due to surgery on his wrist. Beno failed to break out last year when he was given the starting job, but still managed to provide borderline PG3 numbers (some points, assists, and a steal). The Kings have other interesting options for their lineup if Beno doesn’t gain traction, but they’ve also shown some confidence and given him decent time so far.
Shallow leagues: not worth it
12 team leagues: pick him up if you have somebody that didn’t pan out
Deeper leagues: pick him up immediately
Dahntay Jones (9%)
Jones started in DEN last year as a defensive specialist, but ceded most of the time to the electric JR Smith. All of a sudden, Jones is getting starters’ minutes and broke into the starting lineup in IND. With the exception of 3s, Jones is putting up the numbers that we expected from Brandon Rush. Jones has put together four games (out of five) with 17 or more ppg on good FG%, a bunch of boards, and some dimes/steals every so often. Ride him while he has the hot hand, but be prepared to drop him if you see the situation change (especially since Troy Murphy’s injury is likely the main reason why Jones is starting now).
Shallow leagues: pick him up if you have somebody that didn’t pan out
12 team leagues: pick him up
Deeper leagues: pick him up immediately
Charlie Bell (4%)
Michael Redd is out for a few weeks and has been bothered by his recovery from knee surgery. This gives Bell the chance to start and post numbers. He’s flirted with value in the past, but never consistently rose to the occasion, and is three years removed from his career year. He’s a fairly average SG and posts numbers as such (points, sprinkle of boards/dimes, a steal and a trey). He might be worth it to some.
Shallow leagues: not worth it
12 team leagues: wait and see, probably not enough value.
Deeper leagues: pick him up if you have somebody that didn’t pan out
Taj Gibson (4%)
Tyrus Thomas is out for 4-6 weeks. Taj has played fairly well in the past few games and the preseason and can provide some points, boards, and light hustle. Taj was starting to get run even before the TyThomas injury, so expect Taj to slide right in. The Bulls can still use Deng to play small or Noah/Brad to play big, so Taj may not play all situations, but will still get some decent production.
Shallow leagues: wait and see, probably not enough value.
12 team leagues: pick him up if you have somebody that didn’t pan out
Deeper leagues: pick him up immediately
