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Jeff Andriesse goes on a journey to the far reaches of the fantasy basketball waiver wire, with an emphasis on teams that play four (and sometimes five) times this week in the latest edition of TeamBuilding Exercises.
Last week we mined the waiver wire for players who could provide particularly helpful value in four-game weeks. Now lo and, yes, behold, we enter another fantasy playoff week and two teams have five games. You read that right. Lucky owners of Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns get a decided benefit this week. Meanwhile, Houston and Sacramento play just twice.
Of course, anyone who drafted Amare Stoudemire (PF/C, PHO) or Luol Deng (SF, CHI) has to feel sick to their innards that they don't get to take advantage of this scheduling quirk. Not to mention folks who were enjoying Leandro Barbosa's (PG/SG, PHO) resurgence in recent weeks. Barbosa is out for at least another week and probably more with a bruised knee.
Timing is everything, ain't it?
Like the real estate industry's mantra of "Location, location, location", everyone still playing fantasy basketball this time of year knows it's schedule, schedule, schedule.
The following teams have four games during Week 22 (Mar. 23-29): Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Detroit, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, Miami, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and Washington. Chicago and Phoenix have five.
Below are potential waiver pickups depending on your league formats, with their Yahoo! ownership percentages.
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With five games on the slate for the Bulls, you have to seriously consider picking up and playing an inconsistent guy like Kirk Hinrich. Photo Credit: Icon SMI |
CHICAGO
Tyrus Thomas (SF/PF, CHI) - 65%
Joakim Noah (PF/C, CHI) - 59%
Kirk Hinrich (PG/SG, CHI) - 35%
No, I'm not going to recommend Tim Thomas (SF/PF, CHI). But I at least thought about it. We're talking five games here, meaning Hinrich, who has been pretty inconsistent, could at least total five-to-seven threes and 15 assists. Noah has seen his numbers dip slightly with a healthy Brad Miller (C, CHI) around, but he and Tyrus Thomas are good for boards and blocks if either happen to be sitting on your waiver wire.
PHOENIX
Grant Hill (SG/SF, PHO) - 65%
Matt Barnes (SG/SF, PHO) - 59%
Jared Dudley (SF/PF, PHO) - 1%
Louis Amundson (SF/PF, PHO) - 1%
I'm surprised Hill and Barnes aren't universally owned, but with baseball season around the corner and the NCAA Tournament diverting everyone's attention, Barbosa's injury is flying under a lot of radars. The Suns already weren't very deep, so Hill and Barnes will man some more time at guard than usual. Dudley and Amundson should get a majority of the big-man minutes off the bench. Dudley is a decent player who can do a little of everything and not hurt you too much in the percentages. You just have to hope Amundson pulls down a few boards and blocks some shots. Both are options in only the deepest of leagues, but that's what I'm here for.
ATLANTA
Ronald Murray (SG, ATL) - 11%
Maurice Evans (SG/SF, ATL) - 4%
Murray and Evans are eating up the minutes left available by Marvin Williams' (SF/PF, ATL) back injury. Neither will offer much of anything in rebounds or assists, but both can spot-up for the three, get the occasional steal, and hit their free throws.
BOSTON
Kendrick Perkins (C, BOS) - 62%
Glen Davis (PF/C, BOS) - 2%
We tried a Celtic backup forward with Leon Powe (SF/PF, BOS) last week, but Powe is out two weeks with a sprained knee. Unfortunately for Davis, Kevin Garnett (PF, BOS) has returned to the lineup, but Garnett's minutes will be limited for a while. Perkins has been a very good fantasy play for a while now, averaging 12.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in March. He will take a slight hit with Garnett's return, but remains a great late-season pickup if available.
DENVER
Chris Andersen (PF/C, DEN) - 32%
Andersen is the ultimate gamble for fantasy owners this late in the season, when gambling is the only way to go. His stat line Friday night - 18 points, 11 boards, six blocks in 22 minutes - is the perfect example of his upside. If you need blocks, not picking up Andersen for the stretch run is inexcusable, especially with Kenyon Martin (PF, DEN) only playing for the first half of games.
DETROIT
This is tricky. A groin injury to Richard Hamilton (SG/SF, DET) left the Pistons backcourt awfully thin last week, and Arron Afflalo (PG/SG, DET) and Will Bynum (PG, DET) turned in solid efforts. But Hamilton, who was playing brilliantly before the injury, could be back at any moment. Afflalo put up 40 points in two games last week filling in for Hamilton, but then came back to Earth with four points Friday night vs. the Clippers. Bynum, one of the NBA's most underrated players in real life, lit the Clips up for 22 on a night when Rodney Stuckey (PG/SG, DET) was also out with the flu. Watch for news on Hamilton, but don't expect much more production from either player. If it appears Hamilton shuts it down for a significant amount of time, lean towards Bynum if you need assists and steals, and Afflalo if you prefer threes.
LA CLIPPERS
Steve Novak (SF/PF) - 11%
Novak is the Chris Andersen of three-point shooters. He's capable of 21 points and six threes (Mar. 18 vs. Washington) but equally capable of going scoreless in 13 minutes (Friday at Detroit). He's volatile, but most fantasy hoops champions aren't the faint of heart.
LA LAKERS
Trevor Ariza (SF, LAL) - 43%
I mentioned Ariza last week as a pickup and he's now a no-brainer with the Lakers playing four games. In his first five games as a starter this month, he has averaged 14.6 points, 4.6 boards, 1.6 threes and a potential-fantasy-title-winning 2.8 steals. Go get him.
MIAMI
Mario Chalmers (PG, MIA) - 58%
Chalmers has been solid in recent weeks, and even went a three-game stretch where he accumulated 13 steals. He has gone through some rough patches, and Dwyane Wade (PG/SG, MIA) isn't likely to miss more time, so his ceiling is fairly low. If you could use steals, assists, threes, free throw percentage or all four, see if Chalmers has slipped through the cracks.
MINNESOTA
Last week we recommended Craig Smith (PF/C, MIN), who hasn't played all that much in recent games but still had 19 points in 20 minutes on Friday at Houston. It's hard to count on him but in the deepest of leagues.
NEW YORK
Larry Hughes (SG/SF, NYK) - 49%
Chris Wilcox (PF/C, NJN) - 22%
There was a Chris Wilcox sighting on Friday night against the Kings (14 PTS, 9 REB in 19 MIN) but A) the Knicks got blown out by Sacramento and B) Al Harrington missed the game with a sore left Achilles. Wilcox may have earned a few more minutes in the coming week. Hughes is averaging around 18 points, four boards, three assists, two steals and two three in the last three weeks. It's pretty much a joke that he's available in over half of all Yahoo! leagues.
PHILADELPHIA
Louis Williams (PG/SG, PHI) - 23%
Williams has ratcheted up his play recently, averaging 19.7 points in his last three games through Friday. Two of the games were against Phoenix and Golden State, but if that's what it takes to get the streaky Williams heated up, so be it. He's been attempting a ton of threes lately too - 21 in his last four contests (hitting six).
SAN ANTONIO
Matt Bonner (PF/C, SAS) - 36%
Kurt Thomas (PF/C, SAS) - 4%
Streamers would do well to insert either player into their lineup when they know ahead of time that Tim Duncan (PF/C, SAS) is going to sit out to rest his body. Duncan owners, handcuff these guys to him immediately if you have the reserve space.
WASHINGTON
Andray Blatche (PF/C, WAS) - 18%
Nick Young (SG/SF, WAS) - 14%
The perpetually frustrating Blatche's pendulum is starting to once again swing toward fantasy relevancy. He has averaged 12.3 points, 6.3 boards and 1.8 blocks in his last four. While his minutes are stuck around 25 or so, this could easily increase as we head into the home stretch. Young is also heating up, and it's no coincidence that he's doing it with Caron Butler (SF, WAS) sitting due to a hamstring problem. Young has five straight double-figure scoring games and should be owned going forward if you need a scoring guard.
POTENTIAL PICKUPS - THREE-GAME WEEKS
You know how I feel about picking up Warriors. Nevertheless, you might need to take some risks this week. Ronny Turiaf (PF/C, GSW) is a strong play with Andris Biedrins (C, GSW) out, and Brandan Wright (SF/PF, GSW) is starting to make some noise thanks to injuries to his frontcourt mates. Just don't blame me if it doesn't work, okay? ... James Singleton (PF/C, DAL) double-doubled in 30 minutes off the bench Friday night in a game where Erick Dampier (C, DAL) sat with a sore knee. Singleton now has four double-doubles in March and should be considered a streaming candidate if you are trying to win rebounds. Dampier could return this week, though... Devin Harris' (PG, NJN) injuries are keeping him sidelined longer than originally thought. I hope you've gone out to get Keyon Dooling (PG, NJN) by now. He's still owned in just nine percent of Yahoo! leagues... Even with Greg Oden (C, POR) back in the lineup, Joel Przybilla (C, POR) keeps on putting up numbers. Enjoy the blocks, boards and field goal percentage boost... You should also take a peek to see if Travis Outlaw (SF/PF, POR) is on your wire. He's available in 42 percent of leagues and has been starting recently due to an ankle injury to Nicolas Batum (SG/SF, POR)... Nick Collison (PF/C, OKC) continues to flirt with a double-double every night and should be targeted if you need boards. He is available in 59 percent of Yahoo! leagues... Go ahead and grab Kyle Korver (SG/SF, UTA) if you play in deep leagues, but don't expect much consistency.
Everyone else is hyped up on March Madness and fantasy baseball. Don't fall into that trap. Go do it. Now is the time to win a championship, folks.
Jeff Andriesse's bracket took an unfortunate turn when he chose the Charlotte Bobcats to upset Louisville in the first round. Such is his immersion in the NBA. If you are one of the few and the proud who prefers the pro game, send Jeff an email at jeff@rotoexperts.com to talk hoops or ask for waiver advice. And be sure to check out the RotoExperts Basketball Blog for hoops news throughout the week and the RotoRadio Hoops Edition on BlogTalkRadio Monday nights at 8 p.m. EST for all your fantasy basketball needs.
Note: All statistics referenced are through games of Friday, Mar. 20.
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