Welcome back fantasy managers to another abbreviated week in the NBA. Thanks to All-Star weekend, this will once again be a matchup with just a few games coming from each of your players, but that is a small price to pay to have seen the former Bruin show out this week.
Games Per Week
3 Games: Dal and OKC
2 Games: Atl, Bos, Cha, Chi, Cle, Den, Det, Gsw, Hou, Ind, Lac, Lal, Mia, Mil, Nor, Nyk, Orl, Phi, Pho, Por, Sac, Sas, Tor, Was
1 Game: Bkn, Mem, Min, Utah
If you have a Maverick or a player from Oklahoma City, then you are in luck this week and you get a little extra help. Lets just hope you don’t have any players with just one game this week, not just because of their shortage in games, but because those teams have very few players of worth.
With just these few games this week, it is apparent that you choose the right lineup, especially on Friday when you probably have everyone on your roster playing. This is where you have to evaluate what you need at that point in time. Do not just simply set your Friday lineup and leave it to be played out. Watch some games Friday night and work your lineup around based off of what you need. If after the first couple of games you find yourself falling behind in assists and killing it in boards or field goals, then you should play Patrick Beverley over Nikola Pekovic. I know it will take a little bit of extra work, but you can take a night off from IV if it means a couple hundred bucks in your pocket in the spring right? That kind of money will have you feeling like 4-time defending Celebrity All-Star game MVP, Kevin Hart. (Even though his team lost…)
Paul George, SG/SF Pacers
Yes, you read right. PG24 is getting back into shape for his NBA return after that horrendous Joe Theisman like leg injury. This couldn’t come any faster for a Pacers team without any hope or direction, but he’s projected to be back in about a month. He just may retake his reigns when he’s back, but that is a long time to wait and you can’t afford to waste roster space. The rest of the league either knows that or they don’t know about George yet, because he’s only owned in 24 percent of Yahoo leagues.
DeMarre Carroll, F Hawks
I don’t know what I have to do to get this into some manager’s heads, but apparently my current approach hasn’t been enough as he is only 68 percent owned. Ya that’s a lot but there is a 30 percent chance that he is still available in your leagues and when it comes to Carroll, 60 percent of the time… he balls every time. Even that is an understatement. This man hasn’t scored single digits in months, he grabs boards, and hits threes. Add!
Omer Asik, PF/C Pelicans
Limited time booster! A.D. MAY be sitting out a few games this weekend, but keep a close eye because this little break works in his favor. If The Brow is out, Asik will be the man with Anderson sidelined as well. Only owned in half of leagues right now.
Mo Williams, PG Hornets
A much needed lifesaver for the Hornets with Kemba on the IR for a while and playoffs coming ever so quickly. Mo without a doubt is going to start putting up numbers once he gets there and that is set for this weekend. Only owned in 39 percent of leagues.
Gerald Henderson, SG/SF Hornets
Mo may have a little affect on this man’s numbers, but it will also improve them just by having someone other than Brian Roberts facilitating. Who? Exactly. Right now Henderson has filled the void for scoring as he’s grabbed 18.2 per game in his last five and sprinkles in boards and dimes as well. Not the greatest from the field, but how many good scorers are? Owned in just 34 percent of leagues.
I know this week and last week hurt because they are so short. Trust me I know because I took a 5-3 loss to a terrible team due to my lack of games, but on the bright side we get the pleasure of seeing what we all love.
Good luck this week, don’t forget to set your lineups and monitor, monitor, monitor. This is a research university dammit so relate that to your hobbies too. Cheers!
Daniel is a beat writer for the UCSB men’s tennis team. Follow him on Twitter @TheRealMoebus
