It’s been said that Kevin Durant is an angel, a lamb of a guy; really top-shelf goods inside and out. For the most part, I tend to believe this, but everyone’s got their dark peccadilloes. Some people rub the free cologne samples in magazines over their bodies instead of showering. Some tuck the sales tag into the sleeve of the designer suit they purchased for a job interview so they can dejectedly return it after the interview doesn’t go well. And still some write about their biggest flaws on a basketball blog and call it entertainment. Whoa! Meta. Durant’s dark peccadillo must come in the form of gleefully comparing himself to Greg Oden. “Oh, Greg hurt himself? That’s a bummer. I just dropped 24 on the Rockets. I hope he’ll be okay, considering he was picked ahead of me and all. Oh, what’s that you say? He’s having another microfracture surgery? That’s kooky. I was picked second in 2007, have I mentioned that?” I imagine he sneaks off into a private place with a mirror and gazes into it saying, “you’re so cool” over and over until he gets bored and tweets how excited he is to get back in the gym and practice more free throws on his off day. I’m onto you, Durantula. As far as season-ending announcements go, this one doesn’t hurt so bad, right? We all sort of saw this coming. Maybe we hoped it wouldn’t. Imagined what life would be like if it didn’t. Even let ourselves plan for a future where things turned around. Last night, the Frailblazers announced that Oden’s season ended before it began. Another knee surgery. Another zero games played season for the man that looks 45 years old and has the body dexterity to match. Fantasy-wise, this doesn’t affect most of you more than having to find a new big man to take up a bench spot. Might I suggest Joel Przybilla, who also hasn’t played yet this season, but has a stock rising faster with every day that passes.
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy basketball last night:
Sonny Weems – It feels like I’m writing about Weems everyday. /checks recent week’s-worth of posts\ Okay, apparently I am writing about Weems everyday. Can you blame me? Since taking over the starting spot on the Raps, he’s scored 14, 15, 16 and last night, 25 points. He’s owned in less than 75 percent of fantasy leagues. If he were wearing a Lakers jersey, he be owned in nearly 90 percent. I can’t prove that, then again this is a blog, I don’t have to.
Jarret Jack – Jack went 6/2 in 23 minutes and hasn’t done better than 14/5 in any of his last six games. Meanwhile Jose Calderon went 12/8 in 25 minutes on Wednesday. Of course he did.
Chris Bosh – 35/6/4 and hit all 11 of his free throws. Superduper. Now do that in your next five games and I’ll remove the pins out of my voodoo of you, dude.
Eddie House – Sank three treys last night, but only has five in his last six games. Compare that to James Jones‘ 11 in that span and it would be weird of you to own the former if the latter is still available. You must be doing comparisons wrong.
Nick Young – As has been the pattern so far this season, if Young gets at least 23 minutes of burn, he’ll score 20 points. He’s played 29 minutes in each of the last two and dropped 20 points and little else in each. Keep in mind that Wall played in neither of those games and last night’s minutes were mostly earned during garbage time, or “the second half” as it’s widely known. If Wall misses much more time, Young would be a nice add in a pinch.
Delonte West – Did a little of everything in his first game back from a 10-game suspension for gettin’ all wild, wild West on his motor scooter. He looks fine. Do your thing, deep leaguers. Or if you’re a rapper from the ’90s, do your thang.
Shannon Brown – 4/2/1 in 16 minutes. Gah! It’s like I fell for the quarter-glued-to-the-sidewalk trick. Damn you, Brown!
Richard Hamilton – Got hisself ejected less than five minutes into the first quarter, presumably because he, like everyone else in America, had no interest in investing any part of himself in the Detroit Pistons. It says a lot that he only scored four points but it wasn’t immediately evident to me that he hadn’t played a full game.
Caron Butler – Returned after missing his last three games. He played 22 minutes, but had a worse game than DeShawn Stevenson who played nine. He hasn’t been terrible this season (Caron, not DeShawn), but he’s far removed from his top 30 era. Until Rodrigue Beaubois returns, expect no more than 15/4/2 with a few steals and threes sprinkled in. After Rod Goodwood returns, uh, expect less.
Al-Farouq Aminu – He’s started in the last three games and has averaged 13.4 points and 3.6 stls+3ptm in his last five. I wouldn’t be upset if you grabbed him. You might be upset if this is his ceiling.
Troy Murphy – Was inactive on Wednesday. Stash him if you can. You’ll be sorry if you drop him. About as sorry as I am I didn’t pick up Kris Humphries in any of my leagues.
Luther Head – Replaced Beno Udrih in the starting lineup and earned a 13/3/2 line in 22 minutes. This is not a recommendation. Unless you interpreted that as a recommendation to take no action. Then it is a recommendation.
DeMarcus Cousins – Made it past the 30 minute mark for the first time all season. As a reward, he grabbed a career-high 15 boards, scored 10 points and blocked two shots. Are they converting fouls to minutes played now?
