I imagine if you’re reading this, you have an injury or two on your fantasy roster, and you need promenade left to do-si-do your way into week 2. I don’t know where I’m going with this analogy, I’m more of an electric bugaloo type myself. But while I may not understand the allure of square dancing, I do understand all too well how an injury can derail your playoff hopes. I lost Kyrie Irving, and Jameer Nelson this week, and I will be hard pressed to make it past my opponent. There are more cats out than just those two: LaMarcus Aldridge, Dwight Howard, Nikola Pekovic, Andre Drummond, Jonas Valanciunas, Jamal Crawford, and the list goes on. So what’s a fantasy owner to do? You already know the answer, and it sucks the sack: Captain Obvious reminds you that you have to look long and hard at your situation, and decide whether you can afford to hold onto your injured player, or to drop him, because he can’t help you if you don’t make it to the semis. Of the few I just listed, only Kyrie, Jamal, LaMarcus and Nikola are pretty much guaranteed to be out for the weekend at least, perhaps into the semi finals week, so take that into consideration. If you do decide to drop somebody, here’s, in my opinion, the best of the waiver:
BUY:
Jarret Jack PG, SG
Look, he’s no Kyrie, but to be fair, nobody on the waiver is. What Jack is, though, is a hard nosed, capable player who, so far, is filling in admirably for Irving. In the 2 games since Irving went down, he has averaged 17/3/4.5/0/.5, with 2.5 treys. And this isn’t an anomaly; he played well in Portland, Toronto, and Golden State, when given the chance. He’s currently 41% owned. If you have Irving, and you aren’t in a keeper league, I don’t see why you would hold onto Kyrie over this dude. Just sayin.
Mo Williams PG, SG
So Mo was injured, and has only been back for 2 games, but he has been productive posting 17.5/1/3.5/1/0, with 2.5 3pts per. I know, not blowing your socks off, but the Blazers play 5 games in week two, he’s only 19% owned, and he’s the only player worth nabbing off the wire from Portland, so the streaming potential is big here starting Monday.
Ryan Kelly PF
Ryan has been starting, and in the last 5 games, he’s averaged 13.6/6.4/3.6/1/1.4, with 1.8 3pts per. And he’s only 14% owned. The Lakers are so hard to watch right now, but for what it’s worth, Ryan is worth streaming so long as he’s getting the minutes. It’s waiver wire pick ups, people, so adjust your expectations.
Terrance Jones SF, PF
Jones went through a slump, which caused many fantasy owners to drop him. He is currently owned 53%. But with Howard out, He’s averaged 21/4.5/.5/1.5./2, with 2 treys per over the last 2 games. Omer Asik has played ok, got one dub dub, but he won’t have much value when Dwight comes back. Just a gut call, but I think Jones will retain value even with the return of ol’bowling ball shoulders . Do with that what you will.
Drew Gooden PF, C
Ha! I know that this is a goofy recommend, Drew is the classic streamer, and could fall off at any game, so consider that risk. That said, the pepsi commercials should have been about this uncle Drew. It’s a real case of an old man turning back the clock. In his last 2 games he has been Dy-No_Mite!, averaging 19.5/7.5/1.5/1/.5, with 1.5 treys. I know, right? We all know that he can’t keep this up, but with the dearth of big men right now, you gotta take what you can get, amirite?
Gorgui Dieng C
I’m like a broken record: from adversity comes opportunity from adversity. Comes opportunity. Dieng is starting for Pekovic, and in the last 2 games, he has averaged 11/11/.5/1.5/3, with a monstrous 850FG%, and that was before last night’s bigun. Of course, when Pek gets back to form, Gorgui will likely fade back to obscurity, but 3 blocks a game? What’s Senegalese for “OHHHH SNAP”?
SELL:
Like I said last week, I’m not going to tell you who to drop during the playoffs. I will say that Kyrie is extraordinarily unlikely to be of any use at all during the fantasy playoffs, but if you’re in a keeper league, you can’t really drop him anyways. Other than that you’re on your own.
That’s all folks, good luck in your playoff run, may all your shots be nothing but net!
