Chris Kaman is back in the starting lineup and should be back in your lineu,p too . He should have been in all lineups last night, but I can’t eat anyone’s lunch for keeping him out one game to see what he’d do. What he done did was he led all scorers in his return to the starting lineup for the first time in eight games. Against the Jazz, he went 27/13/2, he had 2 stl and 1 blk. Three turnovers. Meh. You’ll live with it. This news is great for Kaman owners and bad for pretty much all Emeka Okafor owners except the ones who also own Kaman. If everyone’s healthy, Kaman’s upside is higher than Okafor’s, but he’ll only reach that ceiling as long as Okafor is out. As long as he’s out, start Kaman and enjoy Gustavo Ayon‘s minor bump. Not a big bump. Not lots. Littles. More fantasy basketball news down below.
Greivis Vasquez – Double-double. 12/4/10, with a trio of steals. It took him 38 minutes to get there, but he got there. You hoped he’d get there. That’s why you’re vulturing him.
Eric Gordon – Stories started pumping out of the Internet machine so fast last night about Eric Gordon’s health that they woke me up from a deep slumber involving Miranda Kerr and, like, five submarine sandwiches! Apparently, Err Gordon might miss anywhere from one month to two. I was in such a depressed state afterwards, when I went back to sleep, all that was left of my dream was half a hoagie and a pink fur-lined hoodie.
Martell Webster – The most underwhelming member of an underwhelming team returned to the spotlight last night and ended with 5/4 and 2 tov. But enough about Darko. /rimshot No, but seriously, Darko would kill for that line. Webster took over at the two for Ridnour and did just about what you’d expect the most awfulest T-Wolf to do. Do yourself a favor, leave him be.
Darko Milicic – Returned, earned three fouls in four minutes from the bench. I don’t mean that literally. He was on the floor when he committed those fouls. Look, he’ll improve from this, but he’s unownable if he’s not starting. Starting was about the only thing he had going for him. Like when a fat, balding accountant drives around in a Mercedes. Now put that same guy in a Kia and you’ll understand what is happening to Darko.
Jason Richardson – Dude’s caught fire this month, averaging 18/4/2 along with an astonishing 4 3ptm in his last seven. Well, the threes are on fire. The rest is more or less what we expected him to do before we realized his career is more or less busted and rusted.
Corey Maggette – Dropped 22 points and 3 steals in 32 minutes. This was the first game in which Maggette-O’s didn’t come with a shizz-ton of meatballs in, like, I dunno, three years or whatever. If you’ve got an open spot or you’re into streaming, I added him in one league. These Bobcats are awful. None of them are going to produce on any regular basis.
Tyrus Thomas – Played nine minutes, missed three shots, fouled three times. I have three general rules: 1) I want my president to be smarter than I am, 2) I don’t want my wife to know more about any sport than I do, and 3) I don’t want to own any fantasy basketball player that has a game I could literally have had had I taken his place. I told you not to pick this guy up, I told you to drop him after you picked him up and now I’m telling you to hang on as tightly as possible because you’ve made it clear you have no intention of listening to me.
Stephen Jackson – Played 17 minutes and ended with 7/3 and a steal. The Bucks are like the Bobcats in that both teams have, like, 10 guys that can lead the team on any given night. That makes owning any members of this team damn near unbearable. You just know there’s some poor bastard out there who owns three players from each team and you know that guy friggin’ hates his team.
Elton Brand – He’s averaged 8/8/1, with 1.4 blk in the five games leading up to last night. Then last night he went 8/6/1, with a block and a steal. He fouled four guys and only played 18 minutes, so from a per-minute perspective, it was a tight little game! That’s good, right? Good is objective, yes? How do I know that what appears blue to me appears blue to you?
Kenyon Martin – Averaging 5/5 and a block in the first three games of his season leading up to this one. Last night? 10/3 and four blocks. Tomorrow? The world.
Randy Foye – “With Chauncey Billups out, this will be the time for Foye to really up his game.” – General consensus among sportsy types (including yours truly). Foye’s answer on Monday? 3/5/3, 0-for-7 from the field. I say boo, sir.
Rodrigue Beaubois – What are we more sad about? That RoboBobo is earning DNP-CDs or that we all kinda wish Lamar Odom was the one earning them?
conley and noah for irving and joe johnson? Which two would you rather have going forward?
@hello, Probably Conley and Noah because of the variety of stat cats they cover. But really, it’s close enough that I can be swayed in either direction depending on what stat categories I most needed to improve upon.
jason smith,you expecting him to progress into a decent 10 point 8 rebound guy soon after he gets back or not?
@was up bro, No. He’s never really shown that kind of skill set. He’s only managed 8+ rebounds twice on a team that has needed big men. The opportunity has been there and he hasn’t capitalized. I’m a little less bearish on his scoring. He’s hit double-digits in 2/3 of the games in which he’s played at least 24 minutes. Still, the other dozen games he’s played, he didn’t. I think a 10/8 average is his ceiling. I’d put him closer at 10/5, maybe 10/6.
@Adam, thanks boss
would you drop kidd for kaman? my other guards are kemba, collison, rubio, ellis, rose
@big monayyy, Yup. You don’t need Kidd and even if you did, Kaman should be more productive than him, anyway.
Kleiza, Ilyasova or Maggette?
@thefonz, Ilyasova, Kleiza, Maggette in that order.
@Adam – Still in first despite owning EGordon, Varejao and Foye. No solid news yet but do you think I should hold the first two for the playoffs (assuming I can hang in)? GHenderson and Rip available on the WW.
@AnotherFalstaff, I would, yeah. If you wanted to swap Foye for Hendo, I wouldn’t blame you, but an injured Eric Gordon is way better than an injured Rip Hamilton.
Bogut was just dropped in my 10 team H2H keeper league (no max keepers).
I have 2nd waiver position but am pretty stacked up front with Griffin, Hibbert, Bynum, D. Jordan and Dalembert.
Should I use my waiver position and pick him up for playoffs/keeper and drop Dalembert? I feel like this is a no brainer…
@EK, If you don’t need Dalembert, sure. Go for it!
I send Tyreke and Lieutenant Deng for Westbrook. Too much to give up?
@Mr. Snrub, A little, yeah. Not a ton. You get the best player and – depending on who’s on your bench – might be able to make up the difference using the empty you opened with the twofer one.
adam, thoughts on this trade?
12 team h2h league, i could use 3pm help and am pretty dominant in assists/steals
i give
jeremy lin
kemba walker
i get
ryan anderson
thanks
@jaw, I’d do it unless you’re in a keeper league. Then I’d think twice.
I asked you last week if I should drop Hawes for Kaman. You said yes. MISS CLEO CALLED, SHE WANTS HER CRYSTAL BALL BACK! Good call, dude.
@Cory, Ha! Thanks.
My Bynum for his Lin?
10 team H2H 9 cat keeper league (no max keepers)
I’m stacked up front with Bynum, Hibbert, Griffin, D. Jordan, Gooden and about to pick up Bogut off waivers for Dalembert…
I’m weak at PG I only have S. Curry and Sessions (holding/hoping for trade).
@EK, I’m still one of the few that isn’t sold on the sure-thingedness of Jeremy Lin. But if you aren’t heavily relying on Bynum’s production, there are fewer more exciting players out there to take a chance on.
Don’t want to lose the BLK potential, but at this point would you drop Tyrus Thomas for an upside player like Hayward who averages good BLKs for his position?
@jd, Absolutely. Not a fan of T-Time at all.
@Adam, I hate so much that I am a fan and every year I draft this shizzhead. Hes like that 5-tool (emphasis on the tool) prospect i take a flier on too early every baseball season. Luckily I dropped him three weeks ago, about 7 weeks too late as it were.
@inertiatic, You talking about Tyrus, right?
Honest question: What makes you a fan of his? I’m not saying that in a snarky way, I’m just curious as to what it is about him? I mean, unless you’re just a flat-out Bobcats supporter who accepts all aspects of the team, what makes him likeable?
@Adam, Yeah I’m talking about Tyrus. It’s not that I’m truly a fan of his I suppose it’s more I’m blinded by the idea of him realizing his potential. The unknown quantity of what he could be, like when he has those ridiculous explosions of 8pts 13reb 7blk or something to that effect. I always get sucked in to the idea that this could be the year he puts it all together and becomes a stud, and I’m the genius who’s going to reap those benefits. Maybe this will be the coach that connects to him and makes him work harder and have a breakout year…
It’s really stupid when I actually think about it rationally, but it’s just one of those things I guess. Ian Stewart would be an example of the same type of player in baseball, another one of those guys I always draft with high hopes… He at least had one solid season though. What can I say, I’m an ompimistic dope.
@inertiatic, Ha. Yeah, I’ve definitely been there myself. Not with Tyrus, but with J.J. Hickson this year and Mark Prior for the two seasons following 2003. I just couldn’t let it go that these guys are just not as good as their best days have shown them to be.
In a depraved way, that’s part of why I like fantasy sports so much. The rightness and wrongness of our hunches.
Adam! My team is undefeated and strong in every category. This has led me to missing out on WW steals (Ginonili, Randolph, Lin, etc). I’m thinking of adding Eric Gordon, Okafor, and/or J.R. Smith. Who from my roster would you refuse to part with or want to part with in a 2 or 3 for one for an Ellis, Westbrook, CP3 type? My roster is…
Lou Williams
Jamal Crawford
Tyreke Evans
Harden
Rubio
Deng
LeBron
Gallo
Josh Smith
Humphries
Ryan Anderson
McGee
Chandler
@Mr. Snrub, If you’re undefeated and strong in every category, why bother with nogoodniks like J.R. and Okafor? Stay put.
If Eric Gordon is still available within a week or so of his return, trade him for Jamal Crawford. Other than that, leave it alone.
Hey Adam
I’m about to pick up Brook Lopez. Should I drop Gooden or Elton Brand?
Thanks,
@Jeff, Brand.
What do you expect from BroPez when he returns?
@Mr Duck Fat, More of the same from before he left. Something like, 19/6/2, with a block or two a game.
thanks adam, how about this one (guy backed out last minute on the ryan anderson deal). 12 team h2h redraft league
i give
jeremy lin
tim duncan
i get
nick collison
al jefferson
@jaw, Nah. I wouldn’t do that one. a) Didn’t you need threes? b) Collison is near worthless in fantasy, so you’re giving away Duncan and Lin for Jefferson. Even if Duncan, at this point, is worth only 50% of Jefferson, I worry that giving away Lin for the other 50% is not getting enough for Lin.
hey adam, what is up with kidd being on restricted minutes? should i drop him for a FA? (delfino, stuckey, JR smith, afflalo)
@josh, Stuckey might be a good replacement. I think Kidd’s limited minutes are a product of a) his age, b) his slower injury recovery time period, c) Dallas’ strategy for making another run at the Finals.
Kamen or Teague? J. Farmar over Teague?
@henry, Kaman, Teague, Farmar in that order.
Im actually really pissed at Tyrus Thomas right now. Should I drop him and add George Hill?
@Sam, Yes. You should have dropped him last February.