Mike Miller is set to to make his season debut with the Heat today, which is particularly fortuitous (if I may use that term on a family blog) as the news makes the rounds of Dwyane Wade likely missing more games has resulted in thousands of monkey-punches to the groins of thousands of fantasy basketball teams. Miller will have at least one game in which he gets substantial minutes, maybe more. I’m suggesting owners in leagues with more than 14 teams add Miller, but not any shallower. Remember, it was Miller Time almost exactly 12 months ago after he returned from an injury and he came out rusty. Stayed rusty and was seen as one of the biggest busts of last season. I know streaming is all the rage these days (So is desperation! And Yelawolf, for some reason), but I’m assuming – best case scenario – Miller comes out of the gate rusty and doesn’t figure it out for at least a game or two, when – wut, wut – Wade will have returned. Just a theory (based on past history and high probabilities). Scroll down with me for more fantasy basketball news on this MLK Day, won’t you?
Andrea Bargnani – Remains day-to-day with a strained calf, which I am told is different from a choked chicken. Bargs isn’t likely to play on Monday, despite the fact that Raps coach Dwayne Casey said it wasn’t serious. He reminded everyone that the team plays at 4 pm EST today and that Bargs doesn’t get out of bed before 5:30.
Rasual Butler – Desperate stream alert! If James Johnson doesn’t play Monday, you might want to consider a RaBu Grab. I hear it’s torturous, though.
J.J. Redick – Likely to get the starting nod again in place of the injured Jason Richardson. Wish Redick luck. There ain’t nothing worse than a guy with two Js in his name shooting jumpers like he’s wearing two foam fingers.
Lamar Odom – Said over the weekend that he wasn’t mentally prepared for this season after an offseason of family difficulties and thought about taking a year off. I haven’t looked further into what those family difficulties may be, but I’m assuming he took the Humphries divorce harder than most. Keep an eye on him. He averaged 4/4/1 in four December games and has gone 8/5/2 in nine January games. It wouldn’t cause me to spit-take if he’s averaging 15/9/3 by February’s end.
Vince Carter – Half-Man, Half-A-Maverick has scored 16 points in each of the last two games, despite being sent back to the bench on Saturday. He’s worth owning in deep leagues or keeping an eye on in shallow ones. He’s played well in four of his last five games, which would have made owners feel all warm ‘n’ fuzzy if they had bothered to play him. You gotta warn us when you’re planning on showing up, Vince.
Rodney Stuckey – He’s come off the bench in each of the last three games since returning from injury to average 11/2.5/3 and .308 from the floor. Right now, he’s just skating by on his good looks. He’ll get better and find the lineup sooner than later. Especially because Brandon Knight has averaged only 8/4/4 playing almost 10 more minutes a game than Stucks.
Evan Turner – Just like Gary Neal, Turner is day-to-day after contusing his right quad. Look at the bright side, at least he didn’t confuse his right quad. Usually when that happens, the right quad thinks it’s the left quad and the poor bastard just runs in unending circles until he falls over. The most confusing thing about these quad injuries are why so damn many are happening.
Derrick Favors – Favors left last night’s game with a sprained ankle. He’s about 50-50 for Tuesday. Mostly this is good news for Jefferson and Millsap owners, but it’s also good news for Enes Kanter owners, who could use a little good news considering they own Enes Kanter.
Rudy Fernandez – Left in the first half with an Achilles injury. Bummer. He was averaging 15/3/4.5 in his last three before the injury. Jrue story.
Ekpe Udoh – Four rebounds last night, and he’s averaged 2.3 blocks in his last five, as he’s putting the pressure on Ibaka to keep pace. Your move, sir(ge)!
Michael Redd – Two points on 0-for-4 shooting last night. He’s averaging 5.3 points in his first three games of the season on .278 shooting. He IS averaging a three a game, but so are many other people and those people are doing something else on top of it.
Richard Jefferson – Shot 1-for-7 on Friday, but sank a three. He shot 3-for-6 last night, but missed all three of his attempts from beyond the arc. It’s the first game all season Jefferson didn’t hit a trey. Without the threes, he’s like an uglier version of Richard Jefferson, which falls somewhere just below a moldy starfruit.
Baron Davis – The Knicks said “a late-January return has become more likely than not” for Baron Von Davis. I was down on Davis in the preseason and I’m still down on him, but the Knicks need a guy who can run the floor and distribute the ball. He’s a great pickup in deep leagues, might even be a decent pickup in shallow ones.
