Before we get going, I just want to take a moment to thank Grey and Adam for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the site. This is my first post for Razzball and if you enjoy what I bring, and want to stick a feather in my fedora, then go ahead and do so in the comments. If you don’t, then you can also express your thoughts … somewhere else. So let’s get started, shall we?
Yes, we shall start … right after a quick pre-weekend (preekend!) announcement. Things just got real over at Razzball advertiser (Razzvertiser!) Daily Joust. Daily Joust is offering two freeroll contests for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game this Sunday: 1. $250 NBA All-Star Game Freeroll Contest (new users only), 2. Current Daily Joust Users NBA All-Star Game Freeroll (Winner earns a seat in $10,000 “Super Joust” Tourney), and 3. There is no three. You clearly weren’t reading carefully. The “Super Joust” Tournament takes place in April with $10k in prizes + 2 NBA Finals tickets. What’s not to love? (I mean besides Fergie? Fergie is not to be loved. Ever. Are we clear on this? Good. No go hit up the Joust!)
Now, on to Buy/Sell:
Man, that Blake Griffin is the bee’s knees, the cat’s meow, the snake’s rattle (wait, no one uses that one?). He owns the 2, 3, 4, and 5 spots on Sportscenter’s top 10 (second behind only a Jeremy Lin lay-up), his rebounding is elite, his post game is unstoppable; hell, he can even dunk over a low-end, mid-sized car! So why am I telling you, loyal Razzball reader, to sell the boy wonder? It’s simple; he is way overvalued by everyone and their mothers. Sure, the scoring and rebounding numbers are awesome and all, but what else is he really giving you? A decent FG% from a big man? A handful of assists? A FT% that only DeAndre Jordan and Andris Biedrins look up to? You know what player that sounds like? David Lee, and he won’t take a dump on your free-throw percentages either. Sure, Griffin could start blocking more shots, stealing more balls, and learning to make one of the most elementary shots in the game, the free throw; but I don’t see that happening this season. I have seen Griffin traded for the likes of an injured Carmelo Anthony or Rajon Rondo. Even if you could get a player the likes of David Lee along with another above-average player, I’d take it in a heartbeat. Ideally, you will want to wait until after Griffin dunks over the cast of the Biggest Loser this weekend during the dunk contest, as his value will be inflated even more. Remember, a monstrous Griffin dunk is worth just as many points as a weak Earl Watson lay-up. Now here are some other players you should buy or sell during this All-Star weekend:
BUY
Kenneth Faried – Faried has been starting in place of the injured Nene and he be doing what Nene do. We can call him Nene Jr. I wonder if they do each other’s cornrows before games? Oh yeah, basketball related info. Faried will give you points, boards, steals, and blocks, all while contributing solid percentages. His minutes have been inconsistent, but with a per-36 line of 16 points/13 boards/2.6 blocks, you will want to add him and hope Karl gives him more court time even after Nene’s return.
Gustavo Ayon – Another intriguing young talent who has surfaced after a solid veteran went down. Ayon has really turned it on recently, averaging 10/9.7/1.5 stl over his last six games. Carl Landry isn’t expected back for at least a couple of weeks, so Ayon should continue to produce around those levels. By the way, where have all these Hispanic players come from this season? Ayon, Ricky Rubio, Greivis Vasquez. Francisco Garcia: ”Hey! I’ve been here all along!”
Nikola Vucevic – The Sixers’ five spot has been a revolving door since Spencer Hawes went down with an Achilles injury (who would have ever thought a team would miss having Spencer Hawes healthy?). Well Vucevic stepped up in a big way on Wednesday, and has had a few solid games scattered throughout the past couple weeks. His .667/18/8/3 performance against Houston could be an outlier, but I’d pick him up and ask questions later. Remember what happened the last time you waited to grab a Nikola?
Alonzo Gee – The guy gets absolutely no love. Sure, no one actually watches Cavs’ games. I am still under the assumption that the team doesn’t exist and David Stern just simulates their games using NBA 2K12. Regardless, Gee continues to contribute night after night. He is currently in a bit of a funk, but he gets enough hustle stats to make up for that.
James Johnson – Speaking of guys who get no love… Johnson continues to be dropped like he’s hot, which you normally wouldn’t do, I guess Snoop Gizzle doesn’t play fantasy sports. Now I know Johnson doesn’t score a lot, but points aren’t the only category in fantasy hoops y’all! A player who blocks over a shot per-game, grabs over a steal per-game, contributes a little everywhere else, and who gets consistent minutes should be owned in more than 13% of leagues.
Arron Afflalo – Has dropped 20+ points in six of his last eight games. See, there is the scorer you drafted at the beginning of the year, he just needed the rest of the team to get injured first.
Jordan Crawford – Scored 32 points the other night, but it was against the Kings who gave up defense for lent. He did drop 20 on the Suns prior to that. Wait, what’s that? The Suns don’t play D either? Oh what the hell, just pick up Crawford because he gets very streaky and seems to be heating up.
SELL
Jrue Holiday – Dude has been putting up clunkers offensively throughout the month. Look at his player card, he hasn’t had three straight solid offensive performances as far as I can remember. Is it just me, or do players on well-rounded teams suck in fantasy? Well Holiday has been one of those players this season. We all know he is talented, which is why he will garner some value despite his inconsistent fantasy play. Don’t trade him for a Forever Lazy, but field offers.
Mo Williams – It was the general consensus that Williams would step up and fill the “aging guard” void left by Sir Chauncey Billups, especially with the way he was playing at the time. Instead, Mo has decided to spite you for thinking you could predict the future and shoot an abysmal 32% from the floor since the Billups injury. At this point, he is doing more harm than good to your roster and should be let go.
Baron Davis – Want another reason to love/hate Jeremy Lin? He courtblocked Davis from having any fantasy value, which made a lot of you angry/laugh. Before you curse/bless Lin for ruining/validating all the time B-Diddy spent stashed/not stashed on your bench, take a second to click the “drop” button and pick up a player who will actually help your team.
