Since we love all of our readers – yes, even a certain fitness guru – we’re listening to you. Transaction Reaction seems to be a popular column, so we’re going to start making that a weekly feature. Look for it every Friday, starting today. And because your weekends were empty without some brand spankin’ new FBB content, Head to Head’s Up will now be our regular weekend feature, still in plenty of time for you to set your lineups.
This week’s TR features many of the same names being scooped up and thrown back out. As always, transactions are listed in reverse chronological order. That means the most recent are first. And a big, hearty FBB congratulations to our main man Gilbert Arenas, All-Star Starter. Good job, voters. On to this week’s action in our league…
Add: Devin Brown
Drop: Kendrick Perkins
This move was made by the team that has Chris Paul, so it’s pretty logical. Brown was regularly seeing 38-40 mpg and that number has been down to around 30 since David West and Bobby Jackson have been back, but he still sits at #76 on the 15 day rater. His value comes from his 3s, as is the case with many regular waiver wire options, and as long as he knocking down close to 2 per game he does enough in the other categories to be a solid contributor. With many players like Brown, the biggest drawback is his FG%, which is at 39% on the season. That’s usually enough to scare me away from players like this. Dropping Perkins after his best game of the season is kind of curious. His 15 and 12 with 2 blocks last night was the type of line I thought he’d be able to put up once a week or so to go with a bunch of 8 and 10s, but it just hasn’t happened. Yes, his foot problems have hampered him, but he’s still a very limited offensive player who still isn’t too capable of creating any offense on his own. Those foot issues look like they could cause him to miss some time, and even if they don’t, he’s still a stretch as a second center in most leagues.
Add: Matt Carroll
Drop: Kwame Brown
These are a couple of names that will show up down the page. Brown was picked up when it looked like he was getting close to returning, but a setback with his ankle combined with some strong play by Andrew Bynum makes it look like his return to fantasy relevance will still be a couple weeks off. Speaking of Bynum, it’s hard not to like what the 19-year-old big man has done this year. Like many young players he’s plagued by foul trouble and occasional mental lapses, so that keeps his minutes down, but in 25 starts, he’s averaged 9.4/7.4/1.4 with 1.9 blocks in 24 mpg, with overall percentages of 57/70. Prorate his numbers out to a modest 32 mpg and that puts him at 12.6/9.5/1.9 with 2.7 blocks. Remember, he won’t turn 20 until right before next season starts. Dwight Howard was 19 during his rookie season and saw just about 32 mpg and put up 12/10/0.9 with 1.7 blocks. Just saying, is all. Phil Jackson will make him earn everything, as well he should, but if you think Kwame Brown is going to stand in the way of Bynum’s development for much longer, think again. Bynum will be an extremely popular sleeper pick in drafts next year and will probably be one of those guys you need to draft a round or two earlier than you should if you want to make sure to get him. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Aren’t we supposed to be talking about Matt Carroll?
Anyway, Carroll was dropped after his 4-point game the other night, which broke a streak of 12 consecutive games in double figures. Gerald Wallace’s return to prominence has eaten in Carroll’s time and opportunities, but you know that he’ll go down again. The Bobcats are relatively healthy right now with Wallace, Raymond Felton and Sean May all active, so Carroll doesn’t have the benefit of seeing minutes if his shots aren’t falling early. That said, I still think he’s worth a roster spot right now. I shy away from 3-point waiver wire specialists because of poor FG%, but Carroll’s shooting a very respectable 45.5% and don’t discount his prowess at the line, where’s the 29th most valuable player in the league in that category so far. Four straight games without a steal is worrying, especially since he tallied 12 in his previous 7. He’s a risky play with the Bobcats at full-strength, but can help you in 3s without hurting you anywhere, which makes him a decent utility guy if you need it.
Add: Ruben Patterson
Drop: Rudy Gay
Rudy did it again. After once again earning the temporary trust of the residents of fantasy land after a two-game stretch in which he averaged 20/4/3 with 1.5 steals, 1.5 3s and a block, he was back to being worthless just two games later. It must have been especially frustrating for those who rolled the dice with him to get rewarded with 2 and 2 and nothing else in just 8 minutes in a game in which the Grizzlies scored 132 points. Gay’s still not a bad person to stash on your bench if you have room, but he simply cannot be started until he stays in the starting lineup and puts up 3 or 4 good lines in a row.
In TR earlier this week I said Patterson was still worthy of a roster spot, and someone in my league agreed. Charlie Villanueva may be back soon, but you get the feeling his shoulder still isn’t right. Mo Williams is going to be out longer than anticipated and Michael Redd isn’t ahead of schedule, so Patterson should remain in line for PT in the short term. Patterson was back up to 41 minutes in Sacramento the other night and impressed with 21 and 12. More importantly, he can do some real damage when he gets to the line 12 times like he did in that game, but he connected 9 times. Patterson’s steals are way down this year and even more so in January, which is a bit of a bummer, but as long as he’s getting those minutes, he’s worth using in deep leagues.
Add: Kendrick Perkins
Drop: Jannero Pargo
We’ve already covered Perkins, so we’ll focus on Pargo. It’s been a disappointing run for Pargo in Chris Paul’s absence. It doesn’t help that he only started a handful of games, but Pargo just didn’t shoot as much as I thought he would. In many games he was passive for three quarters before taking just about any shot presented to him in the fourth. He’s at #113 on the 30 day rater, and I thought he’d be closer to 75. His 1.8 3pg in January are solid, but he was shooting even more 3s back in December when Paul was still around. I guess I was thinking that Pargo would see 40+ minutes, and wasn’t really expecting Devin Brown to come out of nowhere and see 35 minutes of his own. Pargo was down to 13 minutes on Wednesday and shouldn’t be owned by anyone at this point. He’ll have the random huge game, but don’t worry about him.
Add: Jose Calderon
Drop: Shaun Livingston
In a column at the beginning of December I said “it’s reasonable to expect Calderon to run wild if Ford were to miss time.” I think that 16.5/2/9.5 with a 3 and a block on 50% shooting qualifies. Sure, it’s only two games, but long-time readers of FBB know we love the Temporary Point Guard Strategy. Find that good backup PG, pounce on when the starter goes down and plug him in there for however many games you can get out of him. Livingston’s back to the bench and that’s probably where he belongs right now. January started out well for him, but once Sam Cassell was back it all went downhill, as he forget how to make a shot then got hurt. It would be surprising if he’s not back in the starting lineup again sometime before the season is out and is obviously someone to keep your eye on, but Livingston simply hasn’t shown all that much as a fantasy asset in his career so far.
Add: Earl Watson
Drop: Matt Carroll
I talked about Watson’s shooting woes earlier in the week and they have continued. As always the assists and steals are nice, but 29% for the month is just … wow. And now he has a bruised shoulder, and if he misses time and Luke Ridnour shines in his absences it wouldn’t be surprising to see Watson back on the bench. As you can tell, I’m not too high on little Earl right now.
Add: Mickael Pietrus
Drop: Willie Green
Oh, Don Nelson, what a joker you are. Pietrus started the first two games after the big trade, and had a 14/14/2, 3 steal, 1 block, 1 3 performance. So he of course came off the bench the next night. Say this for Nelson, though — he mixes up his lineup with frustrating regularity, but at least he keeps the rotations short on night to night basis. Guessing what Nelson will do is pretty silly, but if I had to make a guess, I’d think Wednesday’s game is a good example of what things might look like. Baron Davis, Al Harrington and Monta Ellis should have the safest minutes, although the latter two could give way to Stephen Jackson and Pietrus depending on who’s rolling. Andris Biedrins should get first shot at big minutes each night, but Nelson won’t be afraid to go small and keep him under 30. Pietrus could be back in the starting lineup any day, and is worth holding on to, but you obviously shouldn’t expect consistency. Willie Green’s knee is bothering him, so don’t worry about him. Also, he sucks.
Add: Kwame Brown
Drop: Gerald Green
Green’s shooting has been awful lately and he can’t be used right now, but I’m still not giving up on him. Wally Szczerbiak is going to shut it down for the season at some point in the next month or so, don’t you think? Paul Pierce may have already done just that. Green’s last game showed why I like him. Yeah, yeah, I always talk about the crappy shooters and their FG% killing you, and hey, I could’ve picked up Green but I didn’t just for that reason. I simply can’t afford that kind of thing WHEN MY CENTER IS THROWING UP 4-FOR-20s THANK YOU VERY MUCH JERMAINE O’NEAL. But I digress. On Wednesday Green hit just 4-of-16, but three of those makes were from downtown and he added 8 boards, 3 assists and a steal. He’s not as one-dimensional as most 3-point specialists and the Celtics might have nothing to lose by running him out there for big minutes. He’s a stasher right now.