OK, so here’s what happened. Yesterday morning, when I read that Steve Nash missed the last half of the game Tuesday against the Suns with shoulder discomfort, I picked up Marcus Banks. Let’s go through the quick hits here: 1. No, I’m not a complete moron. 2. Yes, I know who Marcus Banks is and I’ve seen his FG%. 3. No, I’m not trying to tank the season so that I can draft Greg Oden next year. That’s not even how our league works!
Anyhow, last week I talked about pre-emptive strikes and this is a pre-emptive strike right here. Not only the move, but this column is actually a pre-emptive strike to DM, who kindly wrote to say, “marcus banks? really? really?? man, that’s gonna be a fun TR to right on thursday night!” Let’s take a look at the two biggest factors that led me to make this move because it can shed some light on some bigger trends going on right now in the league, and because DM is a smelly pirate hooker.
Factor Number One: Returning stars aren’t always a good thing.
Now, my team hasn’t been spectacular this year but I’m coasting along in 2nd place thanks to a couple of over-achievers and a couple of fill-ins like Rasual Butler and Charlie Bell. Well, a funny thing is happening to the Rasual Butlers and Charlie Bells of the world - they’re losing their value through no fault of their own. Butler was a fine fantasy player while the Hornets struggled with injuries, putting up almost 15 ppg with 2 threes and nearly a steal and a block, but now that David West and Chris Paul are back, he’s down to 20 mpg in February and is back in fantasy irrelevance. Same deal - sorta - with Bell, who wasn’t all that much better without Michael Redd and Mo Williams in the lineup but still should be heading back to the waiver wires now that Williams is back and Redd is close.
But the thing is, now that these stars are coming back, the ripple effect is going to be felt hard on the waiver wires. As guys like Paul, Redd, Rashard Lewis, and Paul Pierce work their way back into the lineup, it means that guys like Gerald Green, David West, Rasual Butler, and all the other patch-up players are going to lose their value and owner will be looking to replace them. Even guys like Kwame Brown returning will have some significance in the fantasy world because Andrew Bynum will lose a lot of his value. All I’m saying is, the waiver wire is going to be a lot tougher to navigate over the next few weeks. And for those of us who have been doing a little patchwork to cover holes in our teams, those holes might be a little more exposed than we’d like them unless we act fast.
Factor Number Two: The Garbage Spot comes into play
Way back in November I blabbed for awhile about how to man your bench and, more specifically, the concept of the “garbage spot,” where you can pick up and drop players who might not necessarily have any real value but could in a couple of things if everything goes right. You know who I dropped for Banks? Jason Williams. I’d picked him up a few weeks ago and he actually gave me a couple of decent games back in Mid-January. But now he’s hurt, Eddie Jones and Gary Payton are back, and when you think about it, who’s going to have more value over the next week, WIlliams or Banks?
Even if Banks hardly does anything, he is a prime example of a garbage spot guy. I’m giving up practically nothing to get him, and I’m relying on him for absolutely nothing, but IF Nash is out for a significant amount of time, and IF Banks is a de-facto 30 mpg replacement, he could be a significant pickup for my squad over the nex couple of weeks. Keep in mind, as well, that the Suns are looking to deal Banks and could use this opportunity to showcase him. Basically what I’m saying is this - I know there is no more than maybe a 15% chance that Banks has any value over the next week. But so what? I didn’t give up any value to acquire him, and odds are I’ll drop him in a few days once Nash is back and never think of him again. But if - however unlikely it may be - Banks turns into something valuable over the next few weeks, maybe I’ll write another column bragging about it.