Pickup: Eddie Jones
Drop: Channing Frye
Last night was a sort of extreme example of what to expect in Dwyane Wade’s absence for Miami. The game was nowhere near as close as the final 12-point margin, but we saw Shaq be the main threat until things got out of hand, Jason Williams tried to pick up some of the slack, and one of the random bench players had a nice game, this time being James Posey. Jones got 29 minutes off the bench but didn’t do much with it except grab steals. He also hit a 3, and it’s those 3s and steals that have made him sneaky valuable the last few years. If he can make his way into the starting lineup he might be worth a roster spot, but even that’s not a definite. Frye will be picked up again shortly, most likely the next time he scores 20, and it will be by a team who needs help in the middle.

Pickup: Ryan Gomes
Drop: Speedy Claxton
With Wally Szczerbiak back down, Gomes should be able to keep his regular PT. That means he’ll be able to put up numbers that look just good enough in the box score to keep him around, but in reality aren’t helping you much. His 21 and 7 against Phoenix was the result of seeing 41 minutes and playing Phoenix. The three previous games he averaged 12.7/5.3/1.7 and that’s maybe a bit low but closer to what he’ll be doing. Paul Pierce is back and playing like Paul Pierce, Al Jefferson is locked in as a top threat and Delonte West is playing great ball lately. That leaves Gomes as the #4 option, so that limits his already limited upside to begin with. I had him on my team for a while before dropping him last week and the way it is with Gomes is that if he makes half his shots he’s not a bad use of a utility slot, but if his FG% isn’t a positive, he’s just not worth having around. Back to back scoreless games seemed a fine reason to cut Claxton. His lost season doesn’t seem like it will be found.

Pickup: Kurt Thomas
Drop: Wally Szczerbiak
After a fantastic November – 20.2/3.6/2.0 with 1.7 3s on 47/90 shooting – it’s been pretty much a lost season for Szczerbiak. Injuries were certainly a concern for him coming into the season, but after appearing in 80 total games in the 02-03, 03-04 seasons, he rebounded with 153 total in the last two seasons. But his ankles are giving him fits and as the season starts to get into its final weeks it likely won’t take much to keep Wally on the bench. His shooting touch has been off since he’s been playing so on and off, but his skills don’t seem too diminished. It’s hard to tell what kind of role he’ll have next year, but don’t completely give up on him, even if it means keeping him in mind for the final rounds. Thomas came back from injury and went right into the starting lineup with Boris Diaw out and did all that could be expected from him – grabbed some boards and that’s about it. Just 8 total points in 25 mpg in the past two contests, no blocks, 19 total boards. If that’s what he does as a starter without Diaw, you can be pretty sure that he’s not going to have much value.

Pickup: Mike James
Drop: Shaun Livingston
A couple of the bigger PG disappointments of the fantasy season right here. Livingston had a nice stretch of play off the bench and was rewarded with a return to the starting lineup and promptly scored 8 points in two games that saw the Clippers total just 154 points. That’s not going to get it done, so he was back on the bench for the last two. The Clippers have been painfully mediocre all year, but the weak bottom half of the Western Conference is keeping them right in the running for the final playoff spot, as they are tied in the loss column with the Warriors. It would almost be better for everyone involved if the Clippers just dropped out of the race and let Livingston get a full shot as the starting PG for the last 30 games or so, but that doesn’t seem to the be case. Sam Cassell has played just 57 minutes in the last three games, so the opportunity is there for Livingston, but as we pretty well know by now, consistency hasn’t exactly been his strong suit so far in his career. He’s been racking up steals lately and can do the same with assists if he gets consistent minutes. Even though it’s James who has been the better player over the past few games, I’d still probably rather have Livingston. I was there for James’ 20-point game against the Wizards and it was mostly the result of shooting lots of free throws, and it wasn’t like he was being all that aggressive. Backing that up with 17 and 5 in 24 minutes is solid, but as long as both he and Randy Foye are healthy and Marko Jaric is lurking in the background, none of them have much upside.

Pickup: Erick Dampier
Drop: Sasha Pavlovic
Erm, yeah. Kinda sucks to sometimes need two centers, doesn’t it? Dampier’s the same stiff he’s always been and he isn’t even blocking shots these days. His February line of 6.5/7.2/0.5 with 0.7 blocks on 71% shooting (on 3.5 attempts) looks like an Andris Biedrins rookie season line, minus the blocks. It’s good for a sparkling #162 on the player rater over the past 15. Is he really the best center option out there in our league? Scary, but Steven Hunter might be the only better option. There’s a reason I might be holding onto the newly center-eligible Anderson Varejao even if he will be back on the bench when Zydrunas Ilgauskas comes back. As for fellow Cav Pavlovic, well, he could sort of become a Matt Harpring type if everything goes exactly right, but it’s hard to see that happening.