We’ll keep it simple this week and just focus on some of the guys recently picked up.

Jeff Foster
Well, the inevitable Jermaine O’Neal injury happened on Wednesday night, which should open up some PT for Foster. Forgive me if I can’t get too excited about his prospects, though. We know full well what Foster can do; put him in the starting lineup and give him 30+ minutes and he may very well grab 17 boards, but he’ll do that while giving you absolutely nothing else. He’ll grab the occasional steal and if he’s lucky will be of minor help in FG% thanks to some putbacks, but his game is just extremely limited. In roto leagues, many teams are scrambling to find players to use up their extra games right now, especially at center, so that makes Foster a somewhat more attractive option. It would be a lot more fun if Ike Diogu got those minutes, but he seems to be an afterthought on the Pacers, just like he was on the Warriors.

Antoine Walker
Walker couldn’t break the 20 minute mark in the first four games after Dwyane Wade went down, but he’s back in Pat Riley’s good graces for now and is averaging 28.3 mpg off the bench in the last three contests. It’s still not quite enough to do much damage, as players who don’t receive big minutes need to be efficient to have value, and Walker’s season percentages of 41/40 don’t exactly scream efficient. He might be good for some cheap 3s, but as long as he’s coming off the bench you can probably do better.

Anthony Johnson
I really don’t want to talk about Johnson, because he was a big reason the Hawks – missing three starters and without Josh Smith for much of the night – knocked off a full-strength Wizards team on Wednesday. Ugh, just disgusting. Down to a three-game lead over the Heat with 7 of the next 9 on the road … yeah, that’ll turn out well. Anyway, Johnson, the neckless one. As long as Speedy Claxton stays out of the picture, Johnson should be a pretty valuable commodity. He took his spot in the starting lineup and played a total of 76 minutes in his last two, averaging 17.5/2/3.5 with 2 3s and 1.5 steals. He’s a classic example of the Temporary Point Guard Solution that we spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about in his blog’s early days. With Joe Johnson out for a while there are plenty of minutes and points to go around, and the new Johnson should benefit. If you need PG help and he’s out there, grab him and hope Claxton is content collecting paychecks and wearing suits for the next month.

Eddie Jones
The second of three Heat players we’ll talk about. Jones seems to have taken a whirl in the rejuvenation machine over the past couple of games, averaging 22/2.5/4.5 with 5 3s, 3 steals and a block on 65/80 shooting in 36.5 mpg. Yeah, lines don’t come much better than that. Jones is pretty old, but he hasn’t played too much this season so he should have his legs despite it being almost mid-March. He’s always had sneaky value because he simply gets 3s and steals when he sees minutes, so as long as he keeps playing, he should be worth starting. Don’t expect shots to keep falling at the same rate they have been, though. He’s valuable because more than half the shots he takes are 3s, not because he connects on a high percentage. He can help your team, especially with Jason Kapono out, but if he starts missing lots of shots he could do some damage.

James Posey
Hey, whaddya know?! Another member of the Heat. Jason Kapono’s injury could lead to Posey having some nice value, especially for his 3s and steals, making him similar to Jones. He wasn’t too impressive in his first start, but played 37 minutes and hit a 3 to go along with a steal and a block. He shoots 3s almost exclusively in Miami, and with big minutes can have the occasional monster game from behind the arc. He’ll have some clunker games, but his big games with 3+ 3s and steals each can make up for those.

Juan Dixon
As we enter March Madness it’s nice to see our old friend Juan Dixon return to fantasy radars. He’s been a quick and easy fit in Toronto and ended up starting in just his sixth game for the team in the wake of Anthony Parker’s injury and Morris Peterson’s ineffectiveness. In his last three games he’s averaged 18.3/4.7/3.3 with 1.3 steals and 1 3. Solid, but that’s about as good as it gets for Juan. He’s never hit as many 3s as you’d think, and his boards and assists have never been noteworthy. That means he needs many minutes to be a fantasy factor and the 34.7 he’s had the past three games does the trick. With Parker on the verge of returning Dixon’s run might be an especially short one.

Drew Gooden
Gooden’s durable and has some nice skills, but he just can’t get enough PT to ever make a real difference. This is Gooden’s fifth season in the league and he’s never been below 26 mpg, but has never been above 31 mpg. He’s forever in between those two numbers, teetering on the edge of fantasy relevance. He recently went through one of his most prolonged stretches of ineffectiveness, being held in single digits for seven straight games before breaking out with 22 and 10 in a win against the Pistons. Gooden has started every game he’s played in this season and the Cavs are winning, so it doesn’t seem like there’s any reason to make a change. In January Gooden averaged 12.9/8.6/0.7 with 1.2 steals on 49% shooting, and there’s a chance he could have a stretch like that again. One alarming stat on Gooden – he hasn’t blocked a shot in 21 games. 21 games. Coming from a PF, that’s just remarkable.

John Salmons
It seemed like Salmons would be a nice addition after Ron Artest had his annual implosion, but that hasn’t been the case yet. The minutes have been there – 35.5 in the past two games – but that’s about it. Salmons strength this year has been dishing dimes, and the 6.5 he’s averaged in the past two contests aren’t that much of a fluke. As a starter this season his numbers are decent – 11.9/4.4/4.0 with 1.3 steals, 0.6 blocks, 0.5 3s on 48/81 shooting – so it’s worth giving him a few more games to get into an offensive groove with Artest out of the picture. That said, it’s clear that he’s not going to replace Artest’s numbers and that Kevin Martin and Mike Bibby are the main benefactors of Ron-Ron’s continued insanity. As long as Salmons is starting and playing around 35 mpg, he’s a decent risk to leave in most lineups.