…Gilbert Arenas
Perhaps no team has tanked quite as effectively as the Wizards.  Get it?  Ugh.  Anyhow, first Brendan Haywood acts like a total puss and gets benched for it.  Then Caron Butler, already having missed time with a bad back and a bad knee, fractures his finger and is out for the year.  And now Gilbert Arenas, fresh off of showing up late for practice and getting replaced in the starting lineup, gets his knee banged by Gerald Wallace and will probably be out for awhile.  If you’re wondering if it’s possible for a starting lineup of Antonio Daniels, DeShawn Stevenson, Jarvis Hayes, Antawn Jamison and Etan Thomas to show up in the playoffs, well, we might just find out.

Anyhow, the Wizards loss could very well be your gain.  Perhaps no player this side of Kobe Bryant dominates his team’s offense more than Gilbert, and this means plenty more shots for Jarvis Hayes and DeShawn Stevenson.  Antonio Daniels will also do his best to have value, but he’s not much of a long-range shooter nor does he do much defensively.  Still, teams looking for late help in FT% and/or assists will do well to grab Daniels right now.  It also looks like Etan Thomas will continue to have value while Haywood sulks, but it’s tough to gauge how long that will last.

…Zach Randolph (and LaMarcus Aldridge)
And maybe Jarrett Jack, depending on how the coach feels.  Oh, and maybe Ime Udoka, too, if he bangs his head again.  The Blazers could very well be starting a D-League team by the time this is all over.  The problem here is that there are so many marginal players who are going to split up these minutes that it’s tough to tell if anyone’s going to have actual value or if they’re all going to cancel each other out.  Guys like Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster, and Sergio Rodriguez all need 30-35 mpg if they’re going to have anything reselmbling consistent value.  Even then, they’re question marks. 

My favorite guy on the Blazers right now?  Don’t laugh - Raef Lafrentz.  He could very well be good for a three and a block over the last few games here for the Blazers.  I mean, who else is going to play?  At this point, LaFrentz actually looks like quality filler assuming he can get 25 mpg or so, which isn’t out of the question.  Guys like Outlaw or Webster could get 30 minutes and do next to nothing with it - LaFrentz will at least contribute if he’s on the court enough.  Last night both Udoka and Luke Schenscher got significant minutes and Outlaw played well so it didn’t work out for Raef, but I’d keep an eye on him as more guys sit.

…Al Jefferson
This one is pretty easy to diagnose - out goes Jefferson, in goes Kerndrick Perkins.  The thing to point out here is that you should be checking your preferred sports news page as often as possible over the coming weeks.  These things are going to come out of nowhere and the guys with the quickest trigger finger could be winners of your leagues.  Don’t believe me?  Gilbert Arenas hurt his knee around 7:45.  In our league, Antonio Daniels was snatched up by 8:08.  The lesson - act fast.  Now, excuse me while I go see if Marc Jackson has been grabbed yet.