Well, the big news of the day is that Gilbert Arenas is out with an injured knee for the next three months. As a Gilbert owner myself, I can sympathize with those of you out there who spent your first-round pick to acquire him. While there isn’t much you can do to replace his production, his injury as well as others around the league are opening up minutes of playing time that can lead to capable fantasy starters.
Washington Wizards: With Gilbert out, this means more shots to go around for the rest of the players on the team. This means Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison are going to have more value, and Caron already exploded for 39 in their last game. If you can get them for value, now isn’t a bad time to do so. In addition, Antonio Daniels should be picked up in most leagues. Based on his ten games replacing Gilbert as a starter from this and last season, he should be good for 12.5/5.5/8.5 with a three and a steal and good free throw shooting. Not shabby at all for a PG3. Lastly, there has been an Andray Blatche sighting. I thought it would be a mistake that this kid slipped to the second round and in his third year he’s beginning to show why. In the last week he has averaged 13.8/7.3/2.5 with 1.3 steals, 2.5 blocks and even made a three, leading to a #8 ranking for the last week on the average player rater. Part of his increased role is due to Brendan Haywood going down with an injury, but based on his play, Blatche should continue to see the ~30 minutes he needs for fantasy value. I just dropped Yi Jinlian for him!
Toronto Raptors: Let’s talk about Jamario Moon. Wait, who is this guy? Just some career journeyman who’s landed in Toronto and is currently starting over the likes of major FA signing Jason Kapono. With Joey Graham and Jorge Garbajosa out, there is extra playing time at the swing spot and Moon could end up having value in a sort of this-year’s-Matt-Barnes type of way. Now, he’s isn’t playing up to that level yet, but he has shown the ability to have value. As a starter he’s averaging almost 1o points and 7 boards while being a member of the elusive 1/1/1 (steals/blocks/threes) club. That’s the kind of sneaky value that could propel him up the fantasy ratings. Also on the lookout, T.J. Ford has been hobbling around and whenever that happens you know that Jose Calderon is there and ready to put up serious numbers.
Sacramento Kings: These guys have been quite the mess this season. Kevin Martin has become a truly elite fantasy force while they have been dealing with multiple injuries and the Ron Artest suspension. The injury to Mike Bibby and the absence of Artest have helped to give Francisco Garcia and John Salmons value, but that may not last for too much longer. Beno Udrih, though temporarily sidelined, has played capably at PG and will continue to have moderate value for a few weeks. Overall, whoever plays in this lineup will have value, so check back on a daily basis for the status of Udrih and Artest and then plug them (or Salmons/Garcia) in accordingly. Now is not too early to consider making a buy-low trade for Mike Bibby or picking him up if he foolishly dropped to the waivers. This team has got to have the award of most-likely-to-be-blown-up by the end of the season, as either Artest or Bibby should be gone. I’m sure we’ll have more to talk about these players at that time.
The Others: Just like with Bibby, now may be a time to start looking at stashing Randy Foye away on your bench. He’s been dropped in the leagues that I play in, and if he holds up to his expected pre-season value, then he’ll be a steal of a pickup. With the number of minutes that Luol Deng plays, you’d think that someone would gain enough value to be mentioned. Instead, Scott Skiles does this, where no player gets more than 30 minutes in the game and thus no one has value. Skiles’s inconsistent rotations and playing time make me want to avoid all of the Chicago players regardless of health. In other news, it looks like some injured players such as Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady are set to return, which will lower the value of their respective replacements. I’m personally extending holiday wishes to Corey Maggette for a speedy recovery. Is it just me, or does it seem that this year has been especially plagued by players either struggling or going down with injuries?