It was a busy day and we're going to discuss everyone's favorite topic when it comes to fantasy basketball. That's right, the waiver wire.Max hit on the waiver wire like it was a six-foot blonde at a club, but today I'm going to attack the guys that saw their value increase based on their play on MLK Day. If a player had an OK game and isn't on the list, it doesn't mean he shouldn't be, it means he didn't see his value increase (in my opinion). As always, you can ask any questions about picking up a guy in the comments section or send them to me on Twitter @MikeSGallagher. My Twitter feed is always buzzing with news, so you should be following me regardless.
The following is a list of players that are available in 50 percent of ESPN leagues (or if they have a huge negative in ownership change). They are arranged with the more valuable players on the top of the list:
1. Andray Blatche (WAS)- Andray Blatche returned from his sprained shoulder and posted a dub-dub with 11 points, 12 boards and a steal in 34 minutes. He obviously needs to be owned in all leagues. On the flip side, it's safe to cut Trevor Booker in almost any league (11 minutes).
2. Michael Beasley (MIN)- Beasley stated before the game that if he could make the decision on playing, he'd be out there on Monday. There is still no timetable for his return, but it is definitely a good sign. Derrick Williams has regressed since his hot start and Beasley should be more than useful once he returns to the lineup. He should be grabbed in almost any league.
3. Luke Ridnour (MIN)- Ridnour was the reason why I was a little down on Rubio coming into the season since he's certainly an NBA-caliber PG. Just to be clear, Rubio is obviously a star this year and owners shouldn't sell high. OK. Now that we have that out of the way, Ridnour absolutely exploded with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting, nine dimes, a steal, a block and hitting all four of his three-point attempts. Will he lose a little value when J.J. Barea returns from his sprained ankle? Yes. That said, he has truly been fantastic in Barea's absence and a little loss of value might still make him worth owning in a nice chunk of leagues.
The rest of the guys that gained value after the jump:
4. Carlos Delfino (MIL)- For whatever reason, Delfino tends to play a lot better when Andrew Bogut is in the lineup. Delfino clocked 35 minutes in Monday's game. He only scored seven and hit just one three, however, no bench player logged more than 23 minutes. Delfino's job looks to be safe at least until Dunleavy returns in a week or two.
5. Marreese Speights (MEM)- Speights hit his first four shots and kept it going to finish Monday's tilt with 16 points, 12 boards and a block in 34 minutes. This is just what the doctor ordered for his owners and the lack of competition should bode well for him. Although his owners will want to remember that Z-Bo will be back in about a month and will render Speights useless in standard formats.
6. J.J. Redick (ORL)- As expected, Redick lit it up at The Garden to the tune of 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting with three treys in 37 minutes. Jason Richardson only has a knee bruise and Redick should have no problem matching these numbers until the Spartan can make it back into the lineup. J-Rich shouldn't be out too long, which makes the Duke product someone to trade (it would like take a patsy to pay a decent price for him though).
7. Ed Davis (TOR)- 40 minutes? Yup. The Carolina sophomore had his best game since the season opener with a line of seven points, 11 boards, three steals and four blocks. His shooting was off with only 3-of-8 from the floor and a weak 1-of-3 from the charity stripe. Bargnani is probably going to be back in a week or so and Davis will be forced to battle it out with Amir Johnson for minutes. Johnson-- who had some foul trouble in 25 minutes-- was still productive with 13 points and 11 board; he's still the preferred player to own by a sizable margin.
8. Mehmet Okur (NJN)- Okur is looking fairly healthy after dealing with back spasms. The Turk tied his season high for points with 15 including three triples in 6-of-10 shooting in 25 minutes. There's a good chance that his back will flare up on him again, plus the fact that Brook Lopez will likely return at some point in February. Okur has no competition until then and should be useful for owners need a center that can add some 3PM.
9. Leandro Barbosa (TOR)- Barbosa has really picked up his game recently with his latest work on Monday boasting a 22 points with three triples in 30 minutes The Brazilian Blur has 20.3 PPG in his last four games and has really been in a groove since Bargnani has been out. Jerryd Bayless is still out with an ankle injury, so he would likely hurt Barbosa once he hits the hardwood. In the meantime, L.B. should be pouring in the points in 30 MPG (29.5 in last four).
10. Marvin Williams (ATL)- Starvin' Marvin was back to his famine ways by failing to hit on any of his five field goals. He did play 22 minutes and T-Mac might be out of commission for a while with his back tightening up. He has been back from his ankle injury for two games and has just lackluster averages of 6.5 PPG and 6.5 RPG. He should improve though.
11. Ramon Sessions (CLE)- Sessions dropped nine dimes off the bench in 22 minutes. Anthony Parker only played nine minutes in the starting gig because he injured his back. Parker has dealt with back problems throughout his career and is likely to miss time.
12. Chandler Parsons (HOU)- It looked like Chase Budinger was really to take back the Rocket's small forward job with his 39 minutes on Saturday. Well, that was nullified on Monday with the Chandler Parsons Project logging 29 minutes that yielded a line of eight points, eight boards and a block. Chase only played 19 minutes and also scored eight points. Parsons brings more energy on D and is more aggressive on the offensive side to help open things up more for Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin.
13. Jordan Farmar (NJN)- The Nets changed up their rotation a little bit and Jordan Farmar played 29 minutes. He was a major part of the O with 11 shots. The UCLA product only connected on two of those to finish with a line of six points, seven boards, seven dimes and two steals. This is his fourth productive game for deep leagues and it's about time for some standard leagues to give him a look.
14. Jordan Crawford (WAS)- One important thing to remember about young SGs is that they are going to have their struggles. On the other hand, sometimes they can get hot and fill it up in a flash. Crawford did the latter on Monday with
15. Taj Gibson (CHI)- The USC Trojan had his second good game in a row with 16 points, five boards, three steals and two blocks in 26 minutes. Joakim Noah continues to play as poorly as his hair suggests and maybe Taj can get a consistent role. Plus don't forget that if Boozer suffers an injury, which is quite common, Taj becomes a must-own PF. He's a great handcuff.
16. D.J. White (CHA)- Tyrus Thomas does what he always does by falling off the face of the fantasy planet with only 16 minutes that translated to one point, one board, a steal and three blocks. D.J. White was the beneficiary by playing 32 minutes and scoring 15 points while pulling down five boards. White is now clearly behind Byron Mullens and will be relegated to a bench role unless someone gets hurt. The point Tyrus Thomas has been given more free passes than Groupon's best customer and Boris Diaw could be traded. Big men are hard to come by and it's not like White has played terribly this year.
17. Francisco Garcia (SAC)- Keith Smart said he will be changing his lineup a little bit and one has to think that Francisco Garcia would stand to benefit. The Cisco Kid played 22 minutes and posted a line of 12 points, five boards, a block and two threes. He one of the better blocking wing players and has plenty of range. I wouldn't be shocked by a big game against the Pacers on Wednesday.
18. Landry Fields (NYK)- Fields picked up 31 minutes. He scored six points and grabbed six boards. He didn't look good doing it. I hope those short sentences help convey my lack of excitement.
19. Jon Leuer (MIL)- Leuer continues to make Gooden the Good and Plenty of fantasy assets. Seriously, who buys that candy anymore? Leuer wasn't setting the world on fire with 22 minutes, but 11 boards, three boards, a block and a three is serviceable in deep leagues. He has room for improvement and there are worse big men that are worth owning in deeper formats.
20. Randy Foye (LAC)- The Clippers signed Courtney Fortson from the D-League LA D-Fenders. That should be an indication that Foye should have another game of production. Foye played a team-high 41 minutes, scored 17 points, dropped 10 dimes, stole one, blocked two and hit a three. Those are big numbers right there.
21. Daniel Gibson (CLE)- He had an awful game with just two points in 26 minutes. He does gain value though with Anthony Parker now dealing with a back issue.
22. Wayne Ellington (MIN)- The Tarheel had a productive game for the for the second night in a row with 15 points, a steal, a block and three treys in 26 minutes. He'll lose value once Beasley comes back, but he's getting much more run that Derrick Williams (nine minutes) and could be useful until Beasley returns. He's actually owned in 0.0 percent of ESPN leagues.
23. Jason Thompson (SAC)- As mentioned above, Keith Smart could be shaking things up. The Rider Bronc has been playing better than current starter J.J. Hickson and it's a fair assumption to think Hickson's job in in jeopardy. Thompson's game on Monday of 12 points and four boards is better from a reality standpoint than Hickson's 4-of-11 shooting for nine points and four boards. This is a situation to be watching on Wednesday and some deeper leagues might want to make a proactive move.
24. C.J. Watson (CHI)- Derrick Rose might not play on Tuesday and Watson made a strong case to be handed the bulk of the minutes at point guard. His elbow looked healthy and he showed he had plenty of conditioning in 28 minutes putting in 17 points.
25. Baron Davis (NYK)- Baron Davis is expected to practice this weekend. He'll be a D'Antoni point guard. That's all you need to know.
26. Toney Douglas (NYK)- Douglas wasn't too shabby with 12 points in 22 minutes. Of course he's likely to lose a portion of those minutes when The Bedazzler returns.
27. Jan Vesely (WAS)- Deep league alert! Vesely had career highs with 26 minutes, seven points and six boards. Rashard Lewis missed time with his dinged up knee and Chris Singleton hasn't exactly flourished with Vesely logging DNPs. Vesely is a high upside pick and with the way the Wizards are losing, he might get a nice audition down the stretch. Note: He is a little higher on this list because of the upside factor.
28. Omri Casspi (CLE)- The Hebrew Hammer has been playing a little bit better and has scored in double figures in back-to-back games after only doing that feat twice in his first 10 games. Casspi's best game came on Monday with 14 points, seven rebounds and a steal in 25 minutes. He's a percentage killer and he'll need a little bit more steam to garner the attention of standard league owners at this point.
29. Wesley Johnson (MIN)- 34 minutes. We've seen this movie before though. He's also shooting a vomit-inducing 33 percent from the floor this year.
30. DaJuan Summers (NO)- Summers continues continues to start and has played in 24.6 MPG in his last five. His lines are underwhelming to say the least and his eight-point, two-board showing on Monday is no exception. Deep leagues need only apply.
31. Gustavo Ayon (NO)- To be honest, I really just like to say his name. Kidding aside, in his last two games he has 20.0 MPG, 8.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG and 2.0 BPG. Solid.
32. Tristan Thompson (CLE)- The Longhorn will get some time at the five spot to help him get more burn on top of his minutes at the four. Thompson hasn't got his feet wet just yet and will be a project all season. The weirdest part of this story is that Cleveland has the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference. That means they might not be so hip to dealing Antawn Jamison at the deadline.
33. Patrick Patterson (HOU)- Jordan Hill is falling out of favor. Finally. Patterson might be able to snag 24 MPG on a regular basis. Plan accordingly.
34. Kurt Thomas (POR)- He is starting and played a decent 26 minutes on Monday to hand in an 8-point, seven-board outing. Not too shabby, but this is likely one of his better games of the season.
35. Derrick Brown (CHA) - Boris Diaw is reportedly on the block and Derrick Brown could get more minutes off the bench. He played 20 on Monday and had a useful roto line of eight points on 4-of-4 shooting, five rebounds, a steal and two blocks.
36. Tobias Harris (MIL)- The Bucks have a messy rotation and now they handed the rookie out of Tennessee 22 minutes. He made the most of it with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He has played in 16 minutes or more in four of his last five games and this was his second double-digit scoring affair in that span. Hey, he's at the bottom of this list, but Chandler Parsons was on here at one point.
Thanks for reading! Comment away below!