I covered the waiver wire for 40 minutes on Pick-N-Roll last night. Since I know everyone is busy, and I'm a man of the people, I put together the list of players I discussed last night. Check 'em out. If you have the time, definitely check out Pick-N-Roll and I'd also like to remind you we'll be doing another show tonight once the games end.
1. Jeremy Lin (NYK)- Move over, Michael Jordan. Here's the ownership from Saturday to Tuesday:
Saturday:0.0%
Sunday: 2.0%
Monday: 21.4%
Tuesday: 48.4%
2. Jason Richardson (ORL)- 18.7 PPG and 3.0 3PM in since returning.
3. Trevor Booker (WAS)- Believe it or not he's the 42nd-best eight-cat player in the past 15 days. His 19 points, four boards, three steals and three blocks in 43(!!) minutes last night should make him close to a must-add in even shallow formats. He'll beast it for a month. Also I've been talking about him for over a week. Just sayin'.
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4. Jerryd Bayless (TOR)- Even though Coach Casey treats his lineup like a baseball lineup, Bayless has put up big numbers lately. 15.6 PPG, 2.8 3PM and 1.6 SPG in last five are numbers that all owners could use. 39 minutes in back-to-back games, too.
5. Greivis Vasquez (NO)- Nobody seems to know what's going on with the NO guard's knee. We've heard this song before, right? Vasquez keeps putting up numbers and last night's 20 points and nine dimes in 40 minutes was one of the bigger lines of the evening.
6. Channing Frye (PHO)- He's not back just yet, but his 19 points, nine boards, two blocks and three treys are a great sign.
7. Randy Foye (LAC)- Mo Williams figures to pick up the void left by Billups' 30.4 MPG. Williams played 28.8 in his last five and he isn't quite capable of playing more than 35 MPG. That leaves a lot of minutes to go around and Foye should see most of them. Foye packs a nice fantasy punch with points, steals, dimes and nice FT% numbers, too.
8. Linas Kleiza (TOR)- Kleiza stuck it to the Wizards with a monster game of 30 points, five boards, two steals and four from downtown. He even played 35 minutes on the second game of a back-to-back set. While I do like him quite a bit (I've wrote about him countless times this season), it's important to remember he sat out on Wednesday in order to rest his microfracture-repaired knee.
9. Iman Shumpert (NYK)- Last night was probably the first night on Twitter where I didn't get someone asking me about cutting Shumpert. He's a steals specialist, shoots the three and he played 32 minutes on Monday. He really should be owned in all competitive leagues and will likely get more minutes as Landry Fields slides to the three to fill the Melo void.
10. Jared Dudley (PHO)- Phoenix wing guys aren't stepping up and Dudley appears to be the best option. He came into camp in great shape and he looks like he put that mini slump behind him. 10 points in 28 minutes last night isn't going to jump off the page though. I'd expect an improvement next time out.
11. Gordon Hayward (UTA)- He gets minutes, shoots the three and could see his PPG in the teens for the season. Josh Howard isn't the answer and C.J. Miles just isn't reliable.
12. Chuck Hayes (SAC)- There could be a changing of the guard next to DMC as Hayes logged 25 minutes compared to Jason Thompson's 17. Hayes didn't put up stats with only two points and six boards. There should be brighter days ahead though. I'd switch out JT for Hayes right now.
13. Arron Afflalo (DEN)- He's hurt with ankle and toe ailments right now. However, he should see a nice chunk of run at the three with Gallo out with a chip fracture of his ankle (timetable and details of the break have not been released at the time I'm writing this). The Nuggets really lack a three on their roster and AA figures to be the best candidate.
14. Amir Johnson (TOR)- He started the second half and is now in front for minutes at the five. Dwane Casey, we don't like you, sir.
15. John Salmons (SAC)- The Miami product put up big numbers over the weekend with 40 MPG and 3.0 from distance in his two games. While he didn't fall off a cliff on Monday, a 28-minute, 10-point game isn't going to make you run to grab him. Isaiah Thomas (discussed below) is a huge X-factor on how the minutes will be dispersed.
16. Rudy Fernandez (DEN)- Rudy should be in line for more minutes. He's 6-foot-6 and could play minutes at the three in George Karl's smaller lineup.
17. Marvin Williams (ATL)- He hasn't been better than CP3 or Deron Williams or anything.
18. Jordan Crawford (WAS)- 28 MPG in last five and hitting offensive groove a bit. Nick Young is still way ahead of him.
19. Chase Budinger (HOU)- Buds was blazin' it up on Monday with 16 points including four threes in 27 minutes. I would avoid this situation under most circumstances. McHale has been Casey-like with giving out minutes.
20. Courtney Lee (HOU)- Same deal. 32 minutes and 10 points were a bit under the radar last night. Don't forget that Kevin Martin dealt with plantar fasciitis last week and Lee would see a big boost.
21. Jordan Farmar (NJN)- He didn't exactly take advantage of Morrow being out of the lineup. He'll still be a factor with MarShon Brooks dealing with his broken toe.
22. Isaiah Thomas (SAC)- I'm falling in love with this guy. It seems like every win from Sacramento involded Thomas making a big play and it happend on Monday when he buried a 30-foot J. Zeke Jr. had 17 points, five board, six assists, a steal and three triples in 26 minutes.
23. Bill Walker (NYK)- Melo is out for up to two weeks. Walker should be the big winner.
24. Nikola Vucevic (PHI)- Elton Brand and Spencer Hawes might miss Wednesday's game. Vucevic has made a blip on the radar with his 15-3 game on Saturday and a not-too-shabby eight points, six boards and two blocks on Monday. Watch him on Wednesday against the Spurs.
25. Kyle Korver (CHI)- Rip should be back soon He only has short-term value.
26. Gustavo Ayon (NO)- He saw 32 minutes and it was mildly disappointing with only four points, nine boards and two blocks. He should see brighter days as long as Carl Landry and Jason Smith are out.
27. Markieff Morris (PHX)- He is heating up a little bit and had a roto-friendly seven points, seven boards, three steals, a block and a three in 20 minutes. He also had a higher +11 compared to Frye's -2 in +/-.
28.Shawne Williams (NJN)- He stunk it up with only two points. However, he logged 33 minutes and should see a more minutes than anyone at the three for the Nets.
29. Steve Novak (NYK)- Novak made it rain like Aaron Hernandez on Monday with a potent 19 points thanks to five threes in just 17 minutes. He's probably just a plug-n-play guy for most daily leagues.
30. Jared Jeffries (NYK)- Amare Stoudemire might miss more games due to the tragedy of his brother passing. JJ played well with 13 points, eight boards, two steals and a block in 34 minutes. He should be spot-start worthy in competitve daily formats.
31. J.R. Smith (FA)- He might help a lot of teams.
32. Eric Bledsoe (LAC)- Like I said earlier, 30.4 MPG is a big number and Bledsoe is probably going to pick up some of them. He is also likely to be CP3's backup, which gives him some handcuff allure.
33. Kevin Seraphin (WAS)- Hey! 24 minutes last night!
Thanks for reading!