I began writing the normal players of the week post, when I realized that it's stupid, what's the point, the same players dominated this week, and they probably will all season, so instead, I'm going to only write about players owned in 75% of leagues or less, in order to try to help readers see which guys to possibly pick up.
Draymond Green: Yay more injuries! Injuries suck, they hurt the team, the player, and the fantasy owner, but you know who does benefit? You do, because your leaguemate is down a player, and you can pick up the replacement. David Lee was day-to day to start the season, and actually played against the Clippers on November 5th, but re-injured his hamstring after less then seven minutes, and was ruled out for two weeks. This season, Green is finally getting a chance to play, and he's averaging 14.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.8 threes, 1.2 steals, 1.2 blocks, and shooting 48% from the field, which is much better then his career averages, but except for points, where the increase can be attributed to higher usage and improved efficiency, his advanced and per 36 minute stats are almost the same, showing that this can be sustained, but like most guys still available on waivers, he has a flaw, he turns the ball over 3.3 times a game.
Kelly Olynyk: With Sullinger and Olynyk, the Celtics have a very good young pair of bigs, with very similar stats, but for some reason, Sullinger is owned in 100% of ESPN leagues, while Olynyk is owned in less then half of them. In four games this week, Olynyk had one dud, and one okay game, but he also had two great double-doubles, one against Toronto Wednesday, and one against Chicago and their strong group of bigs yesterday. In both games, Olynyk had 18 points, and he also had 13 rebounds in the first, and 11 in the second, raising his stats to 13.33 points and 7.33 rebounds in 27 minutes a game, but he showed against Chicago and Toronto, that with minutes, he can be successful.
DeMarre Carroll: Who? He started 77 games for the Hawks last season, but he's flown right under my radar, until right now. Carroll is available in 64.5% of ESPN leagues, but that's only because of the crazy depth of the small forward position, because Carroll was really good this week, he averaged 14 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 2.7 threes, all while shooting 54% from the field. If you need a small forward, and Draymond Green isn't available , I'd pick him up.
Iman Shumpert: Shump has been leading the league in good hair during all four years of his career, but actual basketball success is something that has come new in Derek Fisher's triangle offense. The three position player (another bonus about him), averaged 16 points, 4.25 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.6 threes during the past four games, that's good, but because that's way above his career averages, I have my doubts about the sustainability, but I have a tendency to be conservative about waiver adds.
KJ McDaniels: Before the season, because of the 76ers tank, many were excited about his potential to put up massive numbers, I mean, someone has to score and grab rebounds, but after struggling his first two games, many dropped him, in favor of other, quicker starting players, but last week, McDaniels showed why owners picked him up in the first place. The reason why owners picked up McDaniels was because of his steals and blocks, and last week he averaged 14 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 threes, 1.3 steals, and 2.6 blocks per 36 minutes, which is a positive indicator for what he can do with more minutes, and if his college stats are any indication, he can grab more rebounds as well.
That's my Sunday recap post, I hope you all have better luck with your fantasy teams then I have thus far, in my main league, I'm 0-2, losing both games by a score of 6-5-1. Homework permitting, I'll have a second post up this week, the next one about why you should sell high on Joe Johnson.
-Hashtagtroll