Dose: Buy, Sell & Hold. - 12/27/2011
BY Steve Alexander Well Monday night in the NBA was as busy a night as you’ll see this season. Twenty-four teams were in action and Rotoworld published, in my estimation, 160 game-related news blurbs after the action kicked off last night. Rather than get into each game with you, I’m going to try something new with the format and hit on what should really matter to fantasy owners: Who should be picked up or targeted in trades, who should be held, and who can be dumped or put on the trading block. Let me know what you think in an email or on Twitter. The NBA Season Pass and Draft Guide are available, so check them out. The Rotoworld NBA Injury Page should have you covered, so I didn't dive into them too much here today. I will, however, let you know that Stephen Curry is not expected to play on Wednesday after re-spraining his right ankle again last night after landing on the foot of Kyle Korver. He was awesome last night, but just can't keep his ankle healthy. Feel free to trade him, but be careful not to sell too low on him. Few players are as valuable when he's clicking on all cylinders. Hot Buys It looks like I was wrong about Kris Humphries, who blew up for 21 points and 16 boards on 9-of-14 shooting last night. I had trouble getting on his bandwagon last season, and obviously still hadn’t come around when he signed with the Nets recently. Mehmet Okur just arrived and is figuring things out, but Humphries is going to get a ton of run this season. Congratulations if you picked him up. Spencer Hawes exploded and just missed a triple-double last night with 10 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and a block against the Blazers. I actually had him in a couple lineups, but certainly didn’t see this coming. He’s a serviceable fantasy center, but this is likely to be the high point of his season. But if you’re struggling with centers like Brendan Haywood or Timofey Mozgov, I’d dump them for Hawes without question. Lou Williams hit 9-of-17 shots and three 3-pointers for 25 points on Monday, but not much else. He came off the bench and outperformed every other gua! rd on the team, including Jrue Holiday. I love Lou-Will’s ability to score and think he should play a lot of minutes for the Sixers this season, possibly rendering Jodie Meeks useless. If you need a guard and Lou is sitting out there, pick him up and see what happens. Gerald Henderson and Boris Diaw were on fire for the Bobcats, as Hendo scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Diaw just missed a triple-double with nine points, 11 boards, nine assists, two blocks and a 3-pointer. Pick Henderson up, and make sure Diaw was drafted in your league. He's the size of a small tank, apparently binge eating in the offseason, but I still tried to draft him in all my leagues. Paul George met expectations for the Pacers with three 3-pointers, 12 points, seven rebounds, a steal and a block. If he’s somehow still out there, get him. Tyler Hansbrough doesn’t care that David West is starting in front of him and had 15 points and 13 boards last night. I started drafting Hansbrough late in fantasy leagues and it looks like he should hold value as long as he’s healthy. Jordan Crawford started for the Wizards over Nick Young and had 15 points, four rebounds, two steals in 28 minutes on 7-of-12 shooting. As long as he’s starting, he should be owned in fantasy leagues. Jonas Jerebko started in place of Charlie Villanueva and had 17 points, five rebounds, a steal and a block against the Pacers, and it’s possible he could hold the job even when CV returns. JJ is not a must-add player, but certainly worth a flier if you have room. Rodney Stuckey had 17 points, six assists, two steals, a block and two 3-pointers last night, and those worries about Brandon Knight cramping his style appear to be unfounded. In fact, Stuckey looks even better this season than he did a year ago, making him a nice trade target. Andre Miller somehow keeps producing for the Nuggets and had 18 points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals, a block and two 3-pointers. I can’t see him putting up another line like that any time soon, but if he’s available in your league, pick him up. Just keep in mind that Arron Afflalo missed all of training camp and could take a week or so to get up to speed. And if you already own Miller, this looks like a great time to sell him off at a nice price. Jose Calderon had 15 points, 11 assists and three 3-pointers last night and should be good to go as long as he’s healthy and starting for the Raptors. We were down on him coming in and his next injury could be just around the corner, but for now, Calderon looks like a must-start in fantasy. James Johnson came off the bench for the Raptors last night, but led his team with 36 minutes and put up a fantasy-friendly stat line with five points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals, three blocks and a 3-pointer. I’ve been touting him a bit lately and he came through last night. I say pick him up in any league where you can afford to have a low-scoring producer on your roster. Amir Jo! hnson not only started for the Raps, but had 13 points, 13 boards, a steal and three blocks last night. Many folks were worried about Ed Davis ruining Amir, but that was not the case last night. Davis came off the bench for 14 points, seven boards and two blocks in just 18 minutes, so hold onto him. Ramon Sessions came off the bench behind rookie Kyrie Irving and blew up for 18 points, four boards, six dimes, a steal and two 3-pointers on 6-of-12 shooting. Irving is going to get better with time, but for now, Sessions looks like he should get serious run and be a sneaky fantasy player to own. Marcus Camby played through his knee injury and had six points, 13 boards, six dimes and two blocks in a win over the Sixers. Yeah, I don’t believe it either, but as long as Camby is healthy, it looks like he’s worth owning in most leagues. Be careful of cutting a good player for him though, as his knee could pop at any second, not to mention the fact he’s almost 38. There was early talk that Robin Lopez might start over Marcin Gortat, which I didn’t really believe, and then Lopez posted 21 points and seven rebounds last night as the Suns fell to the Hornets. I’m officially intrigued and have put in for Lopez in deeper leagues. It looks like he’ll get a timeshare with Gortat and looks like a much better player to own than Mozgov. Tiago Splitter got 33 minutes last night and finished with five points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 33 minutes, while starter DeJuan Blair played just 10 minutes and committed four fouls. Of course, I was high on Splitter last year and Blair for this campaign, so Gregg Popovich decided to mix things up. In the long run, these two will probably trade off hot streaks all season, but Blair is only 6’ 7” tall, which may be bugging Popovich. Feel free to take a flier on Splitter, or to dump Blair, but be prepared for Popovich to continue to keep these guys, as well as their fantasy owners, guessing. Terrence Williams came off the bench for the Rockets and had 13 points, six boards and two assists on 5-of-12 shooting in 26 minutes. Kevin Martin and Chase Budinger both had off nights so Kevin McHale gave T-Will some burn. And while it’s hard to get too excited about Williams after a couple seasons of duping fantasy owners, he at least has my attention again. Take a flier in deep leagues and put him on your radar in all others. Metta World Peace had 19 points, four boards, four assists, a steal and a block last night, and while I would normally blow this line from off, the Lakers are reeling. He’s now actually one of the better players on the team and is going to have to produce for them to win games. I mean, Devin Ebanks and Josh McRoberts are starting for the Lakers right now. Metta’s field goal percentage and shot selection are downright scary, but I think the production should come simply because of a lack of options in for Mike Brown. Give him a look if he’s on your waiver wire (and I bet he is). Just don’t search for him under the name Ron Artest. The Rest Damion James – 6 points, 14 rebounds, starting for Nets and played 40 minutes. Jarrett Jack – Suspension is over, get him in your lineup. Samuel Dalembert – 10 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, 3 blocks in HOU debut. Pick him up now. J.J. Redick – 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, J-Rich is struggling. Worth a close look. Ryan Anderson – Back to earth w/ 8 points, 5 boards, 2 threes, but should be owned in most. Markieff Morris – 7 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks – Keep an eye on him in Phoenix. Anderson Varejao – Double-double and they should keep coming. Hedo Turkoglu – Bounced back with big line, pick him up if he was dropped after Sunday’s dud. Al Harrington – 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 threes for Denver. Safe, but not much upside. Hold On Serge Ibaka played just 20 minutes last night and had six points, six rebounds and a block, and while that was better than Sunday’s disaster, the minutes he’s getting from Scott Brooks are a huge concern. And that concern was there last year too, as Brooks constantly seemed to toy with Ibaka’s run. In fact, in looking at his game log from a year ago this week, in four consecutive games Ibaka’s minutes were 19, 29, 15 and 31. He’ll be frustrating to own at times, but I think it’s a mistake to let him go unless you’ve already got a lot of blocks and are going to struggle to score points. Here is a list of more players I think it’s best to hang onto despite some funky numbers early. Greg Monroe – 8 points, 7 rebounds, foul trouble. Bounce back is coming. Anthony Morrow – 16 points, two 3-pointers, but shot just 4-of-13. Mehmet Okur – 5 rebounds in 20 minutes, but he’ll only get better from here. Nick Young – 16 points, a minor foot injury and coming off the bench, but worth holding for now. John Wall – Slow start last night, but obviously not droppable. Kevin Martin – 1-of-10, reports that he’s not happy in Houston, but too good to let go. Chase Budinger – 1-of-5 for 3 points but give him two more starts before moving on. Ed Davis – Came off bench but did serious work in 18 minutes. Kyrie Irving – Shaky debut on 2-of-12 shooting, but can only get better. Jason Richardson – A pair of early duds, but should turn it on soon. Buy low. Antawn Jamison – Terrible shooting last night, but have to love 20 shot attempts. D.J. Augustin – Big line and an ankle injury, Kemba Walker won’t ruin him – at least early. Kemba Walker – 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3-of-10 shooting. Let him figure this out. Stephen Jackson – 17 minutes and six fouls against his former team. Ouch. Darko Milicic – 12 points and 3 rebounds, but worth a look as long as Nikola Pekovic is out. Ricky Rubio – 6 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists. Tough to ask for much more at this point. Derrick Williams – Like Rubio, nice debut with 13 points and 6 boards. Corey Maggette – 12 points and 7 boards in 39 minutes. Roll with him while he’s healthy. Jrue Holiday – Tough night and a tough line for owners. No worries. Evan Turner – Slow start with 10 points but should be better soon. Carl Landry – Started with 14 points and 7 rebounds, sounds about right. Chris Kaman – 10 points and five boards off Hornets bench, but I bet he’s better in next one. Jared Dudley – 3-of-11 for 9 points, 8 boards. Give the Suns a week to figure this out. Jamal Crawford – 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 3-pointers. Patience in Portland. Nicolas Batum – 10 points, five boards, 2 3-pointers. Too much talent to drop him. Richard Hamilton – Two disappointing lines with Bulls, I’m giving him two more starts. Carlos Boozer – Beast on Sunday, 6 points and 3 rebounds on Monday. Channing Frye - 1-of-6 for three points. The slump is on, but I’d try to give him a couple more chances. Andris Biedrins – Very nice on Sunday, disaster on Monday. Still worth holding for now. Grant Hill – Like the rest of his Suns teammates, we’re only one game in. Patience. Dorell Wright – A little better on Monday, but still not up to speed. Buy low target. Kobe Bryant – 29 points Monday. Wrist a concern, but he’ll keep playing if Lakers start winning. Chuck Hayes – Another guy I don’t love, but keeps proving me wrong. Arron Afflalo – 11 points in opener and missed training camp. Should be better soon. Tyrus Thomas – Hopefully he’s back soon from ankle injury. Intriguing as starter. The Dump Here’s a list of guys you can consider dropping/moving if you’ve got some hot free agents you want to pick up. And just because a player is on this list doesn’t mean I think he should automatically be dropped. Vince Carter – Struggling in Dallas, team is off to terrible start, and he’s just old. Brandon Knight – Keep him in a keeper league, but it could take him a while to get going. Austin Daye – I love this kid and am not giving up on him yet, but I’m stubborn. Rashard Lewis – Like Vince, he may never recapture the magic. George Hill – Pacers guard struggled in Game 1 and I just don’t see him blowing up. Jordan Hill – Arrival of Samuel Dalembert in Houston should crush his value. Shaun Livingston – Big line on Monday night, but has fluke written all over it. Beno Udrih – Ditto. Tony Allen – Started and played 15 minutes for Memphis. SG a black hole for fantasy in MEM. O.J. Mayo – Played 17 minutes out of his doghouse last night. John Salmons – Looked nice for Kings last night, but just too crowded for my liking. Jimmer Fredette – 25 minutes, 6 points, 3 assists – Tyreke and Thornton are the answer. J.J. Hickson – Arrival of Chuck Hayes crushes his value. Jerryd Bayless – Better served as hot pickup w/ Calderon injury then wasting away on your bench. Anthony Parker – 8 points in 26 minutes, will be pushed by Daniel Gibson and Sessions. Glen Davis – Ryan Anderson looks like the guy in Orlando, but that could change in a week. Omri Casspi – Dreadful opener on Monday. Try to be patient with him, but cut if you must. Wes Johnson – Another bomb in Minnesota and I don’t think you can trust him. Luke Ridnour – Jose Juan Barea and Rubio looked good last night, while Ridnour did not. Bismack Biyombo – Only one game in, but it could be a long, uphill climb owning him. Jodie Meeks – Evan Turner and Lou Williams are going to eat up his minutes, despite starting. DeJuan Blair – 10 minutes, four fouls, and emergence of Tiago Splitter. Thanks, Pop. Josh McRoberts – Toe injury, 2 points on Monday and Bynum will be back real soon. Matt Barnes – Not starting, possible suspension coming, so forget about him. Timofey Mozgov – I’d like to be patient, but would rather own Hawes or Robin Lopez. Brendan Haywood – 7 & 5 last night, but I’d rather own Hawes or Lopez. Brook Lopez – Broken foot is go | 
