Daily Dose: Basketball is Back - 02/29/2012
BY Aaron Bruski I’ve been on multiple assignments so here is a reiteration of the blurbs, in case you didn’t read them already. Follow me on Twitter here. Brandon Bass (back) returned and scored 12 points with seven boards, two steals, and a block. Chris Wilcox (groin) returned and scored five points with 11 rebounds. Rajon Rondo returned from a two-game suspension and missed all six of his shots, but finished with 11 assists and five turnovers. Kyrie Irving banged his funny bone and it wasn’t a big deal. Tristan Thompson had 13 points, 10 boards, and two blocks in 27 minutes, and he’s a must-own player in 12-team leagues in my book, despite some risks. Those risks include being crowded by Antawn Jamison and Anderson Varejao, and the combination of his late-game foul shooting issues with Byron Scott’s toughness on rookies. My gut just tells me he’ll work through those issues somehow as the season goes on. Gustavo Ayon only scored five points with four boards, but did have two steals and three blocks. I wonder if folks might have jumped the gun on Emeka Okafor’s (knee) return, but I have no information to support that. I’m just holding in 12-team leagues until it’s clear that Ayon’s value is going to be hampered, and that moment isn’t right now. Chris Kaman has a neon green light right now and scored 17 points with 11 boards, five assists, and a block. Jarrett Jack came off the bench and saw more time than Greivis Vasquez, scoring 10 points with four rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes. Vasquez had 12 points and three assists in 21 minutes, and I know we blurbed that Jack is the favorite to start – and by recent play I’d agree. But I can also see a scenario where Vasquez continues to start and Monty Williams rides the hot hand, potentially deferring to Jack more now than he will later in the year. They’re both holds at this point. Richard Hamilton (groin, leg) returned to a 17-minute workload, scoring five points with two boards and five assists. He’ll return to his low-end producing ways and is worth a serious look if he’s available in your 12-team format. John Wall was not benched, while Nick Young and JaVale McGee were both sat for the usual reasons. Trevor Booker somehow made the list, too, but he’s in a different boat than Young and McGee, who routinely commit every basketball sin in the book. McGee is the one in real jeopardy, here, as he’s making national news for being a self-absorbed idiot every other week now. Owners shouldn’t make any snap judgments and let the situation play out. Booker had a season-high 20 points and 11 boards, and as I’ve said many times I’m not writing him off when the third stooge, Andray Blatche, returns as soon as Saturday. I’m selling Chris Singleton’s big night, at least for now. Jordan Crawford has been worth a pickup in 8-cat formats and especially in any format that his FG% doesn’t work against you. Barring an injury to a volume-shooting guy, and maybe two when Blatche returns, a move to the starting lineup isn’t a game-changer for Crawford, but a bump nonetheless. I’m not adding Mike Dunleavy after his 28-point line because he plays for Scott Skiles and we’ve seen this movie many times. I’m holding Carlos Delfino no matter how odd his high-minute, low-volume performances seem, because the upside is there and, at least for now, so are the minutes. Ersan Ilyasova is trucking along. James Johnson scored 16 points with eight boards, three assists, three steals, and a block and I’ve had him as a must-own in 12-team leagues for a while now. This is just further confirmation. His upside is tremendous. I’m giving Jerryd Bayless this week to evaluate his short-term outlook. With Jose Calderon the source of many, many trade rumors I have yet to drop him under normal circumstances. Linas Kleiza hit 3-of-10 shots for seven points and while this type of rust could be an issue as he periodically rests his knee throughout the year, after the All Star break is a bad time to evaluate him.&! nbsp; That, as you can see, is a trend throughout yesterday’s action. Kyle Lowry scored 26 points with a full line. Kevin Martin hit 3-of-15 shots and still played big minutes, and Samuel Dalembert played 27 minutes en route to 10 points, three boards, and two blocks. I’ve held Sammy throughout the mess because my sense is that everybody will eventually get it together. Brook Lopez scored a season-high 38 points with six rebounds and no blocks. Does it get anymore Brook Lopez than that? Kevin Love left last night’s game with a rib contusion and did not return. Derrick Williams and Michael Beasley both scored 27 points and the order of operations if the injury is serious goes Beasley, Williams, and Anthony Tolliver, with it being anybody’s guess how it actually plays out. The Wolves have a big reason to showcase Beasley right now, while Tolliver is trusted more by Rick Adelman than the both of them. Williams is the high draft pick that needed a kick in his pants early for entering the year a bit too high on himself. Devin Harris might have gotten whatever little man was in his head out of his head, and scored 18 points with seven assists last night. I’d peg his chances as better than even that he plays like a low-end value for the rest of the year. Would I bet my dog on it? No way. Brendan Haywood had a nice night with 18 points, 10 boards, and three blocks, but is nowhere near a must-add player or anything but a flier at this point. Check his game log if you need more. Paul Millsap bruised his left heel and did not return last night. Derrick Favors is a speculative add, but based on year-to-date results he’s no guarantee to produce and make headway toward retaining value whenever Millsap would theoretically return, if he misses time. Gordon Haywood could go to the bench, and with the way the Jazz offense has turned into a double-post extravaganza it might not be a bad thing. Of course, betting on him in fantasy leagues from the bench is dicey, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility for it to help. Ersan Ilyasova is the most recent example that comes to mind. Haywood’s versatility and ball-handling could be nice if he’s the in! itiator or second-touch in the offense. Isaiah Thomas had another slow start but had another great finish last night. 18 points, eight assists, two threes, and a steal later he had the Kings crowd on their feet. If I had to choose between him and Jeremy Lin for my reality basketball squad right now, I’d take Thomas (marketing deals aside, of course). Thomas’ skills and intangibles are lottery-level talents, with his height being the only reason he fell out. What GMs didn’t know is that his strength and leaping ability would cover up that deficiently greatly, and the Kings look like a different team with him on the floor. He’s not going anywhere, and congrats to those that were early adopters. Zach Randolph (knee) is nearing a return, but he’s tiptoeing through the awkward stage between non-contact and contact work. Put a gun to my head and I’d guess (read: guess) he’ll be back in 16 days. Andrea Bargnani (calf) is swimming and doing light on-court work, which is more week-to-week than day-to-day, and he’s in the same boat as Z-Bo. Iman Shumpert (knee) participated in practice yesterday, and will return to a clogged situation in New York. He’ll be ahead of J.R. Smith in the pecking order, as the duo will join Steve Novak at the wing slots on the team’s backup unit. I don’t own Shumpert anywhere anymore in 12-team leagues, as the signing of Smith was a death blow to his value. Tyson Chandler sounded concerned about his wrist on Tuesday, but he is expected to play through the pain. Manu Ginobili (oblique) was a partial participant in practice yesterday, and he’s about to enter the second week of his 1-2 week timetable to return. Tiago Splitter (calf) practiced, and is in the second week of his two-week timetable. Joe Johnson said his knee “felt great” and that’s a great sign for owners as he heads into a game-time decision tonight against the Warriors. Corey Maggette (knee) and Gerald Henderson (hamstring) both practiced and will play on Wednesday, with Henderson coming off the bench. Henderson will start eventually and move Reggie Williams back to the bench, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Williams ultimately step in for Maggette once he gets injured. Wilson Chandler’s situation is a headache for all involved, but the good news is that we’ll likely get some resolution soon with the deadline for teams to make offers to restricted free agents on Thursday. From there, he will either play for Denver or for nobody at all (in the NBA). The problem is that if Denver signs him for the remainder of the season, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent next season. If they don’t sign him, he’ll be an RFA next year. If you’re holding Chandler you’ll probably want to see how things roll this week, because I don’t think the Nuggets will want to wait to get him on the court if they can indeed come to a deal with him. Right now, both sides are waiting for the deadline to pass, albeit for opposing reasons. Danilo Gallinari (ankle) said that he could be back by the end of the week, and told an Italian website that he would be back in 10 days starting yesterday or thereabouts. Owners of anybody not named Ty Lawson and Nene, who is struggling, are sell-high candidates in Denver with Chandler and Gallinari threatening to crash the party. Jermaine O’Neal is trying to avoid surgery on his left wrist and met with a specialist yesterday, but as of last night we were still waiting on the results. Andray Blatche (shoulder) could be targeting Saturday’s game according to beat writer Craig Stouffer, which would give him Thursday and Friday to practice and prove his health. Jameer Nelson (knee) practiced in full yesterday and will be a full go for tonight’s game. He should be owned in all 12-team formats, and I’ll be watching to see if he can recover PG duties from Hedo Turkoglu. My guess is that the pair meets each other halfway, so plan accordingly. Kobe Bryant did indeed suffer a concussion to go along with his broken nose from the All Star game. He needs to go 24 hours without symptoms with testing for symptoms after physical activity, too. There’s no telling when that clock started and his status is in doubt. Stephen Curry (foot) did not play last night and is very iffy for tonight’s game, but a report emerged early last night indicating that a one-week timeline was established last Tuesday. If he doesn’t go tonight, Friday is a very real possibility. Andrew Bynum (knee) did everything but scrimmage yesterday, and aside from being expected to play tonight I haven’t seen anything other than precautionary business, here. Ty Lawson (ankle) practiced on Tuesday and appears good to go for Wednesday. His ankle is slowly heading toward Steph Curry territory, though Lawson’s ankle has the appearance of a nagging, minor injury, rather than the scary, career-altering type that Curry’s has the potential to be. Rudy Fernandez (back) practiced and is ready to clog up the gears in Denver, too. Gordon Hayward could end up coming off the bench when Raja Bell (adductor) returns. Dorell Wright hit just 1-of-8 shots for two points, and is an awful slump right now and there’s trouble in Oaktown. Brandon Rush played well on the stat sheet (14 points, 6-of-11 FGs), but nobody in a Ws uniform played well last night. I can live with folks dropping Wright for a higher upside guy or a guy with better consistency, but this particular game would not be the one that I would use to make the decision with. Drew Gooden took a hard fall last night, which is regrettable since his wrist injury appeared to be handling its first test. Gooden finished with 15 points and 10 boards and will be questionable on Wednesday. | 
