Waiver Wired: Wired: Top NBA Pickups Week 11
Games Played Week 11
5 Games: UTA
4 Games: BOS, BRK, CHA, CLE, DAL, GSW, IND, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, POR, SAC, TOR
3 Games: ATL, CHI, DEN, DET, HOU, LAC, NOP, SAS, WAS
2 Games: PHX
The Suns play just two games this week while the Jazz have five of them. And with Rudy Gobert, Alec Burks and Derrick Favors all hurting, several Jazz players can be considered for pick up this week. The only ones you’ll find on this list are G Trey Burke, F Rodney Hood and C Jeff Withey, but if games played matter in your leagues, Trey Lyles, Trevor Booker and Joe Ingles might also be worth a look if your league is deep enough.
Guards
Trey Burke Jazz 47 percent owned in Yahoo! leagues – Burke is one of the winners due to the loss of Alec Burks and he went on a nice three-game tear last week before falling off on Saturday, when he hit just 3-of-13 shots but still played 32 minutes. He was especially nice on Wednesday and Thursday when he scored 23 and 27 points with five 3-pointers. With five games this week, Burke should be owned in closer to 100 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
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Ish Smith Sixers 59% – I only mention him in case any of you want to drop him after his horrible shooting in three of his last four games. Give him more time.
Devin Booker Suns 26% – I jumped on Booker where I could when Eric Bledsoe went down and he got off to a lack luster start, but played well in his five games last week. He scored 19, 10, 9, 12 and 21 points with five 3-pointers and four steals. The Suns play just two games this week and Booker’s still a 19-year-old kid, but I like the idea of holding him right now.
Jerryd Bayless Bucks 26% – Michael Carter-Williams has been starting and playing well, but Bayless has played 26 minutes per game in his four-games back, scoring in double figures in three of them. He’s hit seven 3-pointers over his last four games, but also has just one steal. The minutes are there, he’s playing well, and he’s one MCW slump away from becoming a very good fantasy player. Bayless should be owned in all leagues for now.
Jameer Nelson Nuggets 18% – Nelson had a weird week but finished with a bang with 20 points, eight boards, seven assists and two 3-pointers against the Warriors on Saturday. He’s averaging 10.6 points, 5.6 boards, 6.2 assists and 1.4 3-pointers over his last five games and we still don’t know when Emmanuel Mudiay is going to be back in action.
Shane Larkin Nets 8% – Larkin hasn’t done much, outside of averaging 4.6 assists over his last five games while shooting a dreadful 32 percent from the floor. But with the news that Jarrett Jack’s season is over, Larkin should quickly be thrust into the spotlight and starting lineup. If you need a starting point guard in a deep league, or owned Jack, picking up Larkin makes sense. He hasn’t played well since early in the season, but there’s upside here and he can help in steals, threes and assists.
Bojan Bogdanovic Nets 35% – Bogdanovic has quietly been rolling, averaging 31.8 minutes, 14.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 3-pointers over his last five games, shooting 49 percent. He’s starting at shooting guard and showing no signs of slowing down, making him look like a pretty reliable option off the wire right now.
Jeremy Lin Hornets 40% – Lin missed a couple games recently due to an ankle injury and got a start on Saturday with Nicolas Batum out with a toe injury. Lin had 15 points, four assists, a block, a steal and a 3-pointer in that game, and was getting 30 minutes a night even when Batum was healthy. In his last three games, Lin is averaging 13.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 3-pointers over his last three games played.
Allen Crabbe Blazers 17% – I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall on Crabbe, but he keeps chugging along, helped by the fact that Damian Lillard has missed six straight games with a foot injury. While C.J. McCollum has gone full beast mode with Lillard out, Crabbe has scored in double figures in all six of those games. He’s averaging 16.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 12 assists and 2.8 3-pointers on 44 percent shooting. His lack of steals, blocks and assists is a little disappointing, but the minutes, scoring and threes have made him a nice play over the last couple weeks. He should take a bit of a hit once Lillard is back and CJM moves back over to shooting guard, but I’m holding Crabbe until the wheels come off.
Norris Cole Pelicans 3% – Cole has played very well in three straight games, getting 30-plus minutes in each of them and averaging 16.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.0 steals and a 3-pointer. Tyreke Evans was out on Saturday so Cole got a start, but he was getting similar minutes in his previous two games off the bench, as it appears that Alvin Gentry would much rather play small with Cole than let Alonzo Gee play more than 15 minutes each night. We’ve seen Ish Smith get hot in New Orleans and then quickly disappear, and while it’s possible the same thing could happen to Cole, he looks like a nice, speculative add after his last three games.
J.J. Barea Mavs 29% – Barea has been nice while filling in for Deron Williams, but Williams is back. Barea won’t be a monster when Williams retakes the starting job, but he might still be a serviceable starting fantasy guard. He’s averaging 14.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 0.8 steals and 2.8 3-pointers over his last five games, but those numbers should start to fall quickly once Williams is back to full strength.
Marco Belinelli Kings 8% – Belinelli has quietly caught fire over his last two games, scoring 28 and 19 points with five 3-pointers on 18-of-28 shooting. He wasn’t getting many shots up prior to those two games and could cool off just as quickly as he got hot. He had scored in double figures just three times in his previous 14 games, so I’m not too optimistic about Bello’s chances of staying hot going forward.
Danny Green Spurs 72% – As you guys know, I drafted Danny Green a lot this year and finally cut him across the board a week ago. Green had scored eight or fewer points in four straight games prior to Saturday, and had only scored in double figures eight times this entire season. Then he suddenly got hot and hit six 3-pointers for 18 points, three steals and a block against the Rockets in one of his best games of the year. Am I worried that I dropped him? Yeah, a little. But he had not shown any signs of life prior to this game and averaged 6.1 points on 39.6 shooting in December. If he’s sitting on your wire, feel free to pick him up. I’m actually intrigued to find out if he can start playing well, but I still have my doubts after watching him struggle throughout all of November and December.
Shaun Livingston Warriors 3% – With Stephen Curry banged up and leaving Saturday’s game with a shin contusion, Livingston could continue to get some starts. He is averaging 10.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and a steal in 25 minutes a game over his last five. His best effort came on Thursday against Houston when he had 13 points and seven assists in 33 minutes, while his other four games weren’t much to write home about. I think Livingston makes some sense as a DFS option on nights when Curry is out, but you would have to be in a pretty deep league to add him.
Ian Clark Warriors 0% – Clark scored 15 points in Saturday’s win over the Nuggets, adding one board, one assist and one 3-ponter in 37 minutes. Stephen Curry left the game at halftime due to a shin contusion and Brandon Rush (hamstring) sat this one out, so Clark took full advantage of the extra minutes. He shot 7-of-8 from the field and is averaging 15 points and 2.0 3-pointers over his last four games. He will have very little fantasy value when the Warriors are at full strength, but it’s hard to ignore his last four games.
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