FANTASY BASKETBALL: PLAYOFFS & WAIVER WIRE 4/11

FANTASY BASKETBALL: PLAYOFFS & WAIVER WIRE 4/11

By Muntradamus

Since the season is coming down to the wire, I will do the Daily Show with a new style.  There will be Headlines, Waiver Wire look, and then daily notes from your fantasy players if there is any news to report.

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DAILY HEADLINES:

J.J. Hickson is in for a BEAST type close out to finish the season.  LaMarcus Aldridge should be shut down for the season soon, which will free up PT for Hickson every night to be their go-to-big man.  Tonight he flashed his potential with 23 Points and 13 Rebounds, and a block.  That is Aldridge type value right there.  MUST ADD IN ALL LEAGUES.

Kevin Love suffers a minor concussion.  He will be out Thursday, but owners can hold hope that he does make a speedy recovery.  With Love being out, the one time fantasy waiver wire flier Anthony Randolph 28 Points, 6 Rebounds, and 5 Blocks.  While he seems like the guy to add, Derrick Williams is the man you really want as he will get the majority of the minutes at the PF position.  Tonight he was huge with 27 Points and 8 Rebounds in 38 Minutes.  Anthony Randolph will continue to have some value if Nikola Pekovic continues to play 18+ Minutes.

Ersan Ilysova plays 13 Minutes, and Drew Gooden plays 5 Minutes as the Bucks lose a huge game to the Knicks for the 8th seed.  Monta Ellis took over and scored 35 Points with 10 Assists, and Brandon Jennings was the #2 with 22 Points and 7 Assists.  Fantasy Take: If Coach Skiles is going to pull fast ones like this on us during the fantasy playoffs, then I will avoid all Buck options besides the inconsistent Ellis and Jennings.

ALL SPURS FANTASY OPTIONS are extremely risky as we head into the end of this week, and the championship for most next week.  Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Stephen Jackson are all due for either DNPs, or little playing time.  Tonight was no exception as they dropped a huge game to the Lakers with no Kobe, yet the Spurs did not seem to care.

 

DAILY WAIVER WIRE LOOK:

 

PLAYERS WHO SHOULD BE OWNED:

 

Goran Dragic continues to be the man for Houston with 19 Points, 7 Assists and 41+ Minutes.  Kyle Lowry continues to see less than 25 Minutes, but he is ready to breakout as well with a huge game as he had 15 Points, 4 Rebounds, and 5 Assists.  The Rockets are slowly turning into a two man show with them, and Marcus Camby who is a great center option, to close out the season.

Kenneth Faried saw 35+ Minutes and had a HUGE game with 16 Points and 12 Rebounds.  I said he was must add on the notes from April 9th, and tonight he showed why as Al Harrington is now playing on a torn knee and somehow managed 22+ Minutes.  Harrington can be dropped in all leagues.

Zach Randolph continues to prove he is back to vintage form with a beastly 17 Points and 9 Rebounds.  He has been hot for the past week and a half now, and looks to continue his success to close out the season.  Marc Gasol is losing the most value in this change as he only scores 8 Points with 7 Rebounds in 25+ Minutes.  Gasol should still give you some big nights, just not as consistent.

Greivis Vasquez is locked and loaded to be the starting PG the rest of the season for the Hornets.  15 Points, and 5 Assists should be his floor every night, as his potential is very high in his 35+ Minutes of action.  They have no other PG, and he has deserved this playing time to close out the year.

Brandon Bass had a strong game with no Ray Allen scoring 21 Points with 10 Rebounds.  Bass’s production gets a big boost when Allen is out.  Bass will always see 32+ Minutes a game, and tonight he saw 40+ in the OT effort.

Lester Hudson got bad news Wednesday when Byron Scott announced that Kyrie Irving could return this Sunday.  Still you have to continue to roll with Hudson and his 20+ FG attempts a game and just hope that Irving gets shut down.  The FG attempts will be slashed in the process.

Gordon Hayward exploded with 29 Points and 4 3PTM.  This type of game will remind his owners that he will give you solid numbers nearly every night, with the potential for an explosion like this.  If Devin Harris goes away from being aggressive like he was tonight 3/7 from the field, and 5 fouls.  Than Hayward will get his opportunities.

JJ Barea  had his best game in sometime with 15 Assists and 12 Points.  Luke Ridnour could be back Saturday, but that is still enough time for Barea to have another big game against the Clippers.

 

PLAYERS WHO CAN BE OWNED:

 

Shannon Brown was big again tonight with 18 Points on 6/17 shooting, and 4 3PTM.  The news that Grant Hill will be back Friday should halt the consistency that Brown has been putting up.

Jamal Crawford is turning that corner to the next level.  He had a monster performance with 34 Points on 10/18 shooting.  Nicolas Batum may not last the whole season, and he Crawford is a much better scorer than probably everyone else on the team.  He will get his looks down the stretch of the season.

Tristan Thompson got the same bad news that Hudson heard, except in the form that Anderson Varejao should be back this weekend.  Thompson may give you a few more games, but after that you can expect him to go straight to the bench and lose his role.

J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert time are running out as Amare could be back next week.  Both players are getting their opportunities now to be fantasy contributors, but both are being inconsistent.  You can ride them out for the last two games this week, but that could be it.

 

 

PLAYERS TO LEAVE SCOUTING:

 

Jason Thompson re-entered the starting lineup to put up 18 Points and 7 Rebounds.  The reason for the big game was DeMarcus Cousins and his 3/12 shooting.

Metta World Peace continues to score the ball at a season high, tonight he had 26 Points on 10/15 shooting.  You can thank Kobe Bryant for the big scoring games, as soon as Kobe is back, MWP is nothing to talk about.

Ed Davis had 13 Points and 13 Rebounds in 33+ Minutes.  Could it finally be that he is getting the PT everyone has been hoping for?  For now continue to monitor his status because when Andrea Bargnani returns that could be the end of his value.

Markieff Morris was big with 17 Points and 6 Rebounds.  He continues to outplay Channing Frye who has only scored 15 Points once this month.  Morris should look to climb into that starters role, or at least continue to play 27+ Minutes.

 

DAILY FANTASY NOTES:

Tyson Chandler has averaged over a double-double the past 6 games.  Carmelo Anthony continues his best play of the season with 32 Points and 10 Rebounds, somehow the Knicks ended up winning when he went off.

Rudy Gay shows he is back to his vintage form with 32 Points and 7 Rebounds.  That is two strong games in a row, and his owners can start him with confidence moving forward.  Just keep in mind this Grizzle team is getting deeper with scoring options as Zach Randolph is playing a much bigger role.

Serge Ibaka finally got 30+ Minutes, 34:14 to be exact.  With that being said, he has had better games with 12 Points, 7 Rebounds, 3 Blocks, and a steal.  His owners can only hope this trend of more PT continues.  Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant shot a combined 10/35 from the field, and that is how the Thunder lost to the Clippers.

David Lee is the only Golden State Warrior to trust with 21 Points and 14 Rebounds.  Everyone else is very inconsistent.

Andrew Bynum was a monster with 30 rebounds and 16 Points.  He has made his case as the #1 fantasy center in the game with this performance.  Pau Gasol continues to be a great option with no Kobe as he put up 24 FG attempts to finish with 21 Points and 11 Rebounds.

Danilo Gallinar, Aaron Afflalo, and Ty Lawson all appeared to find their groove together.  All should be solid to close out the season as the Nuggets rotation is starting to look a lot more clear now that Harrington is playing with a bad knee.

Chris Paul scored 31 Points and grabbed 6 Assists to remind us why he was a top 5 pick in most drafts.  Blake Griffin reminded his owners why he was a 1st round pick with 16 Points, 12 Rebounds, and 7 Assists.  Not the most usual game for Blake, but these two Clippers are the only ones to trust during the crucial fantasy playoff run.

Marcus Thornton is back at full strength and put up a team high 19 FG attempts for 26 Points.  Get him in your fantasy lineups as he is ready to make a late push for all owners.  Tyreke owners can breathe easy knowing that Evans had 19 Points and 8 Assists, but Isaiah Thomas owners are seeing the end of his value with a 2 Point and 7 Assists night.  There are not enough FG attempts left for Isaiah.

Danny Granger continues to be the go-to-guy for the Pacers.  He is playing at the highest level in some time as you can expect 20 points nearly every night.  All other Pacers are inconsistent.

Antawn Jamison has become Mr. Reliable with his 15+ FG’s every night.  The Cavs are committed to giving him his PT and attempts despite the fact that their season is over.

Thaddeus Young was the 76er of the night with 17 Points and 5 Rebounds.  The rest of the team put up low-end numbers for real players, but Jrue Holiday owners have to be excited about 8 Points, 7 Rebounds, and 7 Assists.  Only if that was his worst game all season..

Jeff Teague continues to play at another level after a mid-season slump.  21 Points, 6 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block in 40+ Minutes is just another high flying game for the big time hawk.  Joe Johnson continues to struggle to find 20 Points, while Josh Smith continues to be an all-around great option.

Raymond Felton may be the only other Blazer who will be consistent next to JJ Hickson.  Once again Felton gets a solid 16 Points and 10 Assist.  He is a solid rock at the Point.  Nicolas Batum was solid on a bad knee with 4 3PTM, 2 Steals, 2 Blocks, 5 Rebounds, and 14 Points.  He may get shut down soon as well, but if he plays then you got to play him at this point. 

Rajon Rondo had the nicest 3×2 of the season and is the Fantasy Player of the day.  10 Points, 20 Assists, 10 Rebounds.