It’s been a pretty quiet week in basketball, though that could be because no one paid any attention to anything but playoff football over the weekend. When there aren’t any big injuries or roster changes, sometimes you need to dig a little deeper in your fantasy league waivers to find someone who can help your team this week. Let’s go digging for stats in this week’s waiver wire:
Amir Johnson (37% Owned in Yahoo Fantasy Leagues): Johnson has started the Raptors’ last four games and he couldn’t possibly be better. Playing about 40 minutes per night, he is averaging 18 PPG, 11 RPG, 1.5 SPG, and 2 BPG and should continue to provide some serious fantasy production as long as he is starting
Al-Farouq Aminu (19%): His scoring remains frustratingly inconsistent but he is providing enough defensive production to be fantasy relevant. Over his last five starts he is averaging 31.5 MPG, 11.4 RPG, 2.2 SPG, 1.2 BPG, and 6.5 PPG.
Jared Sullinger (17%): The rookie has earned himself more playing time of late thanks to some good defense. His minutes are inconsistent but he has been playing as much as 34 minutes lately. In his last two games he has put up a combined 26 points and 27 rebounds and continues to improve weekly.
Wilson Chandler (37%): Chandler finally returned to the Nuggets from his two-month hip injury and looked promising as he put up 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals in 21 minutes. He won’t be playing a ton of minutes just yet but with 14 shot attempts in Sunday’s game vs. Warriors it looks like he may get plenty of scoring opportunities.
Tony Allen (32%): If you are really in needs of steals, Allen is the place to look. His other stats aren’t great though—he is averaging 10 PPG and 4.5 RPG over his last eight games. More importantly, he has 12 steals over his last five games and has 56 on the season so if you need a single-stat to help you may want to look his way.
Earl Clark (9%): He has played in the Lakers’ last four games in place of Pau Gasol and has been a good contributor despite the team’s struggles. In his last three games he is averaging 15 PPG, 11 RPG, 3 APG, and 2 BPG. He won’t keep it up once Gasol gets back but may have earned himself more playing time, especially with Jordan Hill now out for the season.
Glen Davis (67%): Davis has missed 11 games with a sprained left shoulder but appears to be nearing a return. He probably won’t make Monday’s game against the Wizards but should be back this week. Before getting hurt he was averaging 16 PPG, 8 RPG, 1 BPG, and 1 SPG and should be owned in just about every league.
Iman Shumpert (6%): Shumpert has been cleared to play as early as Thursday against the Pistons after sitting all season as he recovered from ACL surgery. While he probably won’t get starter minutes immediately, the Knicks back court, which currently consists of Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni, really needs him. He grew a lot as a rookie in 2011 and was averaging 33 MPG, 11 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 3 APG, and 1.6 SPG in his last 17 games before going down. He should be even better this season.
Nikola Vucevic (77%): I like to keep these lists to guys who are still available in most leagues—but you’re crazy if you are in one of the 23% of leagues where he is available. Over his last 11 games he is averaging 14.8 PPG, 14.4 RPG, 1.2 BPG, and 1 SPG. Over his last six games, he is averaging 16 PPG, 16.8 RPG, 1.2 SPG, and 1.3 BPG. What are you doing still reading this? Go pick him up!
