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One of the early season surprises was the Phoenix Suns’ Miles Plumlee, who for some reason has been dropped in a multitude of fantasy leagues.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Plumlee and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Steve Blake.
» Miles Plumlee, PF/C, Phoenix Suns (47.8 percent owned on ESPN.com)
8 points (3-5 FG, 2-2 FT), 0 three-pointers, 10 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 2 turnovers vs. Bulls
When the Suns traded starting center Marcin Gortat on the eve of the season, many people projected the Jeff Hornacek coached squad to enter fully blown tank mode.
As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend.” Enter Miles Plumlee. A throw-in in an off-season trade that saw the Suns also acquire Gerald Green and a first round draft pick from the Indiana Pacers, the second-year big man was installed as the starting center from opening night.
The early season injury woes of fifth overall draft pick Alex Len probably helped Plumlee land the job, but he started the season off with a bang, notching back-to-back big double doubles. Admittedly, his form, and his minutes, have dropped off since November, when he was one of the hottest adds in the world of fantasy basketball.
But Plumlee remains the starting center for one of the most entertaining and surprising teams in the NBA. Over the last week, he has started to contribute to the box score again averaging 6.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. Those sort of numbers are useful in 12 team leagues and even in 10 team leagues, particularly if you are lacking in big man numbers.
There seems to be no real competition for his starting job, with the Suns using Len cautiously and liking using the Morris twins off the bench. While a lot of people have been casting Plumlee aside, an astute fantasy owner (and if you’re reading this, you qualify as that) will grab him and see what he can give your team in the second half of the season.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
» Steve Blake, PG, Los Angeles Lakers (6.9 percent owned):
0 points (0-2 FG, 0-0 FT), 0 three-pointers, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 2 turnover vs. Timberwolves
At first glance, zero points is not an ideal number to look at in the box score. But if you look beyond the fact that Blake didn’t hit either of his two field goal attempts, you’ll realise that that isn’t the important take home point from this game.
What is important, is the fact that Blake started in his first game back. After having missed six weeks with an elbow ligament tear, coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t hesitate in going straight back to Blake, despite the form of Kendall Marshall in his absence. Blake even suffered a burst eardrum in the first half of his return and still played 30 minutes. Marshall only played 20 minutes, while fellow injury returnee Steve Nash only played 24 minutes.
Nash will sit out back-to-backs for the foreseeable future, further boosting Blake’s ability to contribute to your fantasy team. Once Blake gets his game back in full swing, owners will be scurrying to nab him off the wire, so I’d suggest making the pre-emptive move and adding him now and watching him bloom.