Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Danny Green is back from his broken hand and with the San Antonio Spurs’ forced into starting a backcourt of Nando De Colo and Cory Joseph, the opportunity for him to put up NBA finals-like numbers has never been better.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Green and fellow Spur Marco Belinelli for deeper leagues.
» Danny Green, SG/SF, San Antonio Spurs (41.3 percent owned on ESPN.com)
17 points (6-11 FG, 2-2 FT), 3 three-pointers, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers vs. Nets.
It’s been an odd season for Danny Green, particularly in terms of fantasy production. As a guy who broke out in last year’s NBA finals, hitting 27 three-pointers in the seven games setting a NBA record in the process, Green was expected to be a solid fantasy contributor this season.
That’s not what has happened so far. For the season, Green is averaging 8.0 points, 1.6 three-pointers, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks. They aren’t horrible numbers, but the scoring has been missing all year disappointing most of his owners.
Interestingly enough, after I spoke about Wesley Johnson being the only player in the NBA to average one steal, one block and one three-pointer yesterday, Green had two blocks against the Nets to put him into that rarefied statistical air.
Since returning from his broken hand, which forced him to miss three weeks, Green has been the 16th ranked player on Basketball Monster.com, averaging 15.3 points, 3.0 three-pointers, 7.3 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.7 blocks. That’s an awesome output in anyone’s language.
With Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili out for an extended time and now Tony Parker is battling through back issues, Green will be called upon to play bigger minutes and shoulder a larger role offensively. Even when he wasn’t scoring, Green should’ve been owned, but with the form he’s in now, it’s a no-brainer.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
»Marco Belinelli, SG, San Antonio Spurs (6.4 percent owned):
12 points (4-6 FG, 3-4 FT), 1 three-pointer, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover vs. Nets.
As with Danny Green, Marco Belinelli has a great opportunity in the coming weeks with the injuries to Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili. He will continue getting 30 minutes a game for the foreseeable future while those players are out and that is a great indicator for fantasy value.
Belinelli hasn’t been special, nor spectacular, but one thing he has been is solid. He’s scored in double figures 16 of the past 19 games, but has only gone over 20 points once in that time frame. That is reliable for fantasy purposes.
For the entire season, Belinelli is averaging 11.0 points, 1.5 three-pointers and 2.1 assists, while shooting 50.2 percent from the field. That’s good for 132nd in the NBA, which puts him on the border of 10 team leagues, but he is a must-own in leagues of 12 teams or larger. His 6.4 percent ownership shows me that that isn’t the case and you should take advantage of a solid shooting guard who can contribute on a regular basis.