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It’s safe to say that the San Antonio Spurs’ Patty Mills was a fantasy afterthought at the beginning of the season, but not for too much longer.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Mills and the Houston Rockets’ Patrick Beverley.
» Patty Mills, PG, San Antonio Spurs (4.1 percent owned on ESPN.com)
32 points (10-13 FG, 8-9 FT), 4 three-pointers, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 2 turnovers vs Bobcats.
Before I start, I’ll lay out all potential biases on the table. Patty Mills is an Aussie. I, too, hail from Australia. In no way does that cloud my opinion of the greatest point guard to ever grace the NBA (sentence may contain traces of hyperbole.)
All jokes aside though, Mills has been on absolute tear lately, taking full advantage of the extra minutes granted to him with the injuries to Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and now Marco Belinelli. In his past four games, Mills has played 22.4 minutes per contest, averaging 19 points, 2.8 three-pointers, 4.3 reounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals. He has also shot 54.3 percent from the field and 93.8 percent from the line.
According to Basketball Monster.com’s rankings, that ranks Mills as the 19th player in fantasy basketball. But don’t be fooled into thinking all of his production is coming due to the injuries. In the last month, he is ranked 52nd and is actually ranked 117th for the entire season, meaning he should be owned in a lot more than the 4.1 percent of leagues in which he is currently owned.
Coach Gregg Popovich obviously trusts Mills as the man scoring option in the bench unit, a role which he has fulfilled admirably this season. Apart from the scoring and three-pointers, Mills is also a nice source of boards, particularly for a point guard. In his past three games, he has had a seven rebound and a six rebound game.
If you are looking for a bump to your team’s scoring and three-pointers, there’s barely anyone I’d recommend higher than the boy from Canberra.
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
»Patrick Beverley, PG, Houston Rockets (5.8 percent owned):
15 points (6-12 FG, 0-0 FT), 3 three-pointers, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 0 turnovers vs Bucks.
Much like the other Patrick in this article, Patrick Beverley is a must own guy, yet no-one seems to realise it. At the beginning of the season, when Kevin McHale announced that Beverley would be the Rockets’ starter at point guard, every fantasy player was snapping Beverley off the wire or drafting him in the latter rounds of drafts.
But as he faltered out of the gate, then missed a month due to a broken hand, the NBA’s injury du jour, Beverley was dropped like a hot potato.
Since his return, McHale had no hesitation in re-inserting him in the stating lineup, and he’s been extremely productive. In the nine games since he returned, Beverley is ranked 62nd on Basketball Monster.com, but has gotten even better as he settled back into the lineup.
In the past two weeks, Beverley has averaged 9.0 points, 1.8 three-pointers, 4.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.8 blocks. The rebounds and blocks are particularly impressive for a point guard and that is the strength of Beverley’s game.
The best example of a typical Beverley game, came on February 1st against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Beverley went scoreless, but pulled down 10 boards, handed out eight assists, blocked a shot and had five steals. Incredible numbers!
If you are sitting pretty in the points category, Beverley is a must-own, as we will touch every other category, a rarity for a man playing the one.