Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The Charlotte Bobcats’ Josh McRoberts has been playing at a very high level all year, but he hasn’t been able to pique the interest of fantasy owners yet.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like McRoberts and the Utah Jazz’s Jeremy Evans.
»Josh McRoberts, PF, Charlotte Bobcats (3.1 percent owned on ESPN.com)
9 points (3-4 FG, 0-0 FT), 3 three-pointers, 2 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover vs Mavericks.
There aren’t many guys in the league who look less like an NBA player than Josh McRoberts. If he wasn’t 6’10”, you’d be forgiven for confusing him for your local barista. But ignore the scruffy beard and greasy-looking hair pushed behind his ears and you’ll find a fantasy diamond in the rough.
Perhaps surprisingly, McRoberts was named the opening day starter for the Bobcats, over number four overall draft pick Cody Zeller. McRoberts has held that job all season, missing only one game back in November.
On the surface, McRoberts’ statistics may not seem all that impressive. Only looking at the surface is for losers! McRoberts is Basketball Monster.com’s number 85 player for the entire season, playing just a tick over 30 minutes per contest. In those games, he is averaging 8.9 points, 1.9 three-pointers, 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 0.9 steals.
The scoring isn’t impressive, McRoberts’ doubters will say. True. But look at the assists! Those sort of passing numbers are usually reserved for guards. In fact, McRoberts is the third most prolific assist-man among players who are eligible at power forward or center. The only players with more assists per game in terms of big men are LeBron James (6.5 per game) and Joakim Noah (4.3 per game).
Kevin Love and Blake Griffin have been lauded this season for their ability to pass and get assists from the power forward position, but their numbers don’t stack up to McRoberts.
Assists are usually concentrated among point guards and there are only 30 of those starting in the NBA. Being able to get over four dimes a game off the waiver-wire and plug them in at power forward is great for fantasy flexibility and your championship aspirations.
Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
»Jeremy Evans, SF, Utah Jazz (0.2 percent owned):
14 points (7-10 FG, 0-0 FT), 0 three-pointers, 5 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 0 turnovers vs Lakers.
Most NBA fans would know Jeremy Evans only for his dunking exploits. Which is fair enough considering that this is the first season out of his four in the league in which he has averaged double-digit minutes.
In February, Evans is averaging 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks on 70.6 percent shooting from the field. Those stats are good for 69th on Basketball Monster.com over that time frame.
Even before this nice recent run, Evans was playing fairly solidly. He’s grabbed double digit rebounds in four games and double doubled in two of those. Coach Ty Corbin just doesn’t give him the minutes, that quite frankly I believe, he deserves.
Evans’ PER (a single number derived to determine a ‘overall value, where the league average is 15 – more explanation here) has been 18.8, 19.6, 19.9 and 18.3 (this season) over his four NBA seasons. Those are some impressive numbers. Even more impressive is that he has been able to retain his efficiency when jumping from 5.8 minutes a game last season to 19.2 this season.
If we extrapolate Evans’ stats to per-36 numbers, they look incredible. He’d be averaging 13.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.7 blocks if the Jazz would give him starter’s minutes. If only Corbin had a fading veteran who started at small forward, whom they could jettison in order to give Evans more minutes.
Somewhere in Salt Lake City, Richard Jefferson‘s ears are burning.
Evans should be owned in all 14 team leagues and is useful in 12 team leagues as well, depending on your roster make-up. If he ever starts, I think he’s a must own guy and if also a player to try and grab cheaply in dynasty leagues.