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Thankfully, we have real games to break down with the NBA returning from it’s mid-season break, and the Detroit Pistons’ Kyle Singler is one player who showed us his fantasy chops on Tuesday night.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Singler and the Denver Nuggets’ Evan Fournier.
» Kyle Singler, SF, Detroit Pistons (1.1 percent owned on ESPN.com)
13 points (5-9 FG, 0-0 FT), 3 three-pointers, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover vs. Bobcats
It started six games ago when former coach Mo Cheeks was still behind the wheel in Detroit — and it continued when Cheeks was fired and replaced by interim coach John Loyer. The “it” I am talking about, is the form of second-year player Kyle Singler.
Cheeks chose to replace inefficient rookie Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with Singler as the team’s starting shooting guard and Loyer saw no reason to tinker with the lineup when he took charge.
Since that switch, Singler has been very, very good. He’s averaged 12.0 points, 2.0 three-pointers, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 0.5 blocks in 38.0 minutes as a starter. Those numbers are good enough to rank him No. 94 on Basketball Monster.com over the past two weeks.
The former Duke product has scored in double digits in all six of those games and also has a 20-point, 10-rebound game under his belt from when he was coming off the bench.
The Pistons have been running very heavy with their starting five, with the only real bench minutes going to Rodney Stuckey — and he only played 17 minutes against Charlotte. With the quality of their bench severely lacking, there’s no reason Singler can’t continue to play over 35 minutes a night. I predict he will continue with this amount of run and that makes him a must-own player. He sits higher than Mike Dunleavy and Terrence Ross in my opinion and will be someone you can count on consistently down the stretch.
Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
» Evan Fournier, SG, Denver Nuggets (0.2 percent owned):
25 points (8-19 FG, 6-7 FT), 3 three-pointers, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover vs. Suns
I think it’s safe to say we all have our fantasy crushes. And in saying that, I don’t mean guys you fantasize about! What I’m saying is that everyone has a couple of players that they like way more than everyone else — someone they really root for to get minutes and play well. I have a few of those. I really like Kevin Seraphin of the Washington Wizards. For the past three to four season, I’ve always kept my eye on Arron Afflalo‘s performances and this year he’s proven me right to some degree. But my number one “fantasy crush” by far is the young Frenchman in Denver — Evan Fournier.
Ever since hearing about Fournier at the start of last season and then seeing him in action in the latter half of the Nuggets’ campaign, he’s been my guy. I don’t know what it is. Maybe I’m drawn in by the unusual jersey number (it’s 94). Maybe it’s the fact he looks like he’s 16 and should be working at McDonald’s. But the main reason is that when he’s given the chance, he produces.
With Ty Lawson out, Fournier has been playing some big minutes, albeit off the bench. In the last two games, he’s played 32.0 minutes, scoring 19.0 points, hitting 2.0 three-pointers, grabbing 6.5 rebounds and nabbing 1.0 steal per contest.
Those are some fantastic numbers.
Obviously, Lawson being out helped him get that playing time and when he returns he will drop back to around 20 minutes. But keep in mind, he should be the team’s number three guard moving forward, playing behind Lawson and Randy Foye.
If we look at the two games he played when Foye was out — one of them a start — he averaged 18.5 points with 3.0 three-pointers and 5.5 assists.
Once again, those are some fantastic numbers.
Lawson will probably miss at least one more game, so Fournier is a great guy to add for the short term, but after Ty is back, Fournier is probably only a consideration in 14-team leagues.
But as soon as anything happens to Lawson or Foye, make Fournier your top priority.