Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
It could be time to declare the San Antonio Spurs’ Danny Green as officially back.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Green and the Brooklyn Nets’ Andray Blatche.
» Danny Green, SG/SF, San Antonio Spurs (41.7 percent owned on ESPN.com)
16 points (5-9 FG, 3-3 FT), 3 three-pointers, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers vs Trail Blazers.
If I was naming a Mount Rushmore of fantasy disappointments in the first three months of the season, Danny Green would have had his face chiselled into the granite almost immediately.
But a funny thing happened. Green broke his hand and was forced to miss three weeks of action. I don’t know what transpired in that lay-off, but something clicked back into place for the former Tar Heel. He has returned to the Spurs’ lineup looking more and more like the guy who broke the NBA finals’ record for most made three-pointers last summer.
Sure enough, the injury to rising star Kawhi Leonard has helped Green get more minutes. Even though Leonard is due back, most likely for the Spurs next game on Friday, the injury to Tony Parker should keep Green getting over 30 minutes per night.
In most drafts, Danny Green was drafted in and around the ninth round and that’s exactly where his season-long ranking places him. On Basketball Monster.com, Green is the 92nd ranked player for the entire season, which belies just how disappointing his early season production was.
That looks to be a thing of the past, with his eight games since returning from the hand injury being stellar on the whole. Aside from a couple of duds against the Bobcats and the Pistons, Green has put up fantastic stats. In those eight games, Green has averaged 11.0 points, 2.1 three-pointers, 5.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.4 blocks.
What really stands out are the three-pointers, steals and blocks. Green has now joined the Lakers’ Wesley Johnson as one of only two players averaging over one steal, one block and one made three-pointer. To be able to get that amount of blocks from a shooting guard is invaluable and teamed with elite shooting from deep, Green has become a must-own player in all fantasy formats
Jim O
» Andray Blatche, PF/C, Brooklyn Nets (16.8 percent owned):
25 points (11-20 FG, 3-4 FT), 0 three-pointers, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover vs Jazz.
Andray Blatche will forever hold a special place in my heart. As a member of one of the most unintentionally funny professional sports rosters of all time in Washington, Blatche was the player that I added to my roster mid-season and drove me to my first ever fantasy basketball championship.
After getting amnestied by the Wizards, Blatche was so angry with the organisation that he opted to sign with the Nets for a minimum contract. He did this so that the Wizards would have to keep paying him the rest of his contract and not have it reduced by a new contract he signed.
ESPN’s Ryen Russillo sums him up best by using the moniker “Andray Blatche, FOOL!”
One thing we don’t really care about in the realm of fantasy basketball is knuckleheadedness (is that even a word? It is now!)
When Brook Lopez went down with a broken foot again, it was assumed that Blatche would take over the starting center role and become a 15 & 8 type of player. But that didn’t eventuate during the first month. He couldn’t find his stride and Jason Kidd didn’t play him as the starter, preferring to keep him playing as the first big man off the bench.
This all happened in the middle of the Nets’ imploding and looking like one of the worst teams in basketball. But as the Nets found their identity, playing a small-ball lineup, Blatche has found his groove as the Nets best big man, regardless of his in-game status.
Over the last month, Basketball Monster.com ranks Blatche as the number 57 player in fantasy with averages of 13.3 points, 4.6 reounds and 1.3 steals with 51.9 field goal percentage and an impressive 78.6 percent from the charity stripe.
You can’t go past Blatche as a waiver-wire add at the moment and I’m confident he will retain this value for the remainder of the season.