Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Clippers’ Matt Barnes is enjoying career best form at the moment, and you need to take advantage of that to bolster your fantasy squad.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Barnes and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kent Bazemore.
» Matt Barnes, SF, Los Angeles Clippers (6.0 percent owned on ESPN.com)
28 points (12-17 FG, 0-0 FT), 4 three-pointers, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover vs Suns.
There have been a lot of baffling performances in fantasy basketball this season. The fact theMatt Barnes is currently the ninth ranked player on Basketball Monster.com for the last two weeks is one of the more baffling.
In those two weeks, Barnes has played six games, averaging 17.3 points, 3.3 three-pointers, 5.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals and shooting 58.8 percent from the field and making every free throw he has attempted.
To say that that is an improvement over the rubbish that Jared Dudley was posting when he was the starting small forward is one of the understatements of the season.
Barnes has potentially benefitted from injuries to J.J Redick and Jamal Crawford, but probably not to a huge degree. Those guys are more than likely to be playing exclusively in the backcourt, whereas Barnes has been making himself at home at the three.
So what does the future hold for Barnes? With Danny Granger now donning the Clippers’ uniform, there have been some whispers that Granger may move into a platoon with Barnes or even become the outright starter. I don’t see that happening.
If people haven’t realised, Granger is no longer a top player in this league. Injuries have robbed him of a lot of his talent, almost reminiscent of Brandon Roy‘s final seasons. The Clippers really like what Barnes is giving them as he is a solid contributor at both ends of the court.
It’s highly doubtful that Barnes retains top 10 value for the remainder of the season, but there’s absolutely no reason he can’t be a top 60 player down the stretch. The Clippers are clicking and Barnes is a key piece to their success.
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» Kent Bazemore, SG, Los Angeles Lakers (50.4 percent owned)
Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
23 points (8-17 FG, 3-4 FT), 4 three-pointers, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover vs Pelicans.
As I mentioned on page one, there have been some baffling moments in fantasy basketball this season. Another of those is the fact that Kent Bazemore is one of the hottest players at the present time.
Bazemore made his name more for his wild, bench celebrations in his year and a half in Golden State than for anything he did on the court. Last season with the Warriors, Bazemore averaged 4.4 minutes of court time. Since arriving in Los Angeles, he has started six of seven games getting an average of 32.8 minutes of court time.
Mike D’Antoni must have seen something in him, because he’s proven he can play in this league. He’s scored in double digits in all seven games in a Lakers uniform, averaging 16.9 points, 2.3 three-pointers and 1.6 steals.
Don’t be too blinded by the scoring though. In those seven games, Bazemore is ranked as only the 118th best player in fantasy on Basketball Monster.com.
He is definitely a must-own player in all leagues of ten teams or larger, but don’t make an impulsive move and drop someone who can have more value.