Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
A lot of fantasy owners gave up on the Houston Rockets’ Terrence Jones too early, and you can be the beneficiary by snagging him off the waiver-wire.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Jones and the Orlando Magic’s Maurice Harkless.
» Terrence Jones, PF, Houston Rockets (58.4 percent owned on ESPN.com)
17 points (8-10 FG, 0-2 FT), 1 three-pointer, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers vs Magic.
Terrence Jones was a hot fantasy player during the month of January, and was owned in a big chunk of leagues, but his play fell off precipitously throughout February and consequently found his way back to many a waiver-wire.
From his play in the past three games, you’d have to say that he’s back!
During February, Jones averaged 10.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.8 blocks, but since the calendar has flipped over to March, things are a lot different. In March, Jones has averaged 19.3 points, 11.0 rebounds ad 1.3 blocks, which ranks him 19th on Basketball Monster.com.
In those three March gamers, Jones has notched a double double in each as well as at least one block, while shooting a minimum of 61.5 percent from the field.
I’d been advising to hold onto Jones during the slump as it didn’t look like anyone would challenge him for his starter’s role and if you did stay the course, Jones is paying you off big time now.
But for those of you without Jones on your rosters, he’s still around on a lot of waiver-wires. It’s doubtful there will be many better value options that are floating around, so I’d recommend adding Jones in every league and every format.
Be sure to check out my new podcast, where I discuss things all things fantasy basketball. You can subscribe here or on iTunes here.
» Maurice Harkless, SF, Orlando Magic (33.3 percent owned)
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
15 points (6-10 FG, 1-2 FT), 2 three-pointers, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover vs Rockets.
I was quite high on Mo Harkless in the preseason as a late-round sleeper, but was a little concerned about the minutes crunch that would occur down in Florida. Unfortunately, that minutes crunch was real, with players like Arron Afflalo, Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris all needing minutes on the wing.
Lately, however, Harkless has been back in the starting lineup, playing big minutes and producing some very attractive fantasy lines. He started the five games the Afflalo missed due to his ankle injury and remained in the starting five when Afflalo returned, as Oladipo was forced to sit out on Wednesday.
In those six starts, Harkless is ranked 77th on Basketball Monster.com averaging 12.7 points, 1.5 three-pointers, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks. Impressively, Harkless fits into one of my key indicator categories — guys that average a steal, a block and a three-pointer.
With the sort of form that Harkless has displayed, it wouldn’t surprise me for him to get 30 minutes of game off the bench when Oladipo returns. The Magic may even sit Jameer Nelson more often, letting Oladipo man the point and sliding Harkless back in as the starting three.
Regardless of how they handle their rotation, Harkless should be owned in all 12 team leagues for the time being and you should be able to get a few games worth of value from him, hopefully more.