Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
I, along with many others, thought the San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili was finished at the end of last year’s NBA Finals. But Manu had other ideas.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Ginobili and the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green.
» Manu Ginobili, SG, San Antonio Spurs (66.6 percent owned on ESPN.com)
22 points (9-11 FG, 0-0 FT), 4 three-pointers, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover vs Bulls.
If you watched any of the NBA finals last June, the Manu Ginobili you saw, was a shell of his former self. Consequently, I steered well clear of Ginobili in all of my fantasy drafts in October, thinking that his role as part of the Spurs’ “Big Three” was over.
Fast-forward to March, and Ginobili is the 78th ranked player in fantasy basketball according to Basketball Monster.com. More impressively, his rank jumps to 33rd if we narrow our focus to the last two weeks of action.
In those two weeks, Ginobili is averaging 15.6 points, 2.0 three-pointers and 5.3 assists on 55.7 percent shooting from the field and 89.5 percent from the line. What’s even more amazing about these numbers, is that he is registering all that fantasy goodness in just 23.5 minutes per game.
Now, we know that Ginobili is somewhat frail, so fingers crossed he doesn’t miss any more time. He already missed eight games at the beginning of February, so perhaps that’s the extent of his injury problems of this year. We can only hope.
In the last two games, Ginobili has totalled 46 points with six three-pointers and six assists and with the way he’s continuing to play, he should be 100 percent owned. He’s not at the moment, so have a quick peek on your waiver-wire to see if Manu is available. If he is, you know what to do.
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Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
» Draymond Green, SF, Golden State Warriors (1.4 percent owned)
6 points (2-4 FG, 0-0 FT), 2 three-pointers, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 2 turnovers vs Mavericks.
It’s hard to recommend a guy playing on the Warriors’ bench as a fantasy viable option, but that’s what Draymond Green is quietly becoming.
Throughout the season, Golden State has been a team that has relied heavily on their starting five and guys playing off the bench have been little more than an afterthought. Over the last two or three weeks, coach Mark Jackson has started spreading the rotation slightly, probably prompted by injuries to Andrew Bogut and David Lee.
In fact, over the last month, Green is the 44th ranked player in nine category leagues on Basketball Monster.com. You may think that is laughable, but Green is a guy who contributes in the smaller, less noticeable categories.
In the last month, Green is averaging 7.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.0 blocks and only 1.1 turnovers. He’s obviously not going to be a big help in the points category, but where he does excel is defensively. Steals and blocks are not easy to acquire and Green gets them both — and does it consistently.
Prior to the game against Phoenix on Sunday, Green has swiped a steal in 11 straight games and after putting up a goose egg against the Suns, got it back going with three against the Mavericks on Tuesday.
If anything was to happen in the Warriors’ frontcourt, such as an injury to Lee or Bogut, Green is a good chance to get a start. He’s started five games already this year and in those games, he notched two double doubles — the first of his career.
At the moment, Green is a solid add in any league 14 teams or deeper, but if you are desperate for steals and blocks and don’t mind the hit in points, I can see Green being very valuable in 12 team leagues.