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It would have been hard to imagine a scenario in the pre-season where Henry Sims was a fantasy relevant player. But since becoming a member of Philadelphia 76ers, Sims is becoming just that.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Sims and the fellow Sixer, James Anderson.
» Henry Sims, C, Philadelphia 76ers (0.0 percent owned on ESPN.com)
20 points (5-12 FG, 10-11 FT), 0 three-pointers, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers vs Kings.
A tanking team sure makes for some odd fantasy contributors. Sorry, tanking is not a word the NBA likes hearing. A team “planning for the future”. And with the Sixers doing some serious planning, minutes have opened up for an eclectic array of basketballers.
If you had heard of Henry Sims before this season, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that you are basketball freak. In his rookie season of 2012-13, Sims went undrafted and managed two games for a whopping total of five minutes for the then New Orleans Hornets.
Sims played four years of college ball at Georgetown and bounced around D-League teams and Summer league rosters before signing that 10-day contract with the Hornets in March 2013.
In this pre-season, Sims signed with the Cavaliers to be the third center behind Anderson Varejao and Andrew Bynum, but since he was traded to Philadelphia in exchange for Spencer Hawes, he’s assumed the mantel of the starting center. And he’s actually played really, really well.
Would you believe that in the last two weeks, Sims is the 87th ranked player in fantasy basketball on Basketball Monster.com? In those six games, Sims has averaged 10.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals, 1.0 blocks and is shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 82.8 percent from the foul line.
Against the Kings, Sims posted his first career double double, notching career highs in points, rebounds and steals and also played the second most minutes of his short career. Everything is looking up for Sims as he continues to learn and improve and now is a great time to make a speculative add in you 12 team league as there’s no-one who is going to challenge him for the starting job in Philadelphia, or so it seems.
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Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
» James Anderson, SG/SF, Philadelphia 76ers (3.7 percent owned)
17 points (6-12 FG, 0-0 FT), 5 three-pointers, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover vs Kings.
I’ve been high on Anderson since before the season kicked off and I actually had him on a couple of standard 10 team league teams. After a couple of months, I cut the cord, but since the trade of Evan Turner to Indiana, Anderson has once again become a must-own player.
He actually regained his starting role back on January 10th, before the trade with the Pacers, but has really ramped things up since Turner vacated the Wells Fargo Center. In the past two weeks, Anderson is the 60th ranked player in nine category leagues on Basketball Monster.com, averaging 14.2 points, 3.0 three-pointers, 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals.
In fact, in his last four games, he’s knocked down 16 three-pointers for a total of 70 points, both insane numbers. Anderson is also a pretty good source of steals and doesn’t hurt your field goal percentage. With the Sixers in fully-blown
tank mode
planning for the future mode, Anderson is going to keep starting and keep hoisting up shots.
You need to take advantage of this new-look Sixers’ roster and add Anderson in all leagues. You can thank me later.