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It’s around this time of year that players tend to come out of nowhere and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Gorgui Dieng is fitting the bill perfectly.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Dieng and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Dorell Wright.
» Gorgui Dieng, C, Minnesota Timberwolves (5.9 percent owned on ESPN.com)
22 points (6-16 FG, 10-11 FT), 0 three-pointers, 21 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks, 0 turnovers vs Rockets.
I think it goes without saying that the game against the Houston Rockets contained a number of career highs for Gorgui Dieng. (Sidenote: ‘goes without saying’ is an odd phrase, because it is invariably followed the exact statement which should have gone without saying).
Dieng, who was the 21st pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, has been a revelation since starting at center for an injured Nikola Pekovic. That is definitely not a sentence I thought I’d be writing at any stage this season.
Pekovic has struggled over the last six weeks with ankle injuries — in fact he’s had ankle injuries over the course of his entire NBA career. After missing 13 games in late January-February, Pekovic returned to the court on March 1st and played the next seven games without any issue. But following his last game on Friday against Charlotte, Pekovic as seen icing his ankle heavily and it later came out he was still having trouble with the injury that had bothered him earlier this year.
Consequently, Pekovic has missed the past three games.
Enter Gorgui Dieng.
The only way to describe what Dieng has done is his first three career starts is outstanding. He’s averaged 14.7 points, 14.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.0 blocks in those starts and has shot 57.1 percent from the field. He’s also only had one turnover combined in the three games. Those numbers rank him number 15 overall since March 16th on Basketball Monster.com.
The only doubt that comes into whether you should add Dieng to your roster is what happens when Pekovic returns. Pekovic will clearly be the starter when and if he returns to the lineup. But with Pekovic’s checkered injury history, that return may not happen this weekend, it may not happen next week — heck, it may not happen at all this season.
I think Dieng gets at least one more start, but there is a massive possibility, he is the starter for the next week. Even if he starts only one more game, I think you need to add Dieng in most, if not all leagues, for his ability to put up matchup changing lines.
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» Dorell Wright, SF, Portland Trail Blazers (0.4 percent owned)
15 points (6-11 FG, 0-0 FT), 3 three-pointers, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks, 0 turnovers vs Wizards.
Dorell Wright is another player who is benefitting from an injury to a star player. LaMarcus Aldridge is as big of a star as there is in Portland and while his back injury wasn’t as serious as it could’ve been, he’s now missed the last four games and there is no update on his playing status.
The Blazers have announced that Aldridge will travel on the upcoming five road trip, but made no announcement on if he would play in any of those games. While Aldridge has been out, Wright has started for Portland at power forward in an extreme small-ball lineup.
In the four starts Wright has made due to this latest Aldridge injury, he is the 81st ranked player on Basketball Monster.com. He is averaging 11.0 points, 2.5 three-pointers, 5.0 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks in only 21 minutes a game.
If you are looking for three-pointers and some decent defensive numbers, it’s worth taking a flier on Wright, as you may get another three or four games out of him. Once Aldridge returns, Wright’s value dissipates quite quickly, so if you are going to make the add, do it now.