Fantasy Basketball: Top Waiver-Wire Adds for Wednesday, April 2nd
By Josh Lloyd
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Once again, an injury replacement blows up the box score and if the Houston Rockets’ Omer Asik can replicate his performance from Tuesday night, he’ll be the key to a lot of fantasy matchups.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Asik and Shaun Livingston of the Brooklyn Nets.
» Omer Asik, C, Houston Rockets (44.7 percent owned on ESPN.com)
12 points (5-8 FG, 2-6 FT), 0 three-pointers, 23 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks vs Nets.
If there was ever a game to showcase just how productive Omer Asik can be when he is the featured big man, this was it. With Dwight Howard sidelined with an ankle issue, Asik harkened back to last season, when he was a must-own fantasy player.
Obviously, this season things haven’t gone to plan for the big Turk. With Howard in town, Asik has been reduced to a reserve role. Coach Kevin McHale tried playing a twin towers lineup, but it didn’t work at all and Asik was banished to the bench. He also sulked around, complained about his role, demanded to be traded and all in all, the first four months of the season were a complete waste. Throw in the injuries he suffered, and if you drafted him, it was basically a waste of a pick.
But now, unchallenged in the frontcourt, Asik has stormed back into fantasy relevance. He has now double doubled in back-to-back games starting in lace of Howard, including the monster 23 rebound performance against the Nets.
It was initially reported over the weekend that Howard would be out ten days and while that hasn’t been confirmed, it’s our only point of reference at this stage.
Asik is a great source of rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage, but kills your free throw percentage. You must take that into account when picking hm up. If you are in need of assists or steals, obviously, Asik is not a must-own for you. But his ability to grab big numbers of rebounds and block shots, makes him a great option for a lot of teams.
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Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
» Shaun Livingston, PG/SG, Brooklyn Nets (15.2 percent owned)
17 points (6-12 FG, 5-6 FT), 0 three-pointers, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block vs Rockets.
Livingston is the 55th ranked player in fantasy over the last month on Basketball Monster.com and yet he is only owned in 15 percent of leagues. Something doesn’t add up to me.
In the last month, he has averaged 10.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 steals, shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 84.2 percent from the line. Those aren’t going to blow you away, but they are extremely solid. Of particular note are the percentages. For a guy who is point guard eligible to shoot over 50 percent from the field is as rare as hen’s teeth.
Add in his ability to grab boards from the one and his elite steal rate and Livingston becomes a guy who can definitely help your fantasy team.
The Nets have thrived with Livingston playing in the backcourt next to Deron Williams and there is no reason for coach Jason Kidd to move away from that lineup, meaning Livingston is going to have a big of allotment of minutes for the duration of the campaign.
In the fantasy playoffs, you need to go with who is producing and Livingston fits that bill perfectly.