Fantasy Basketball: Top Waiver-Wire Adds for Saturday, April 5th
By Josh Lloyd
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
With Dwyane Wade bugged by injuries all season, there is a new member of the fantasy ‘big three’ in Miami. It’s time to welcome Mario Chalmers to the group.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Chalmers and the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green.
» Mario Chalmers, PG, Miami Heat (40.8 percent owned on ESPN.com)
24 points (7-14 FG, 8-10 FT), 2 three-pointers, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block vs Timberwolves.
I’ve been very high on Mario Chalmers all season long. It’s just that it’s taken the rest of the fantasy world a while to catch on.
But now is the time to take advantage of this subtle changing of the fantasy guard in Miami, where Chalmers is becoming more than a sidekick and is filling in admirably for a beaten down Dwyane Wade.
Chalmers has been the unquestioned starter at point guard all season, but for some reason, he has never caught the imagination of fantasy owners as a whole. I think a lot of that comes down to the fact that Chalmers is not much of a scorer. Over the course of the season, Chalmers is only averaging 9.7 points a game.
His value to fantasy owners comes from the other categories — steals, three-pointers and assists. But with Wade missing seven of the last eight games, Chalmers has taken his game to another level.
Since returning from his own quad injury, Chalmers has been fantastic. In the last three games, Chalmers has averaged 16.7 points, 2.3 three-pointers, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 56.7 percent from the field. Those numbers rank Chalmers as the 28th best player in fantasy over the last week on Basketball Monster.com.
So what are you waiting for? Chalmers is on the type of hot streak that can win a team a fantasy championship. Just make sure he wins it for your team and not your opponent.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
» Draymond Green, SF, Golden State Warriors (2.6 percent owned)
10 points (4-11 FG, 0-0 FT), 2 three-pointers, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks vs Kings.
Draymond Green has been thriving of late for the Golden State Warriors. With regular frontcourt starters David Lee and Andrew Bogut both out injured, Green has taken full advantage of the extra playing time afforded to him.
But in reality, the uptick in minutes Green is experiencing isn’t enough to be the only reason for the improvement in play.
What seems to be happening, is that coach Mark Jackson is trusting Green a whole lot more, over the woefully under-performing Harrison Barnes.
That means that Green is being given the opportunity to put up bigger numbers on both ends of the court. Over the last month, Green is averaging 8.6 points, 0.9 three-pointers, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks. That places Green as the 55th ranked player in fantasy over that time frame on Basketball Monster.com for nine category leagues. Green is obviously, a massive help in the key defensive categories — steals and blocks and they could be the key to many fantasy matchups.
With Lee and Bogut’s injury statuses still up in the air, Green probably still has a few more starts in him and even if he doesn’t, his value should be high enough to retain value in all fantasy leagues.