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Fantasy Basketball: Marcus Smart And Mason Plumlee Head Thin Waiver Wire

By Robert Moodispaugh

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With a full day of NBA games on Christmas, here are the best additions for this week in fantasy basketball. One thing to mention: I had Shabazz Muhammad on this list last week. His addition is even more valuable with the trade of Corey Brewer to the Houston Rockets.

*All league ownerships are courtesy of ESPN.com

Marcus Smart (Bos PG, 14.3% of leagues): The future is now in Boston as they traded the last member of their 2008 championship team, Rajon Rondo, to the Dallas Mavericks. The Celtics will most likely struggle without him, but the door has opened for the rookie out of Oklahoma State. Avery Bradley has had some experience at the point guard position, but I think head coach Brad Stevens wants to see what Smart can do and will thus use Bradley at shooting guard. In his first career start on Sunday, Smart certainly struggled, only putting up 3 points (1-4 shooting), but did add some versatility with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal. With the Celtics in a rebuilding process, it could be Smart’s job to lose at this point as that 10-15 record doesn’t appear to be getting better any time soon. A starting point guard is a valuable asset in fantasy basketball, and if Smart can build off Sunday’s performance, he’ll be worth an addition in all leagues.

Mason Plumlee (Bkn PF/C, 23.0% of leagues): Plumlee has had a quiet start to his career playing behind Brook Lopez and Kevin Garnett, but an injury to Lopez has allowed Plumlee to start at center for seven of the eleven games in December. In those games, he and Garnett have pounded the glass, both averaging over 8 boards per game. Plumlee has had over 20 points in three of the last four games, and owns 3 double-doubles since December 12. Lopez could be close to returning from injury, thus decreasing Plumlee’s value. But the Nets are having an extremely disappointing season, and have already asked around the league about dealing point guard Deron Williams. I wouldn’t be surprised if that attitude carries over to other players like Joe Johnson and possibly Lopez. If that happens, the Nets will turn to their younger players.

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Rudy Gobert (Uta C, 8.7% of leagues): Gobert is a surprising name on this list, especially considering that starting center Enes Kanter has played and started in all 28 of Utah’s games this year. Where I see Gobert playing a role is in points leagues because of his 63.9 shooting percentage and high rebound rate. In his last six games, Gobert has had 9 or more rebounds in five of them. On the season, he also leads the team in blocks with a respectable 1.75 per game. Do not expect a lot of offensive production out of this guy as he only averages 5.8 points per game.

Harrison Barnes (GS SF, 41.0% of leagues): A commonly overlooked piece of Golden State’s offense, Barnes still plays a key role. Obviously Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are going to lead the charge and even Draymond Green is having a breakout year. But despite being wildly inconsistent, Barnes still gets his shots and has scored double digits in seven of nine games in December. Additionally, with the injury to Andrew Bogut, there are a lot of extra rebounds to be had out there. The Warriors love to run a small lineup that sometimes features Barnes at power forward, and he surprisingly has averaged 6.9 rebounds in that nine-game span.

Guys I would be comfortable dropping/trading: Lance Stephenson (Cha SG, 75.3% of leagues); Reggie Jackson (OKC PG, 68.3% of leagues); Josh Smith (FA SF/PF, 89.0% of leagues) (I would trade Smith. He’s shooting a career-low 39.1% from the field. Current rumors have him landing with the Clippers, Rockets, or Mavericks and I don’t think he will have as prominent of a role on any of those teams)

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