Fansided

Fantasy Basketball: Tristan Thompson Thriving with Anderson Varejao Out

By Robert Moodispaugh

facebooktwitterreddit

The NBA season is rolling along, and this week features something rare: the best addition of the season that should be owned in 100% of leagues.

*All ownership percentages are courtesy of ESPN.com

Tristan Thompson (Cle PF, 46.1% of leagues): Since Anderson Varejao went down with an Achilles injury, all Thompson has done is produce four double-doubles and six double-digit-rebound games. In my own personal league, I added Thompson as soon as I heard about Varejao’s injury based on his statistics from last year (11.7 PPG and 9.2 RPG in 82 games). I was a little hesitant about Thompson taking into account Cleveland’s offseason additions of LeBron James and Kevin Love, but with some chemistry struggles, the Cavaliers still produce a ton of rebounds. Thompson is currently tied for fourth in the league in offensive rebounds per game, which obviously leads to a lot of easy put-backs. I’d like to see him improve in blocks (only 0.9 per game in 2014), but that is not enough to devalue him. Just note that since Varejao’s injury, Thompson has not once played less than 37 minutes. He thrives in points leagues with a good field goal percentage (.541) and his consistent rebounding is the reason why I’m dubbing Thompson the most valuable addition of the ’14/’15 season.

Zaza Pachulia (Mil C, 7.8% of leagues): After Thompson, there is a huge dropoff. Obviously Zaza Pachulia is not a household name in the NBA, but right now, he’s efficient. He’s not a huge offensive threat, but puts up some respectable rebound numbers (8.7 per game in his last ten games). What makes Pachulia a little more interesting is the report that Larry Sanders may be walking away from basketball for “personal reasons.” If that is true, Pachulia will only really be competing with John Henson for playing time, and I’ve always thought of Henson as more of a power forward. Additionally, the Bucks love to run small lineups. I say that with a grain of salt as technically, Giannis Antetokounmpo is still 6’11”! But with Khris Middleton moving down to power forward, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pachulia steadily increasing minutes as the season moves along.

More from Fantasy

Marreese Speights (GS PF/C, 22.6% of leagues): Speights has an extremely odd line of stats. He is currently third on the team in scoring (12.6) while being seventh in minutes (17.9). With Andrew Bogut’s injury, the Warriors have gone with a platoon down low as Speights, David Lee, and even Festus Ezeli have seen significant playing time. Lee has only played seven games this season as he is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained in the preseason. Draymond Green has had a career year and has been starting at the power forward position, so if head coach Steve Kerr decides to incorporate Lee more into the offense, Speights could be seeing more of the bench than the hardwood. But if you’re on a week-to-week basis, Speights could be beneficial for the time being.

Jodie Meeks (Det SG, 20.2% of leagues): Just a little fun fact for you: the Pistons are 5-0 since waiving Josh Smith. Meeks is relatively new on the scene as he missed most of the season, only making his 2014 debut on December 12. Unfortunately for Meeks, he is behind the shooting guard of the future in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who just so happens to average the most minutes on the team (31.7). But Meeks averages a respectable 24.1. With Meeks, you’re definitely playing with fire. He’s a three-point specialist, which means his owners will live and die by the three. He’s made at least 3 three-pointers four times this season, and they definitely account for his best games on the season. Three-point shooters are also beneficial for opening the floor for teammates, so expect a rise for guys like Brandon Jennings and Andre Drummond as well.

Trey Burke (Uta PG, 44.2% of leagues): The Jazz are different than most teams in that they use their big men a lot. Following Alec Burks’ season-ending injury, behind Burke and Gordon Hayward, no other guard is averaging over 20 minutes or 5.0 points per game. Dante Exum is the closest to breaking those categories, so expect a slight increase in his production with Burks gone. Burke certainly is not an elite point guard, but on a bad team someone has to support Hayward. He leads the team in assists, but that’s not saying much at only 5.1 per game. Where I become more interested in Burke is that he averages 12.5 shots per game, which is less than a shot behind Hayward. He is unbelievably inconsistent. For example, he shot 2-19 on January 2, but proceeded to shoot 10-16 on January 3. He’s one of the only options they have, and if he can find his shot, look out.

Guys I would be comfortable dropping or trading: Josh Smith (Hou PF, 81.1% of leagues); Jordan Hill (LAL PF/C, 61.3% of leagues); Trevor Ariza (Hou SF, 80.3% of leagues)

Next: Should I Add John Henson?

More from FanSided

Home/Fantasy