RADIO
We're roughly a quarter of the way into the NBA regular season, and one third of the way to the playoffs on the fantasy basketball calendar. The waiver wire is filled with veteran guards looking to remind people why they get all the big bucks. There are three old faces in new places that are starting to fill up the stat sheet and justify their big time free agent contracts. All three have had slow starts to the season or have been dealing with injuries but are starting to come on as the season is almost one fourth of the way over. Oh, and there's also a 76er.
Be sure to check out RotoBaller's other Week 7 NBA coverage, including our Week 7 Waiver Wire Forwards and Week 7 Waiver Wire Centers.
Position Eligibility & Ownership Rate Based on Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Player List
NBA Week 7 Waiver Wire: Guards
Lou Williams (LAL, PG/SG) 47% Owned
Congratulations to Kobe Bryant on one of the greatest careers in NBA history! Now, to celebrate, let's all watch you have one of the worst seasons of any player in NBA history and we'll all just kinda pretend it's not happening. Well, there are some people on the Lakers who have to get rebounds for Kobe and pass him the ball so he can airmail it over the backboard. One of those players is Lou Williams who has had a very good two week stretch during the Bryant retirement tour. Williams is fully healthy and has been contributing a solid 33 minutes a game and averaging 16.8 points on 46% shooting over the last 14 days. Lou is a scorer and three point shot maker that should be at the end of most benches. As long as the Black Mamba keeps putting up shot after shot Williams will be in a comfortable spot as Kobe's relief for chucking up nonsense. Last year's sixth man of the year has found his home as the team's second scoring guard and should only get more chances as the year goes on and Kobe's legs slowly disintegrate into nothing.
Arron Afflalo (NYK, SG) 50% Owned
Afflalo has shown that he can be a consistent scorer in the league during his time in Denver and Orlando. As the Knicks have begun settling on a rotation, Afflalo has emerged as the most reliable scoring option not named Carmelo Anthony or Kristaps Porzingis. In the 13 games Afflalo has played this season, he's averaging 13.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.2 three pointers made. He is doing this while shooting 48% from the field, 35% from three, and 71% from the charity stripe. What makes Afflalo really appealing is that the pressure for him to score will be consistent without the team needing to fully rely on him. As a third scoring option he fits perfectly and should keep up, if not improve, most of his stats as the season goes on. He will be owned by a lot more than 50% of fantasy players by the season's end.
Jeremy Lin (CHA, PG/SG) 31% Owned
Lin is only averaging 10 points on the season with a little under three rebounds and assists. He has gotten 20-28 minutes every night with a steady rotation between Lin, Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb proving productive for the Bobcats. I don't expect much more from Lin than what he's already doing. While usually his numbers wouldn't merit fantasy consideration in standard leagues, his consistency and role are something to keep an eye on. Ever since "Linsanity," Jeremy has actually put together a decent career as a scoring guard off the bench. If he can get back up to 12-14 points a game then he is a must-have guard but until then he should be watched closely.
Hollis Thompson(PHI, SG/SF) 7% Owned
Okay, please don't punch me for suggesting this, but Thompson has been decent for the last two weeks. Usually his low production and scary shooting percentages make Thompson a non-thought when it comes to fantasy or regular basketball. But with 11.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.1 three pointers made over his last 10 games while shooting 44% from the field and 68% from the free throw line, Thompson has upgraded his status from scary to intriguing. This 76ers team is a tire fire inside a dumpster fire but people keep putting up points for them and those points count. If Thompson can put together another week of good shooting and decent production, he might be worth a flier in extremely deep leagues.
