Week 10 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: NBA Guards

January 2, 2015

In his Week 10 NBA Waiver Wire column, Lou Cappetta focuses on a few guards that could deserve some attention in your fantasy basketball league.

Happy New Year everyone!

As we bring in 2015, it is time to really start refining those fantasy basketball rosters and hitting the waiver wire hard. The following guards, whether of the “sleeper” variety or just cashing in temporarily on an unforeseen opportunity, almost certainly deserve attention across the various formats during Week 10 of the campaign.

Position Eligibility & Ownership Rate Based on Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Player List

Waiver Wire Guard for Right Now

Jared Dudley (MIL, SG/SF) - 25% owned

Dudley always seems to end up playing himself into lineups somehow, and it seems as if he has done it again for coach Jason Kidd and the Bucks.

Dudley has game. He's a big guard who can defend, rebound, and hit threes. That's a terrific combination, especially in terms of fantasy basketball. All the guy needs is minutes, and he's going to be productive.

After spending much of the season as a bit player struggling for minutes, Dudley has spent the last week playing between 24 and 35 minutes each game. The result has been early round production of 16.7 points, six rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 2.3 triples per game. He's even more valuable lately in 9 category leagues, thanks to a paltry 0.7 turnovers per game.

Dudley is hot right now, but like all shooters, a cold streak could be just around the bend. The fact the Bucks' rotations have been all over the place doesn't help Dudley's cause either, but while he's hot he needs to be owned in way more than a quarter of all Yahoo leagues. If he's out there, grab him and ride him until his minutes drop again.

Waiver Wire Guard in Deep Leagues

Cory Joseph (SAS, PG) - 17% Owned

Point guards are gold in fantasy leagues, and they become even more valuable in deeper leagues, where the point guard pool is spread thinner.

Joseph has had little fantasy value playing behind Tony Parker to start the season, but with Parker having a nagging hamstring injury, and a coach that is hell bent on resting his veteran starters regularly, Joseph makes for an interesting grab if you need help at the point.

Joseph is averaging a solid 10.1 points and 3.3 assists per game this year in limited minutes, but has seen those numbers greatly increase over the last week as Parker's injury replacement. In that time, a span of four games, Joseph is playing 33 minutes per game, and averaging 16.5 points, 4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game on a ridiculous .737 shooting percentage. That's top 50 value.

Joseph is turning the ball over 3.3 times per game with his increased run. He's also no help at all in the three point categories. He's also no way he continues to hit more than 75% of his shots, or plays 30-plus minutes per game once Parker returns. With that said, he's a nice grab for points, assists, and steals while Parker is sidelined, and worth a grab in deeper leagues until he cools off or Parker returns.

Waiver Wire Guard to Keep an Eye On

D.J. Augustin (DET, PG) - 7% Owned

The Detroit Pistons are a complete mess, but that may end up increasing Augustin's fantasy value.

Starting point guard Brandon Jennings has played terribly this year for the most part, and he seems to always have one foot in coach Stan Van Gundy's doghouse. That issue prompted Augustin's name to pop up in here a few weeks ago. After watching what Van Gundy did to Josh Smith, it's pretty clear that no under performing player is safe in Detroit, and that SVG is going to get the guys he doesn't like off this team no matter what.

I'd be willing to bet that Augustine ends up the number one point guard on this team before the season is done. If that happens, he immediately becomes a must add player as a source of points, assists, and threes. He's not worth owning until that happens, so this is a situation that astute fantasy owners should be keeping a very close eye on.
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