RADIO
The Waiver Wire this week has three guys that are getting bigger roles on their team because of injuries. All three are worth roster spots for those with hurt big men or for anyone looking to reinforce their points, rebounds, and field goal percentage while taking a slight hit in free throw percentage. One of these guys isn't worth holding onto for the long term, the other might be, and the third is a wait-and-see proposition when it comes to the future.
Position Eligibility & Ownership Rate Based on Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Player List
NBA Week 5 Waiver Wire: Centers
Anderson Varejao (CLE, PF/C) 5% Owned
Timofey Mozgov is going to be out for the next 10-14 days with a shoulder injury. Cleveland's rotation of Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao should all expect heavier workloads during that time. Varejao benefits the most from this as he naturally replaces Mozgov's role better than anyone else. Andy is only getting nine minutes a game right now, so giving him more won't be too much of a burden. Kevin Love's 34 minutes a game and Thompson's 25 should stay around the same depending on Varejao's play and stamina. Whenever Mozgov comes back, Varejao's value will go back to being nonexistent.
Jordan Hill (IND, PF/C) 18% Owned
Myles Turner, the 11th overall pick, is out until late December with a thumb injury. In the meantime, Jordan Hill has been coming off the bench for the Pacers and he's beasting! I wrote about him a week ago but over his last five games he's averaging 11 points and 9.5 rebounds. Okay, Hill isn't the most efficient and he doesn't offer anything in terms of threes or blocks, but besides all that he should do well while Turner is out. Hill is just under a double-double every night and should hover close to that for the rest of the season.
Clint Capela (HOU, PF/C) 11% Owned
Capela is an interesting prospect with Donatas Montiejunas sidelined indefinitely. He's a second year player out of Switzerland starting to get more and more playing time with the Rockets. In only 18 minutes a game this season he's averaging 7.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. He's doing this on 72% (YES 72!) shooting from the field and a disappointing 48% from the free throw line. Capela's averages per 36 minutes (15 points, 13 rebounds) would be better than what Dwight Howard is actually averaging playing 32 minutes per game (14 points, 13 rebounds). The Rockets fired head coach Kevin McHale only 11 games into the season because somehow last year's Western Conference finalists have forgotten how to play basketball. While the team figures things out it seems they are willing to play Capela heavier minutes to find out what they have in the young big man. If Dwight Howard misses significant time, as he has been known to do, then Capela becomes someone you have to have on your roster. Until then he is an exciting prospect to keep an eye on.
