RADIO
With January winding down, the waiver wire has taken its typical place in the weekly/daily routine of fantasy basketball managers. 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 14 of the 2014-15 NBA season.
Position Eligibility & Ownership Rate Based on Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Player List
Waiver Wire Guard For Right Now
D.J. Augustin (PG, DET) - 56% Owned
Augustin was a guy I wrote about here at the start of the season after it looked as if Stan Van Gundy was favoring him over Brandon Jennings. Augustin's first two games saw him playing roughly 30 minutes, but that quickly faded as he took a back seat to Jennings.
Augustin is a guy I have had my eye on all season. First, Jennings got off to a terrible start, and seemed to always have one foot in SVG's doghouse. Next, after watching Detroit simply cut ties with Josh Smith without worrying about the financial consequences, I was convinced that Jennings would eventually meet the same fate.
Then the Pistons turned it around, and not only did Jennings follow suit, he was a huge part of the resurgence. This saw Augustine's playing time drop further. The Jennings tore his Achillies tendon, and now the only competition for minutes Augustin has is Spencer Dinwiddie.
In other words, Augustin has zero competition for minutes going forward, and Augustin has already taken the increased roll by storm with a 35 point, eight assist game in which he was also five of nine from downtown and six of six from the line. That's a terrific line, and while he won't produce that on a nightly basis, I wouldn't be surprised if he comes pretty close to duplicating Jennings '14-'15 numbers of 15.4 points, 6.6 assist, and 1.5 threes per game.
Remember, this is a guy who was plenty productive as Derek Rose's replacement last season. If he's not owned already, grab him asap.
Waiver Wire Guard For Deep Leagues
Brian Roberts (PG/SG, CHA) - 58% Owned
Kemba Walker is another point guard headed for surgery this week, and is expected to miss close to two months. He had been missing games lately, but this was still a bit of a surprise.
Roberts is expected to start over that span, and while he hasn't looked great this year while spot starting for Walker, there is still some upside here.
If you need point guard help and you missed out on Augustin, Roberts could make for a solid consolation prize. He won't put up the numbers that Walker did, or even Augustin for that matter, and he'll probably have a poor shooting percentage to boot, but if you can survive that, he's proabably good for double-digit point totals and a handful of assists and threes.
At this time of year, 6-8 weeks is the majority of the NBA season, and Roberts has a real chance to shine here. Not to mention, if he does well, and the Hornets are out of contention, there may be no reason for Walker to rush back. He needs to be owned in all deeper leagues, and considered inall leagues if you need point guard help.
