RADIO
It is now officially the All-Star Break, so it's time to take a look at a couple of guys who are owned in fewer than 50% of leagues, but who can still help with key categories coming right out of the break.
Position Eligibility & Ownership Rate Based on Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Player List
Free Throw % / Assists Specialist
Mo Williams (CHA – PG/SG) – 38% owned
Reunited with old friend Al Jefferson in Charlotte, Mo Williams has a chance to put up some nice numbers going forward while Kemba Walker is still out. Brian Roberts has been awful filling in at the point for the Hornets in the meantime, and should be immediately relegated to the bench. While Williams won’t have any 52-point outbursts as the third or fourth option in Charlotte’s slow-moving offense, he may end up with a bit more efficiency than he showed in Minnesota, where he posted a .403 FG%. He should be a nice source of assists with an excellent, well-weighted FT% (he shot .851 on 2.3 free throws per game for the Timberwolves). Mo Williams is a must-add in all leagues in preparation for a nice run coming out of the All-Star Break.
Three-Point Specialist
Mike Dunleavy (CHI – SG/SF) – 35% owned
After sitting out 19 games, Mike Dunleavy returned to the Bulls lineup in the second-to-last game before the All-Star Break. Dunleavy’s game does not shine, but he won’t hurt you in many areas. And he will provide steady threes. In the month of December (before suffering the New Year’s Day injury), Dunleavy was particularly hot, shooting .486 from the field and averaging 2.0 threes a game. His low rebounding, assist, steal and block numbers do leave something to be desired, but he is the textbook definition of a “Three Point Specialist” for fantasy. He is not “must-add” in the same sense as Mo Williams, but he's a solid player who can fill a need.
Blocks Specialist
Jusuf Nurkic (DEN – C) – 29% owned
Jusuf Nurkic was one of fantasy basketball’s hottest pickups at one point (I recommended him early on), but in recent weeks he has been one of the most common drops. Since we have some time off to reflect while the ALl-Star festivities are going on, it might be time to reconsider. Nurkic has some very rough elements to his game, it’s true – he fouls too much, which has been a contributing factor to his limited minutes; his post-up game is raw; he is hitting a pretty low percentage of what should be high-percentage shots; he isn't a great free-throw shooter. That said, though, those are all elements that improve will with experience, which Nurkic is accumulating as he goes. I expect him to keep getting better as the season progresses.
Even during these past few weeks during which Nurkic has been hitting the waiver wire in more leagues than not, he has still been useful. Consider the last ten Denver games before the All-Star break: Nurkic averaged 23.2 minutes a game, shot .444 from the field and .667 from the stripe, with 8.2 points per game, 8.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.9 blocks. The rebounds and the defensive stats are already there in elite quantities. If he can improve that FG% and improve the scoring, he'll be a great fantasy asset. Playing time is the other huge factor-- as Denver starts trading away veterans and Nurkic works to reduce his foul issues, his minutes should continue to trend upward, as they have been all season. I expect a strong second half out of the young Nuggets center.
