In most fantasy basketball leagues, around this time of year managers should be on the look out for free agents who are going to see increased minutes, which usually comes in the form of injury fill-ins and newly traded players. But the real place they should be investigating is young players whose roles are about to change.
Jamario Moon, Andray Blache, Al Thornton, Josh Boone, Thaddeus Young, Joakim Noah.
These are guys whose roles have already changed at some point over the year purely because they are growing and maturing and finding their niche in the NBA. They weren't given minutes to fill in, but more so that they could progress in the league. Around this time of year, the playoff scenario is shaking itself out, the trade deadline has already passed and most of the worthy vets on poor teams have either been traded or had their contracts bought out. What you're going to see in fantasy is increased minutes for the young guys on weak teams whom people want to test and see what they can do.
So who are the next young guys to make the leap in the NBA and what type of fantasy value will they offer?
Jared Dudley — With Gerald Wallace going down recently, Dudley has revieved a chance at big minutes, and has shown to be a chip off the old block. Like Wallace his peripheral stats (STL, BLK) and rebounds are a nice boost to any fantasy team in need. In the first six games of March he has approximate per game averages of 2 STL, 1 BLK, and 8 REB. Now although he is an injury fill in, with the combination of Dudley's improved play, the Bobcats actually winning of late, and his replacement's injury history, even after G-Wall comes back I'd look for Dudley to still receive a base of 25 minutes/game.
Nick Young — This USC kid is starting to put up the numbers fantasy owners expected from him at the beginning of the season. In the first five games of March, Young is posting impressive per game averages of 14 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL and 1 trey. With the Wiz fighting for a playoff spot and the returns of Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler imminent, it's safe to say you can temper your expectations on this one. But it's nice to see this youngster coming into his own, while giving us all a taste of what we can expect next season.
Spencer Hawes — In deeper leagues he's becoming a viable option. MIke Bibby went to the Hawks and took 35 minutes/ game with him, and Ron Artest is constantly in and out of the lineup. With the Kings safely out of the playoff picture, Hawes will start seeing burn. From here on out I'd look for nightly averages of 20 minutes, 7 points, 7 rebounds and 2+ blocks.
Julian Wright — Although he is not on a bad team, Julian is the exception to the rule. This high-flyer was a near
lottery pick in this year's draft and because of what the experts were saying, I had big expectations. Only to
be disappointed when New Orleans found themeselves fighting for the best record in the league with Julian riding the pine. But times have changed and in his first four games in March, Julian has recieved 25 min/game, putting up approximate per game averages of 12 points, 6 boards and 62% on his field goals. David West or not, he's going to see decent burn from here on out.
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