“Exhibition Week”
In Fantasy, Players on October 31, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Flambo
One lesson that fantasy hoops owners learn, or should learn, as the years of experience accumulate, is that rash or hasty judgments should not be made at the start of the season. Some players will stumble out of the blocks, and it is often unwise to give up on them prematurely.
Some players will be jettisoned prematurely after a bad outing or two. But as predictably as the setting sun, we can count on Lights Out do so something even more shocking- kicking Jason Terry to the curb before he has played a single game. Make no mistake, Terry is no fantasy superstar, his 15p, 4a 1-three debut attests to this. But his stellar percentages, combined with his workmanlike production in other areas, make him a bankable commodity on the back end of one’s roster. Why does Ray repeatedly make rash moves like this?
To be fair, I will briefly analyze the players I have jettisoned thus far:
Joakim Noah- the unveiling of the new season (and new starting lineup) made clear that Noah will be coming off the bench for now. If he tallied 30-35 minutes a game, he would likely be a serviceable, but not great, fantasy center. That does not appear to be in the cards at present. I am sure Noah will make future appearances on rosters in this league, perhaps mine included, but won’t stick around long anywhere until he gets a starting gig under Coach Del Negro.
Rafer Alston- his numbers have been serviceable in the past, but mostly when there have been injuries on the Rockets squad. His fg% is usually atrocious. Now the Rockets are healthy and have added another star who needs his touches. Alston’s numbers have been sub-par. If, or more probably when, Houston gets hit by injury, Alston’s numbers should jump and he may find a semi-permanent home. Nevertheless, I hesitated in making this selection, and jumped at the chance to trade Mr. Alston for Ray’s castoff.
I will briefly mention that Ray also dropped his boy Marbury. I might have done the same; although Ray knew there was uncertainty in drafting Marbury (minutes from D’Antoni?, a trade?), and maybe should have waited a little longer to see how this would play out.
Ray might have dropped Terry prematurely, but I’m sure he would have cleared waivers. You had the #2 waiver priority. In past years, studs like Bynum and Al Jefferson have been dropped for unknown reasons. Now, you have no shot if that happens again.
I’m actually pretty surprised myself that you like Terry so much. I considered him a wasted pick, and feel I’ve gotten some guys with upside with my recent moves (post forthcoming). I agree with Eric, though. I’m shocked you used #2 waiver priority on him. He definitely would have cleared waivers.
Cleared waivers? Past Quinn? Please…. Quinn lies awake at night fantasizing about guys like Terry. You both also know that the waiver cycles round multiple times in the average year, although sometimes a month will pass without anyone worthy becoming available. You gotta grab ‘em when you can.
It’s unclear if Terry will adjust to his new role of the bench, but the Mavs lack scorers so Terry should put up similar numbers to last year. If that’s the case, he is fantasy worthy and therefor worthy of a waiver wire move.
[...] general, I agree with what Mr. Flambo was saying in his most recent post: sometimes it’s folly to be rash in the beginning of the season. Some players just start [...]