Empty the Bench

With the trade deadline looming in most Yahoo! NBA fantasy leagues, everybody is looking to shore up their roster for the fantasy stretch run. Easier said than done. As always, there’s still quite a few notable players sitting on waivers in my public league, but in my more competitive private leagues where people actually know what they’re doing (most of the time), finding a potential impact player this late in the game is extremely difficult.

I combed the waivers in my 12-team league with 17 roster spots per team (yeah, I know, ridiculous) and found mostly shite… except for these five players. If they’re around in this league, there’s a good chance they’re around in yours, so if you have a flex spot on your roster that you’ve been playing with all season, consider picking up these “waiver studs” if their strengths fit your needs:

- Juwan Howard, F, Houston Rockets: I’m actually surprised the former Fab-Fiver is still here. Like many others on the Rockets, Juwan has benefited from Yao’s absence, and things will certainly change once that big Chinese freak returns. Still, Juwan figures to log at least 20 minutes/game for the rest of the season, and his numbers aren’t too shabby. He’s shooting 47% from the field while averaging 10 points and 6 boards a contest. Nothing spectacular, but he throws in an abnormally good game from time to time (20 points, 10 boards, 6 assists, 66% FG against Philly on 1/29), so he’s worth a roster spot.

- Kwame Brown, F/C, LA Lakers: Kwame is one brittle bastard, but when he’s on the court he’s a decent source of blocks, rebounds, and high field-goal percentage. He hasn’t played a game since New Year’s Eve, but is slated to return from a sprained ankle any day now. Given Phil Jackson’s impatience with young Andrew Bynum, bet on Brown getting his fair share of minutes when/if he returns. Kwame gets a big “meh” in general, but…

- Sarunas Jasikevicius, PG, Golden State Warriors: The European with the last name you can’t correctly pronounce isn’t going to get many minutes behind Baron Davis and Monta Ellis, except when those two are injured. “When” is the key word there because neither Davis nor Ellis have proven they can stay healthy for an extended period of time, so if/when you see one of ‘em go down, snap up Jasikevicius, even if just for a week or two. Don Nelson’s uptempo offense is kind to point guards, and Sarunas is more than capable. See his 32-minute performance against Minnesota on 2/9, when he dropped 20 points on 50% shooting while adding 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block.

- Antonio McDyess, PF, Detroit Pistons: Dice is pretty much feast or famine on any given night. While overall he’s rounding into form after his usual slump in November and December, you never know whether you’ll get an outing like 2/6 against Boston (9-10 FG, 18 points, 3 rebounds) or like 2/10 against Toronto (1-3 FG, 2 points, 5 rebounds). So goes the life of a bench player on a deep team. Still, if you’re desperately thin at power forward, you could do worse.

- Sean May, PF, Charlotte Bobcats: Coach Bernie Bickerstaff recently said that May needed to learn how to play with pain… yeah, no shit. This guy just can’t stay in the lineup and, judging by that bulging belly, away from the buffet. Still, there’s no denying his talent when he’s actually on the court; May is averaging 11.5 points and 6.7 rebounds/game while shooting almost 50% from the field. Perhaps Bickerstaff should try promising him a slice of cheesecake after every game he logs more than 20 minutes… whatever he does, as long as it gets May in the rotation we really don’t care. The 13th pick in last year’s draft is definitely capable of helping out fantasy rosters, but not until he proves he can stay healthy.

Possibly Related Content:

1. Fantasy NBA: The Draft’s Impact Players


2. Monday’s Top NBA Fantasy Performers


3. Tuesday’s Top NBA Fantasy Performers


4. Last Night’s Top NBA Fantasy Performers


5. The NBA’s Dream Team of Bench Players