Empty the Bench

A little over a month ago I swung a two-for-one trade in my fantasy league, with one of my main motives being to free up a roster spot and add free-agent Nate Robinson, a move which I’d say has since worked out pretty well.

In that deal I traded Louis Williams and Tyrus Thomas for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s rising star, Russell Westbrook, who at that time in late-January was a few weeks removed from being named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month. In December, he was one of just seven NBA players to average at least 15 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists, and broke out in a big way on the 6th in Miami when he went 10-18 from the field in racking up 30 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

The fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft had just turned 20 years old on November and was already filling up the stat sheet, a fact which bodes well for the Thunder and their young, talented core that’s rounded out by pretty good players in their own right named Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. (By the way, we’re big fans of the Thunder’s trade-deadline acquisition of Thabo Sefolosha, too.)

The young man has continued to thrive as the starting point guard, and will be leaned on even further with Durant in street clothes due to a sprained ankle. As far as Westbrook’s fantasy contributions go, that’s proving to be both a good thing and a bad thing–it all depends on which categories your team excels in.

Westbrook’s past four games have been rather monstrous by most accounts as he’s posted per-game averages of 22.2 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He’s also been killing it from the charity stripe, shooting about 94% on just under 9 attempts per. That includes his first career triple-double (17, 10, and 10) in Monday night’s 96-87 upset win over the Dallas Mavericks… which came on the same day he was again named the West’s Rookie of the Month.

Obviously, those lofty fantasy numbers have to make his owners exceedingly pleased. And don’t mistake this as a complaint (especially since I also picked up Nate “Fantasy Stud” Robinson as part of this deal), but for all the good Westbrook has done for my team, he’s absolutely killing my field-goal percentage and turnovers, two categories I’m gunning for.

During this four-game stretch, Westbrook has shot just 34% from the field, which is bad enough as it is but especially painful considering his volume of attempts at 20 per game. 20! That includes 32 (32!) on February 27 at Dallas. Turnovers have been on the rise, too, at nearly 5 per.

All of the above are trends that figure to continue for the rest of the season, and certainly while Durant’s out; along with the good will come the bad, it seems. So if you’re hurting for a multi-category contributor at the guard position and throwing out FG and TO, get your trade offers in now–the deadline in most Yahoo! leagues is this Thursday. And, on the flipside, now’s a perfect time to sell high if you simply can’t stomach this thrilling rookie’s fantasy shortcomings. Me, I think I’m going to ride it out.

Related Reading:
- Where’s the Love – Which Rooks Made the Rookie Challenge and Which Should Have
- This Dunk Contest is Going to Suck
- Counting Down the Five Worst Teams in the Western Conference – OKC Thunder

Russell Westbrook Photo Credit: Icon SMI

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