Jarvis Hayes

Hayes was an integral part of the Pistons bench last year and came through when called upon in limited minutes. He does little besides shoot the three and has never posted great rebound or assist numbers. His field goal percentage will kill your squad, but if he gets 22 to 24 minutes a game, he will have value as a specialist. You probably don't want to draft him, but keep an eye early on in the season and be ready to nab him if the injury bug strikes.

When Carlos Delfino was traded to Toronto in June, the Pistons needed someone to fill his important role of backing up Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton. Enter Hayes, a 2003 lottery pick. Hayes averaged career-lows of 7.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg and 1.0 apg last year with the Wizards, but he became something of a three-point specialist off the bench, averaging career-highs in three pointers made and attempted. The Pistons hope he can provide some offense with the second unit, taking the scoring load off McDyess and Maxiell.

Hayes, who missed 89 games the last two seasons with knee injuries, is expected to be a key reserve at SG and SF for the Wizards, a role he appears to relish. When asked what can be expected from him this season, Hayes replied, "sixth man of the year...and comeback player of the year. Both of them. Yep." Either way, as long as he stays healthy, Hayes will see his share of minutes, though he's probably an injury from a starter away from being a reliable fantasy option and that’s assuming he can stay healthy, which is obviously no lock.

Hayes will likely be the sixth man for the Wizards as he was last year, while also seeing some spot starts when injuries hit. Hayes puts up average numbers for a player coming off the bench --- last year he contributed 10.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG. The arrivals of Antonio Daniels and Caron Butler will likely steal some of his thunder, but on the plus side Hayes is not afraid to mix it up on defense and is capable enough of scoring when given extended playing time, given him some use as fantasy plug-in during those spells.

As a rookie last season, Hayes averaged 9.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 70 games (42 starts), and was a member of the All-Rookie Second Team. After a strong start, Hayes appeared to hit the rookie wall, but he hopes that a summer dedicated to conditioning will help him avoid a repeat of that. The Wizards figure to employ Hayes primarily as a small forward, but his shooting range and improving ball-handling ability may facilitate his use as a big shooting guard. Either way, the youngster is not afraid to mix it up on defense and if injuries hit and give him extra playing time, he could be a nice fantasy plug in.

By selecting Hayes in the first round (10th overall) in June's draft, the Wizards believe that they filled their dual needs for a small forward and an outside shooter. His fantasy impact as a rookie may be limited, but down the road he figures to put up solid numbers for the team.