This article is part of our Category Strategy series.
CATEGORY STRATEGY
Each week, this article highlights players who are widely available in standard leagues who can help in specific roto categories. While each player highlighted can help in a specific category, there's no guarantee for production in other areas.
POINTS
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG, Pistons
Obviously Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond figure to be major beneficiaries of Josh Smith's dismissal, bit they are both universally owned. Caldwell-Pope is still available in some leagues, and also figures to see an increased offensive role with Smith no longer on the roster. The second-year wing actually has an NBA-caliber jump shot, and with him taking some of the shots Smith loved to hoist inadvisably, the Pistons will be much better off. He won't be an 18-20 points per game kind of scorer, but he could average 15 points over the rest of the season, which has value in almost all formats.
REBOUNDS
Steven Adams, C, Thunder
Adams' lack of ownership in fantasy leagues speaks to how underrated he is among casual fans. His size and tenacity, which is often construed as being dirty, gives opposing teams a lot of trouble down on the block. Coach Scott Brooks is finally starting to play him around 30 minutes per game, and Adams has come through as many knew he would. There is such a gap between Adams and Kendrick Perkins that it's a shame this did not happen sooner. Look no further than Adams' performance in the Thunder's win over the Spurs
CATEGORY STRATEGY
Each week, this article highlights players who are widely available in standard leagues who can help in specific roto categories. While each player highlighted can help in a specific category, there's no guarantee for production in other areas.
POINTS
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG, Pistons
Obviously Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond figure to be major beneficiaries of Josh Smith's dismissal, bit they are both universally owned. Caldwell-Pope is still available in some leagues, and also figures to see an increased offensive role with Smith no longer on the roster. The second-year wing actually has an NBA-caliber jump shot, and with him taking some of the shots Smith loved to hoist inadvisably, the Pistons will be much better off. He won't be an 18-20 points per game kind of scorer, but he could average 15 points over the rest of the season, which has value in almost all formats.
REBOUNDS
Steven Adams, C, Thunder
Adams' lack of ownership in fantasy leagues speaks to how underrated he is among casual fans. His size and tenacity, which is often construed as being dirty, gives opposing teams a lot of trouble down on the block. Coach Scott Brooks is finally starting to play him around 30 minutes per game, and Adams has come through as many knew he would. There is such a gap between Adams and Kendrick Perkins that it's a shame this did not happen sooner. Look no further than Adams' performance in the Thunder's win over the Spurs on Christmas. He had 16 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and three blocks in 31 minutes. Adams is still young and a little rough around the edges, but he is a legitimate championship-caliber center.
ASSISTS
Mo Williams, PG, T-Wolves
The T-Wolves are a young team in rebuilding mode. However, while Ricky Rubio remains out (for at least three more weeks), someone needs to handle the ball when Zach LaVine is not in the game. The rookie is capable of having great games, as he had 14 assists in Saturday's game at Golden State, but Williams had 13 assists in the previous game, so the T-Wolves appear to be going with the hot hand. LaVine is also worth a flier in this spot, but Williams is a more capable distributor, if assists are the primary concern. Jarrett Jack is another guy who should be rostered in most places, due to the potential for a Deron Williams trade that would open up the starting point guard role in Brooklyn.
STEALS
Ronnie Price, PG, Lakers
Price is not a great player, but he is on the Lakers, so that is not a prerequisite for minutes. He has seen 26-plus minutes in each of his last five games, and has nine steals over that span. In fact, he is averaging 1.7 steals in December, and as long as he can remain in the rotation, that trend should continue. Corey Brewer and Tony Allen are options in shallower leagues.
BLOCKS
John Henson, C, Bucks
Larry Sanders is out with a mysterious illness, so right now, Henson and Zaza Pachulia are the only rim-protecting options on the Bucks. Henson has always been a great shot-blocker, even if he has an extensive list of shortcomings. There is no telling when Sanders will return to the lineup, and even when he does, the gap in talent between he and Henson is not so wide as to relegate Henson to an irrelevant role. He has seven blocks over his last two games since returning from injury, and should offer around two swats per game if he is seeing close to 20 minutes per night.
THREE-POINTERS
Charlie Villanueva, PF, Mavericks
One of the reasons I was not a fan of the Rajon Rondo trade for the Mavericks, is that the role players they traded to Boston were at least comparable, and possibly more valuable than what Rondo was going to bring to the table. Brandan Wright, in particular, was very important to what Dallas was doing offensively as the top big man off the bench. A result of Wright no longer being on the the team is that Villanueva now has to play 15-25 minutes per night off the bench. This is not a situation the Mavericks will be willing to put up with for long, and there may be future moves coming to help address the team's lack of capable big men off the bench, but Villanueva is that guy for now. Over the past three games, Villanueva has attempted 21 three-pointers, hitting 11 of those. That rate obviously won't continue, but all he brings to the table is three-point shooting, so when Villanueva is on the court, he'll feel like he has the green light.
