This article is part of our NBA Waiver Wire series.
Giving Thanks
What am I thankful for this year? I'm thankful that someone in my ESPN NBA.com League gave up on Tyreke Evans too soon, leaving me with a very credible replacement for Kevin Martin.
I'm also thankful that I used my last-round "ordinarily I'd take a high-upside rookie here" pick on Marc Gasol.
And I'm thankful for Brandon Jennings because he's fun to watch... though I'd much prefer watching him in a Knicks uniform.
The Most Added
The most popular adds in ESPN NBA.com Leagues this week: The Most Dropped
Picks for the Week
The first set of picks is for players in standard leagues - guys who will typically be available in your average 10 team/15 player roster league. The second group is for owners in very deep leagues, and will be based more on speculation than actual numbers. The third batch of players will be guys I've mentioned in previous columns that still seem to be available in a lot of leagues and worth a look.
All "percent owned" stats are taken from ESPN NBA.com Fantasy Basketball - your mileage may vary.
Standard Leagues:
Carl Landry (33.5% owned) - Landry has emerged as this year's "per minute" superstar, scoring over 24 points per 40 minutes and shooting over 55 percent from the floor. An uptick in minutes for the Rockets' sixth man could yield big results.
Tayshaun Prince (32.1% owned) - Prince is about a week away from returning from a back injury -- which means now is the time to take a flyer on him.
Tracy McGrady (26.4% owned) - Back practicing with the team. If he goes for 20 or 25 in his first game, you know that precent owned will skyrocket.
Will Bynum (21.6% owned) - Another backup that's thoroughly outplaying the starter. Some observers have been saying all season -- if Bynum was a first-round pick, there's no question he'd be starting. The fact that Joe Dumars traded Chauncey Billups while telling the world Rodney Stuckey was Detroit's future might be the only thing holding Bynum back.
Rudy Fernandez (20.0% owned) - Fernandez led the Blazers in scoring twice in the last week. He's getting more opportunities with Travis Outlaw and Nicolas Batum sidelined by injury.
Anthony Morrow (16.1% owned) - Expect to see Morrow on the "most added" list next week, after his 48-minute, 27-point, 6-of-8 from three performance on Tuesday night.
Deep Leagues:
Udonis Haslem (15.4% owned) - Back in the lineup after missing two games with a shoulder injury.
Randy Foye (11.6% owned) - A Mike Miller calf injury could mean increased reliance on Foye.
Ben Wallace (8.1% owned) - Big Ben is enjoying something of a career renaissance this season, posting very decent rebounding, block and steal numbers. His free throw shooting continues to be horrid (50% on the season) but he's getting to the line so rarely it won't hurt you.
Courtney Lee (6.3% owned) - Lee returned to New Jersey's lineup on Tuesday after missing six games with a groin injury, and managed to grab six steals in just 22 minutes.
Tyler Hansbrough (5.0% owned) - "Psycho T" is producing in limited minutes -- just remember, the minute-limit is in place because he's still recovering from that shin injury. Expect his playing time to increase over the next few weeks.
Ersan Ilyasova (4.8% owned) - A couple of years in Europe seem to have done wonders for Ilyasova's game. He's supplanted Hakim Warrick at the four spot and is emerging as a nice complementary scorer for the Bucks.
A Second Look:
Marcus Thornton (2.4% owned) - Averaging 17.6 points, 2.4 threes, 1.2 dimes and a steal over the Hornets' last five.
Darren Collison (4.4% owned) - Chris Paul's return is still two weeks away.
Article first appeared on 11/25/09
