This article is part of our Rebound & Rant series.
If you are reading this article, congratulations. You must be in the playoffs and/or wisely looking for end-of-season sneaky keeper league moves. And hopefully your squad wasn't dependent on the Unibrow, Anthony Davis. Ouch! His injury is certainly a catastrophic playoff ender for his owners. But don't weep over Davis. You've made it this far and the playoffs are a small sample size – there are ways to squeak by. Or at least try to squeak by. Sure, your options are limited. But you have to try, right?
Josh Richardson
Before Tuesday night's stinker versus New Orleans, Richardson was on a sweet run, averaging 16.8 points and 3.2 made treys per game in his last five. The second-round rookie has clearly passed Josh McRoberts and Gerald Green in the Heat rotation. With Chris Bosh not returning anytime soon, there are shots to go around. The negative is that the Heat also want to give meaningful minutes to fellow rookie Justise Winslow. This late in the season, you can't be too choosey. With the tight 3-through-8 race in the East, the Heat will go with whoever has the hot hand. That could be Richardson. And he's a sneaky cheap pick-up for keeper leagues should his role continue to grow next year. Remember, Luol Deng's a free agent next season.
UPDATE: Richardson had another good game Wednesday night, posting 17 points, three treys, three steals, four assists, one block and two boards during 34 minutes off the bench in a blowout loss versus the Spurs.
LaMarcus Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker
Do I really need to tell you that Coach Pop will rest his stars!?! With 11 games left, the Spurs have nothing to play for. They will not catch the Warriors even with two more head-to-head matchups remaining. Expect San Antonio to rest their studs on Saturday (second game of the back-to-back), Wednesday (injured Pelicans squad) and next Friday (second of back-to-back after Warriors game). They may suit me up for the final April 13 game versus the Mavs. Look for other options!
Taj Gibson
Taj Gibson is an annual pogo stick of free agent fantasy action. Picked up one week, dropped the next, it never ends with Gibson. Well, the next two weeks could be another hot streak for the power forward. Pau Gasol is recovering from knee issues and Nikola Mirotic is shooting poorly after a 16-game absence. Gibson is starting at power forward and will also get some minutes at center. If you lost Davis, you could do worse than Gibson.
BACON
Did I mention I won five pounds of Applewood smoked bacon? Yes, I did. Winning the playoffs and championship rounds can be a total crapshoot. Better to hedge victory by always placing some side bets each season. In one league I won some glorious Northwestern gym shorts. (Go NU!). And in my 20-year grad school (Kellogg) league, based on a regular-season wager, I won five frickin' pounds of bacon, baby! Behold the wonder of properly cured pork:
Markieff Morris
This might be wishful thinking – Morris is owned in 64 percent of Yahoo leagues, but check your player pool. The Bullets Wizards have finally realized that Jared Dudley needs to come off the bench – the wobbly 30-year-old needs to sit as much as possible. Morris is starting and averaging 14 points per game over his last five, with a nice contribution of steals (1.4), rebounds (4.8) and threes (1.2).
Luke Babbitt
I know, this seems crazy. But hear me out. Heck, you're obviously desperate if you kept reading past that gratuitous bacon picture. Anthony Davis is out for the year. Eric Gordon is out for the year. Tyreke Evans is out for the year. Ryan Anderson has both a right groin and left groin strain (insert groin joke here) and might be shut down. Heck, even Quincy Pondexter is out for the year! Someone has to score for New Orleans. Babbitt just put up a season-high 23 points Tuesday night. Give 'em a try!
That's it for me, ballers. I hope you win your own slab of meat, or whatever your fantasy dreams can imagine. ADIOS AMIGOS!!!
