Week 2: Half Court Offense

Hello everyone and welcome back to the second edition of Three in the Key Fantasy Basketball Pickups! As you may know the rules of the article are quite simple, I recommend 5 players (one for each starting NBA position) and each of these players must be owned in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.

Before we begin with this weeks pickups, I would like to take the time and encourage all my readers to use the comments section of my blog and to ask ANY of your fantasy basketball related questions. I check the blog daily and will respond to anyone who needs help or advice on pickups and trades.

Now time for the fun stuff, lets take a look at who caught my eye this week.

Point Guard

A.J. Price (PG) Yahoo Ownership 7%

Who? Yes I was thinking the exact same thing when I saw Price's jersey leading the Wizards attack this week. A member of the Indiana Pacers for three years before being signed by the Washington Wizards this past offseason, A.J. Price did not see much of the court backing up the likes of Darren Collinson and George Hill, thus leaving him off many fantasy owners radars. Yet with a new change of scenery and a stress injury to the knee of franchise player John Wall, Price now finds himself quarterbacking an NBA offense. Although Wall is expected back by late November early December, Price can most certainly provide some fantasy usefulness with the limited time that he has leading the Wizards offense. After the first three games of the season, Price has shown fantasy owners that he can provide some help in assists (5.7 ast) and 3-pointers (2.3 3pt) while showing his backup pedigree with an ugly 30.6 field goal percentage. While the shooting percentage may not rise much higher, Price should be able to continue to produce solid assists and 3 point totals for fantasy owners, as long as he is manning the point for the Wizards offense. For deep league owners in a pinch for dimes and 3's consider Price a solid short term loan while Wall continues to rest his troublesome knee. Injuries like these can be tricky, and Price is one bad injury report away from being a short term loan to a season long investment.

Moderate Buy (14 team plus)

Owners in need of a short term PG fix should look at A.J. Price

Shooting Guard


Rodney Stuckey (PG,SG) Yahoo Ownership 34%

One of the more common mistakes made by fantasy managers is dropping proven players that have fallen into bad slumps early on in the season. Rodney Stuckey is definitely a proven player and has most certainly started off his season in a brutal slump. After beginning the year in a brutal 1 for 23 shooting slump, owners could not wait to kick Stuckey to the curb for a hot starting waiver wire player. Savvy managers would be wise to acquire the services of Stuckey now before his ownership level begins to rise, due to the inevitable return of the players pedigree. There is a reason Stuckey has finished inside the top 125 in fantasy the past three seasons, he drives to the basketball often, and shoots plenty of free throws. Although Stuckey may not get the respect calls from many NBA refs as the likes of Kobe and Lebron do, he still manages to score often and has averaged over 15 ppg over the past 3 seasons. Perhaps he may not provide the assists numbers he used to since sophmore Brandon Knight is now leading the point in Detroit, but Stuckey will continue to provide owners with solid scoring totals and great percentages, he's even expressed a desire to shoot more threes (something that had hindered his value greatly in the past seasons). His minutes are not legitimately threatened by anyone else on the roster (Detroit is one of the worst teams in the NBA) and he has supposedly recovered from a painful ear infection that was bothering him to start the season (and probably the reason for his poor start). Owners would be smart to pick up Stuckey in favour of names like Gerald Henderson and Courtney Lee, and expect top 120 fantasy value in return for their investment.

Solid Buy (12 team plus)

The seasoned guard still has plenty left in the tank 

How long can Gee's fantasy value go overlooked? 

Small Forward

Alonzo Gee (SG,SF) Yahoo Ownership 12%

Perhaps its because he is a member of the Cavs, or maybe because he was never selected in an NBA draft, but Alonzo Gee can never seem to get the respect he deserves from fantasy owners. After having a semi breakout season last year and just finishing outside the top 100 in fantasy value, some believed that Gee would see his stock rise coming into the 2012-13 fantasy basketball season. Yet when the Cavs went out and signed C.J. Miles many owners panicked over the playing time of Gee and his ADP plummeted to 318 in fantasy drafts. Coming into the year even I wasn't sure how the playing time would pan out in Cleveland with their new free agent acquisitions and draft picks (Dion Waiters) but Gee has been able to carve himself a substantial amount of minutes. Due to his lockdown defense coach Byron Scott loves starting Gee in order for him to matchup with the opposing teams best players, this has allowed Gee to average over 31 mpg so far in the young season. With the minutes Gee is continuing to put up solid fantasy numbers, averaging over 10 points, 3 assists, and 1.8 steals. As Gee continues to separate himself from Miles due to his elite defense owners should no longer worry about the playing time of the 25 year old forward. So far Gee is averaging top 105 fantasy value, but as soon as his shooting percentage climbs back to his career normal (he's shooting only 39% from the field right now) I suspect Gee will crack the top 100 and his ownership level will begin to rise. Owners looking for a player that can provide solid defensive numbers from the forward position should look no further than Gee, and would be wise to drop players such as Tony Allen and Shawn Marion in favour of him. Think of Gee as a slightly less version of Kawhi Leanard this season, and enjoy the top 100 value from the young Cavalier.

Moderate Buy (12-14 team plus)

The Mullens smooth touch can help fantasy owners

Power Forward



Byron Mullens (PF,C) Yahoo Ownership 47%

There really isn't an excuse to be made, or a reason to be given as to why Mullens isn't owned in over half of yahoo leagues. Perhaps its because the Bobcats have only played three games and the big man has gotten off to a slow shooting start that owners have failed to recognize the services of Mullens. If I had to use one player to best describe Mullens game the obvious choice would be Ryan Anderson, both these guy just love to chuck up the three ball, something that is invaluable to owners at the power forward position. Last year it was not until late in the season that Mullens began to show owners what he was capable off, with the likes of Boris Diaw and Bismack Biyombo blocking his way. Yet when receiving starters minutes Mullens showed that he could be solid contributor averaging over 11 ppg (1.1 3 pointers), 7 rebounds, and just under 1 block per game. Coming into this year Mullens was a sleeper on many owners cheat sheets yet when Charlotte signed Brandon Haywood, some became concerned about wether Mullens would receive enough playing time to show off his skill set. Although Haywood is now starting, it is Biyombo that has fallen out of the starting lineup not Mullens, and the big man is averaging over 31 mpg over the past three contests. With Mullens now sliding over to the power forward spot and Haywood taking responsibilities for the opposing teams big man, Mullens has seen an uptick in defensive efficiency with an increase in both rebounds (8.4) and blocks (1.0). Along with the solid defensive numbers, Mullens is still chucking up those threes averaging an insane 8.0 three point attempts per game, a number that will definitely lower to around 5 or 6. Already putting up top 80 fantasy numbers, and averaging 15.3 points, there is no reason to think that this won't be Mullens break out season. Owners should jump onto the Mullens bandwagon now and enjoy the Channing Frye like stats from the Charlotte big man in favour of names such as Elton Brand and Kris Humphries.

Strong Buy (12 team plus)

Centre

Patrick Patterson (PF,C) Yahoo Ownership 16%

Let's stick to the trend hear and take a look at another big man that seems to be chucking up the three ball. The story of Patrick Patterson is simple, he tore up his first two years in college but decided to come back and play for a national championship rather than leave when his stock was at an all time high, Tyler Hansbrough anyone? This decision hurt Patterson's  numbers in his junior year and dropped his stock a bit in the 2010 NBA draft (he still went 14th overall). In Patterson's junior year he showed off his NBA fantasy potential with a balanced stat line averaging 14.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and about 1 three pointer per game. After being drafted by the Rockets, Patterson proceeded to tear up the D-League  (averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds) and then was called up within 10 games by the Rockets. Unfortunately for the remainder of his rookie season and his entire sophomore season Patterson struggled to find playing time in a crowded Rockets frontcour, only receiving 6 starts within that span and averaging 23 minutes of playing time. Yet after the Rockets traded away Samuel Dalembert, and used their amnesty clause on Louis Scola this offseason, Patterson was the favourite to earn the starting power forward job for Houston. After missing the first game due to a quad injury, Patterson has now started the last three games and has averaged over 32 minutes of playing time, 13.0 points (1.0 three pointers), 6.0 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks. While the rebounding number looks low, and will probably not rise by that much due to the presence of rebounding god Omer Asik,  (i suspect he will average about 7.5 by years end) Patterson has still averaged top 100 value due to his ability to hit the three ball. Owners in a pinch for some cheap three pointers and scoring would be wise to acquire the services of Patterson in favour of low rebounding centres like Al Harrington and Emeka Okafor. At the ripe young age of twenty-three,  Patterson has both a world of talent and potential, and owners would be wise to tap into the young man's talents now before its too late, his ownership will rise fast.

Strong Buy (12-14 team plus)

Keeper leagues should be seriously intrigued with Patrick Patterson 

I now leave you guys with one of the worst dunk attempts ever. Seriously, what was Merreese Speights thinking here? Definitely will not be recommending him anytime soon.