NBA Skinny: Shake it up

The coaching shakeups we saw in the NBA over the weekend got me thinking about the parallels in fantasy, particularly when I saw the phrase “you can’t fire underachieving players” in a column here. That’s exactly the thing that those of us who participate in fantasy sports can do when we find ourselves frustrated by a team way down in the standings, with seemingly few positive prospects. The one thing you should never be afraid to do is shake things up. We all get some right and get some wrong along the way, but I think the saying “nothing ventured, nothing gained” can be of particular use to fantasy owners. If you ever find yourself on the brink of throwing in the towel because of poor drafting, a rash of injuries, or otherwise, be sure that really efforting to shake things up is much higher on the list than simply calling it a season. Given the context, pulling a team out of the cellar and even making it merely competitive through a series of shrewd moves can often be as rewarding as a league championship where you simply coasted to a comfortable win.

Weekend Update: Need-to-know info from the past few days

• Clearly, the big weekend news in the NBA was the two Friday trades, and the fallout from the deals was discussed at length here.

• We also had two NBA coaching changes over the weekend. The 1-13 Thunder fired P.J. Carlesimo and replaced him with Scott Brooks, and the 1-10 Wizards fired Eddie Jordan and replaced him with Ed Taspcott. The Thunder went small in their first game under Brooks, with Damien Wilkins joining the starting five and Nick Collison moving to center. Of note from the box score: Russell Westbrook had a season-high 11 assists and Kevin Durant took a hit in the Curry Line standings (5 turnovers, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks). In general, I’m not expecting major fantasy implications or things getting much “better” for the talent-starved Thunder. As for the depleted Wizards, when your “star” player is discussing the merits of a last-place finish just 10 games into the season, things could stand to get better. It’s hard to imagine that they can in the short-term, given their struggles with injury, but perhaps a shakeup was needed to get their underachievers (namely Andray Blatche and DeShawn Stevenson) back on track? Stay tuned.

• Antonio McDyess was courted by a number of teams since being bought out by the Nuggets, but he’s decided that he will indeed return to the Pistons after the league-mandated waiting period (Dec. 3). He would have been of more interest for fantasy purposes had he signed with a team like the Cavs or Celtics, but rejoining the rotation of bigs in Detroit means he’s only going to see so many minutes.

• Manu Ginobili will make his season debut Monday. It’s good news for the Spurs and for fantasy owners, but both parties need to be sure to keep initial expectations well in check, and those of you with weekly lineups should go ahead and keep him benched for at least another week.

Other Injury Updates: Luol Deng’s hamstring has improved enough that he will “probably” play on Monday. … Jermaine O’Neal has tweaked his surgically-repaired knee in each of the past two games but has already said that he’ll be ready to go for the Raptors’ next game (Wednesday). Take that for whatever you feel it’s worth.

For updates on Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy, Josh Howard, Kevin Martin, Tony Parker, Michael Redd, Jason Richardson, Josh Smith and Deron Williams, see the Week 5 Dashboard.

Buzz Index: Notables from the weekend’s Buzz Index

D.J. Augustin (Cha – PG) 17,485 adds
Augustin has played at least 34 minutes in each of the past three games – including two starts – and averaged 19.7 points, 2.7 threes and 4.7 assists. His best performance included 26 points, seven threes, and seven assists against the Hawks on Friday. The starts have come because nobody else stepped up in Jason Richardson’s absence, and what happens when J-Rich comes back remains to be seen – Augustin’s shooting percentage to this point (.403) has made it tough to rationalize his moving ahead of Raymond Felton because of Felton’s poor shooting (.396). By all means, Augustin makes for a solid roster add – he’s fifth on the team in minutes (27) and that won’t change, and a Felton-for-a-much-needed-big trade could go down at some point, but don’t assume 26/7/7 is going to be a regular occurrence.

Steve Blake (Por – PG) 12,083 adds
Blake is making more sense for fantasy rosters by the day. Although he’s not going to challenge the minutes leaders any time soon, he’s a glue guy for the young Blazers and his role isn’t changing any time soon. His per-game contributions (2.1 threes, 11.1 points, 3.9 assists, 1.1 turnovers) shouldn’t be underestimated, particularly as an end-of-the rotation player. His numbers have been even better over the past eight games, including 12.4 points on 46 percent shooting, 2.5 threes and 4.1 assists.

Larry Hughes (Chi – PG, SG, SF) 9,610 adds
Hughes had one of those games where he shoots a lot and a lot of them go in on Friday against the Warriors, when he scored 26 and made five threes in 40 minutes. He’s started the past three games because Luol Deng has been out with a hamstring injury, and he figures to go back to the bench once Deng returns (although he’s in for pretty steady minutes off the bench). Hughes has a well-established history as a high-volume, low-efficiency offensive player who also contributes some steals, and that isn’t going to change. Don’t kid yourself, there’s as much downside as upside here.

Jason Thompson (Sac – PF, C) 8,179 adds
Thompson has now started the past eight games and has been producing at a high enough level that it would make zero sense to drop him in the rotation once Mikki Moore is healthy. He’s averaged 13.1 points on 54 percent shooting, 7.9 boards, 1.4 steals, and 0.6 blocks in 33 minutes during that stretch. Considering that his numbers have been spiking (14 points, 8.5 boards, 1.8 steals, 1.3 blocks over the past four games), it makes sense to add him now and then find out how the minutes sort out once the Kings get a few more players healthy.

Cuttino Mobley (NY – SG) 8,135 adds
Quentin Richardson was the more popular roster addition over the weekend (14,574 adds), but my money is on Mobley emerging as a fairly consistent fantasy performer (and certainly more so than Q-Rich). Both players have their limitations, but Mobley is the one who actually figures to start for the newer-look Knicks (at SG), while Q-Rich comes off the bench behind the starting forward combo of Wilson Chandler and Al Harrington. Fearless prognostication: Richardson peaked on Saturday (34 points, 7 threes, 12 rebounds in 44 minutes) and Mobley settles in for a steady 15 points and two threes for Mike D’Antoni.

C.J. Miles (Uta – SG, SF) 6,392 adds
Miles has to be one of the least-known full-time starters in the NBA, but that’s started to change over the past few weeks. His role and production have increased for the short-handed Jazz – over the past seven games, he’s averaged 15 points on 49 percent shooting, 1.4 threes, 3.7 boards, 2.7 assists (versus 0.7 turnovers) and 0.6 steals in 26 minutes. With Deron Williams still gimpy and Carlos Boozer out for at least the next week, Miles at least looks like a solid short-term add with near-universal availability (currently 9 percent owned).

Jamario Moon (Tor – SF) 6,836 drops
Things are not looking good for Moon, one of last season’s most pleasant fantasy surprises. He’s been replaced in the starting five by Andrea Bargnani and has averaged 4.8 points and 2.2 boards in 15 minutes in five games as a reserve. Meanwhile, Bargnani has averaged 17 points, 2.2 threes, and 5.6 boards as a starter. Barring an injury or a complete Bargnani collapse, Moon’s fantasy usefulness appears to be next to nil.

Kelenna Azubuike (GS – SG, SF) 12,194 drops and Anthony Morrow (GS – PG, SG) 13,346 drops
I can only imagine that Azubuike and Morrow were both dropped in mass quantities because the Harrington/Crawford trade is expected to affect them both negatively, and I’m not going to disagree. Morrow will continue to start at SG, with Azubuike moving to the bench. This could degrade into a simple scenario where the “hot hand” gets the minutes, and the fact that it’s Don Nelson means you have to assume some level of inconsistency to begin with. Morrow may have a tough time finding shots amongst the other starters, and Azubuike is due for fewer minutes as a reserve, so this doesn’t bode well for either player. I might give it a few games to see how things play out before simply cutting ties with either player, however.

Yahoo! Friends and Family League Update
Brandon Funston and Justin Phan both logged 8-1-0 wins this past week to move up in the standings – Funston to first place – but after four weeks the standings are still tight from top to bottom. Recent transactions have included Joakim Noah, Chris Quinn, JaVale McGee, Shane Battier, Chris Wilcox, Eric Gordon and James Posey, among others.