Stew: Darrell Arthur Rising

If your fantasy hoops team is still alive at this point in the season, you are most likely in a deeply focused state of mind in which you neglect everyday responsibilities in a constant search for immediate roster upgrades. So let’s waste no more time on pleasantries and get right to some players who might be available in your league:

Henry Sims (18 percent owned in Yahoo leagues / plays 4 games next week): He predictably quieted down after his 20-point/10-board/3-steal/2-block breakout a couple weeks ago, then unexpectedly heated back up. Sims has posted 11.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 3.0 apg, 0.6 spg and 0.6 bpg in his last five games, and 14.7 ppg, 11.7 rpg, 3.7 apg, 0.7 spg and 0.7 bpg in his last three.

Darrell Arthur (3 percent / 4 games next week): For his entire career entering this season, Arthur had hit a total of five 3-pointers. In his last five games, he has hit nine of them, a stretch that has seen him average 10.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 spg, 1.4 bpg and 1.8 3s, including four steals and three blocks against the Spurs on Wednesday. That kind of potential in steals, blocks and 3s doesn’t pop up on the waiver wire all that often.

Aaron Brooks (4 percent / 4 games next week): He’s wildly inconsistent as Ty Lawson’s backup, but logged 31 minutes off the bench on Wednesday, finishing with a 25-5-8 line (including four 3s). If you’re willing to live through some ugly games, Brooks’ inconsistency is averaging out to some low-end PG stats (last 12 games: 11.8 ppg, 5.6 apg, 0.6 spg, 1.3 3s), with the upside for a lot more if Lawson happens to run into another injury.

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James Anderson (11 percent / 4 games next week): He’s been hit-or-miss for much of the season, but Anderson is another player who can provide value down the stretch if you’re willing to stay patient through an ugly game or two. Anderson posted a solid line on Monday (10-6-6 with two steals, a block and two 3s) and was on a pretty decent roll before injuring his quad last week (first eight games of March: 12.5 ppg, 1.3 spg and 2.3 3s).

Matthew Dellavedova (3 percent / 3 games next week): With Kyrie Irving sidelined, Dellavedova has posted some impressive lines lately (last five games: 11.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 6.4 apg, 0.6 spg, 2.2 3s in 32 minutes per game), and I’d have him higher on this list if his schedule was better next week.

Other names to consider…

Draymond Green (4 percent / 4 games next week): Green doesn’t score much, but continues to post an intriguing set of stats to consider in deeper leagues (last 10 games: 8.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.7 spg, 0.8 bpg and 0.8 3s).

Mason Plumlee (6 percent / 4 games next week): The inconsistency and low scoring are tough to tolerate, but he’s an interesting deep-league play and/or one-game streaming option for owners in need of rebounds/steals/blocks. Last six games: 9.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.2 spg and 0.7 bpg.

Ben McLemore (37 percent / 4 games next week): He’s on my watch list after averaging 12.8 ppg and 2.3 3s in 35 minutes per game his last four games, but McLemore needs to diversify his portfolio before earning a start in a weekly league. During his current four-game streak, he has posted just 3.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.5 spg and 0.0 bpg.

Caron Butler (12 percent / 3 games next week): Butler has quietly posted 2.2 3s in his last 10 games. However, he’s not doing much in other categories (10.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 1.0 spg during his current 10-game streak), and plays just three times next week.

Richard Jefferson (4 percent / 3 games next week): He’s likely to go back to being irrelevant as soon as Alec Burks is back (or possibly even before that), but in the meantime, Jefferson has averaged 16.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg and 3.7 treys in his last three games.

Anthony Morrow (1 percent / 4 games next week): He only has value as long as Eric Gordon is out – and is likely to be inconsistent even then – but Morrow has some single-game streaming potential after posting 16.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 2.3 treys in his last three games, including a season-high 27 points on Wednesday.

Xavier Henry / Kent Bazemore / Ryan Kelly / Jordan Hill (4 games next week): Three of these four Lakers (with the exception of Jordan Hill) posted strong lines in a 127-96 win over the Knicks on Tuesday, but personally I’m steering clear of Mike D’Antoni’s out-of-control rotation the rest of the way. There would be a lot to like here if he’d simply commit to playing a couple of these guys for 30-plus minutes per game consistently, but D’Antoni has made it pretty clear that’s not likely to happen. At this point, I’d only start Lakers off the waiver wire in daily leagues. There’s too much risk involved in weekly formats.

Drew Gooden (20 percent / 4 games next week): Gooden was on the rise during a nice three-game run from March 15-20 (19.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.0 spg, 1.0 3s in 27 minutes per game), but has since posted a bland 10.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 0.3 spg, 0.0 bpg and 0.0 3s in his last three games, averaging just 18 minutes during that stretch. Unless you’re in a deeper league, it’s time to look elsewhere.

30-Deep Update

It’s yours truly against Rotoworld’s Ryan Knaus in the finals of the 30-team fantasy league known as 30-Deep. It’s a best-of-three format, meaning the finals could last a grueling three weeks, after which Knaus and I will probably never speak to each other again. Here’s a look at the starting rosters:

KNAUS

PG Kyle Lowry
SG James Harden
G Vince Carter
SF Mike Miller
PF Chris Bosh
F Dorell Wright
C Andrew Bogut
Util Devin Harris

STROUP

PG Stephen Curry
SG Lance Stephenson
G Terrence Ross
SF Rudy Gay
PF Tobias Harris
F Channing Frye
C Samuel Dalembert
Util Aaron Brooks

Despite big games already this week from Harris (25 points, 11 boards on Tuesday), Ross (24 points on Wednesday) and Brooks (25 points, eight assists on Wednesday), Knaus currently leads by a score of 5-4. Related: Lowry-Harden is a mean 1-2 combo. Also related: This was not a convenient week for Steph Curry to only have two games.