Fantasy Corner
February 19, 2015
Jrue Holiday, PG (NOR): Jrue will be back soon after the All-Star Break after not having played since January 12. An integral piece in the Pelicans’ search for a playoff berth, Holiday has plenty of shooters to boost his assist totals. If he exceeds expectations, we could see close to a 20-10 performance on average the rest of the way.
Gorgui Dieng, C (MIN): With an 11-42 record, the Timberwolves are going to want to give this 25-year-old as much playing time as possible during the second half of the season. With Nikola Peković’s injury history, we should see Dieng improve on his 9.5 points, 8.4 rebounds per game average. At 6’11”, this man can do a lot of damage when given the playing time.
Paul George, SG/SF (Ind.): It will be very unlikely that George returns to his MVP-caliber form after his gruesome leg injury months ago, especially this season. However, he is set to return to game-action in mid-March, so he is worth a roster stash at this point. Remember how he can perform when healthy: 21.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.9 steals, and 2.3 3PM per game.
Second-Half Duds
Chris Bosh, PF/C (Miami): Two things have limited Bosh’s stat lines recently–Hassan Whiteside’s performance, and Bosh’s calf strains. That doesn’t look to change any time soon. His efficiency is down, and he isn’t worth the value he had at the beginning of the season. Right now, his biggest value has been in the Shooting Stars competition over All-Star weekend.
Arron Afflalo, SG/SF (Denver): The percentages have dropped for this shooter as the season has progressed, and I don’t see any revival for him in the second half of the season. His season field goal percentage (42.8 percent) has been affected by his shooting over the past month (38.0 percent) and last two weeks (35.7 percent). Feel free to try and trade him.
Bradley Beal, SG (Washington): For the third time in his young career, Beal has a “stress reaction.” The first two cost him a total of 12 games, while this one may end up being worse than that. Even so, we cannot expect him to surpass his season averages of 15.0 points and 1.8 3PM per game when he returns in March or April.