I almost pulled off a deal that would've landed me Granger to go with Durant, but then Granger came back from injury a week early. F my life. (Getty Images)

Week 11 featured the early end to what was turning into a triumphant return for Agent 0, the mixed bag early return of a nicknameless fantasy stud, and one of my favorite parts of fantasy basketball that can never come too early… trade winds.

Gilbert Arenas

Don’t athletes only pay tribute to their fallen teammates after they’re… uh… dead?  Well, DeShawn Stevenson felt compelled to pay tribute to Arenas before the Wizards’ home game on Sunday after the WIzards’ top brass decided to erase Arenas from their programs, marketing campaigns, and memory.  Maybe “dead” is a little strong/inappropriate, but it’s looking more and more like Arenas is dead to the Wizards.

Yet Gilbert is still owned in 72% of Yahoo leagues, which tells me most of his owners are in denial.  Feel free to stay in that lovely state, at least for another week or so, if there are no quality FA left in your league.  But if there’s a hot item, jump on it.  The fact that Arenas’ infamous Twitter account is officially dead is probably more a sign of the times than a sign of remorse.

Although Randy Foye was the obvious favorite to take over at starting PG, I really liked Mike Miller as a better pickup last week because of his efficiency.  And while I still like him (and own him in one league), he already aggravated his calf injury in just his second game back.  So, Foye is the clear guy to own now, with Nick Young playing big minutes in Miller’s absence on Sunday as well.  Young is a nice start this week, assuming the Wizards won’t rush Miller back.  And I still like Caron Butler to pull it around… if he’s still a Wizard.

(By the way, I recently said I decided not to drop Nate Robinson for Foye, and I’ve stuck to it.  But I did soon after decide to drop Tyrus Thomas for Foye.  I think Thomas will get it going eventually — and if he gets traded to New York, I might regret this move — but I need 3′s in this league and the other owners seem allergic to trades.  Pansies.)

Danny Granger and Troy Murphy

Granger and Murphy both returned this week, with mixed results, as they both filled up the stat sheets but Granger forgot how to shoot above 40% from the field.  Actually, DG has been shooting pretty awfully all year (40.1%).  Coming into the year, I actually thought he could improve his FG% with the addition (Earl Watson) and return (Mike Dunleavy) of some nice set-up men.  His FG% had dropped year-to-year as he took more shots until last year, when he managed to hold it steady at 44.7%.  But apparently the nagging injuries (and perhaps the addition of so many new faces) has disrupted Granger’s flow.  Even though he pleasantly surprised his owners with an early return, if he has another poor shooting night or two, I’m going to throw out a buy low offer to an owner who can’t stomach his shooting, as I think he’ll turn it around slowly and steadily.

Murphy made an immediate impact in his return last week, but the biggest news around him are the rumors that the Cavs are interested in acquiring him.  I mentioned Adrian Wojnarowski’s report last week, but it’s picked up some more press this weekend.  In some new bits of information, apparently the Pacers are trying to fetch Zydrunas Ilgauskas (expiring contract) and J.J. Hickson in return.  I’m not sure what would happen to big Z, but Hickson would join Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Hibbert as an up-and-coming frontcourt.  (Jeff Foster is rumored to be on the way out as well, with Denver a possible destination.)  All three youngsters would enjoy boosts in value, while Murphy would certainly lose some touches in CLE.

Speaking of Hibbert, he was a pleasant surprise in the Pacers’ first game back with everyone healthy (15 and 6 with 3 blk), but in the next game he disappeared (9 and 5 with 0 blk).  In the second game, it wasn’t that he was losing (too many) touches and rebounds to Granger and Murphy; he was losing minutes to his old foe — foul trouble.  Hibbert picked up two quick ones in the first and two more in the third, ending up with only 15 minutes.

I’m not going to blame it all on Hibbert though, as part of the reason I think he picks up more fouls with the studs back is because they’re frankly not as good at team defense as the subs (see: Dahntay and Solomon Jones).  I think Hibbert will gradually learn to curb the fouls as he readjusts to playing with the top guns.  And after his recent dominating performances over Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard, he’s clearly Indiana’s center for now and the future, so he’ll get plenty of chances to prove himself.

Fantasy ROY Race

Tyreke Evans is the clear frontrunner with Brandon Jennings’ FG% dipping below 35% over the last month.  (Ouch.  I think Albert Pujols averaged better than that last year.)  And, at least in fantasy, Stephen Curry is still a legitimate dark horse with his efficiency.  He averaged 18 ppg, 4.7 apg, 2.3 threes, 2.0 spg on 65% shooting from the field last week.

And in other Week 11 news…

Before the season began, I unashamedly proclaimed the Clippers would make the playoffs… and proceeded to shut my face after their putrid start.  But, two months into the season, the Clippers are just 2.5 games out of the 8th spot in the West after a recent 4-game winning streak (including W’s over the Blazers, Lakers, and Heat).  Chris Kaman continues to grab most of the fantasy headlines in Clipperland, continuing to average over 20 and 10 over Dec and Jan, but it’s the veteran Baron Davis that has really been leading this latest charge.  A hometown boy, I really though BDiddy had something to prove this year after a disastrous 08-09, and lately he’s proving me right, averaging 16 ppg and 11 apg on 46% shooting from the field over his last 6 games (5 wins).

In the “oooh, big surprise” department, Vince Carter and Michael Redd hurt themselves again.  Redd’s injury (the same knee he hurt last year) sounds a little more serious.  I’ll point out some beneficiaries below.

Aside from Troy Murphy and every member of the Wizards, the latest flashy trade rumors have Chris Bosh heading out of Canada.  Depending on the scenario, I think this would most likely hurt his value as he’s in a near-optimal situation in Toronto right now.  He was never able to get his reb/blk up to respectable levels until he began starting full-time alongside Andrea Bargnani (not exactly the prototypical rebounding center) as opposed to Jermaine O’Neal.  One rumor has him going to LA, where his value would really take a hit.  Another rumor has him going to Houston.  Depending on who Houston would give up (Luis Scola and/or Carl Landry?), Bosh could either take a small hit or possibly maintain his value.

Dwyane Wade started taking names and kicking ass again (30+ ppg and 2+ threes and spg in January).

And if you kicked your own ass for not selling high on Andrew Bynum earlier this year, here’s your second chance.  I still have faith Bynum (with or without Gasol) will end up a top 40 player by averages when all’s said and done.  But I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you could fetch back someone like Brook Lopez or Al Horford or even the man whose absence Bynum has been benefiting from, Pau Gasol.  (I’m considering trading Al Jefferson for Gasol in one H2H league where I already have Bynum — kind of like a mutual insurance policy.)  However, if there’s any truth to the Bosh for Bynum trade rumors, Bynum’s stock would skyrocket into a stratosphere of Wilt Chamberlain-ish proportions.  (Me hype much?)

WEEK 12 PICKUPS

I’ve already mentioned Randy Foye (51% owned), Mike Miller (45%), and Nick Young (9%).  Here are some others:

Kirk Hinrich (40%)

Welcome back to fantasy relevancy, Mr. Hinrich. (Getty Images)

Hinrich continues to start over John Salmons, and as long as the Bulls keep winning (5-3) this might not just be a fad.  Hinrich’s splits as a starter (12, 4, and 6 with 2.1 threes and 1.4 spg) suggest he should be owned in much, much more than 40% of Yahoo leagues.

Martell Webster (36%) and Rasual Butler (22%)

See: last week’s Pickups.  For those in weekly lineup leagues, I’d lean towards Butler and his 4 games versus Webster’s 2 this week.

J.J. Redick (17%)

Check Vince Carter’s status.

Rafer Alston (9%)

Anytime someone is anointed the starting PG alongside Dwyane Wade, he deserves a look.  I prefer Foye, but Alston had a nice run filling in for Devin Harris in NJ earlier this year.  There’s no way he gets as many shots on the Heat as he did on his previous so-called NBA team though, so temper your expectations.

Keyon Dooling (2%)

Speaking of filling in for Devin Harris… with Alston out of the way, Dooling should get plenty of playing time if Harris’ wrist injury turns out to be serious.  Check Harris’ status before starting Dooling though.  Also, the Nets only play twice this week.

Luke Ridnour (27%), Charlie Bell (2%), and Carlos Delfino (5%)

Check Michael Redd’s status.

Ronny Turiaf (6%)

Check Anthony Randolph’s status, although Turiaf might be worth a pickup in deeper leagues regardless of the severity of AntRand’s injury.

Keep an eye on: Drew Gooden (15% — check status), Jared Jeffries (3%), Flip Murray (5%), A.J. Price (2% — currently ahead of T.J. Ford in depth chart), Dorell Wright (1%)