Week 21 is the first week of the playoffs in standard Yahoo H2H leagues.  Below are a mix of guys you want on your squad because a) they’re playing well or b) they have good schedules.  And you can be sure I’ll point out some guys who are playing on Thursday (only 2 NBA games on the schedule) that you might want to/have to pick up well before Thursday before your opponent scoops them.

First, make sure guys like George Hill (59%), Courtney Lee (60%) and Marcus Thornton (59%) aren’t still available.  Thornton is especially attractive next week as the Hornets play 4 times (with one game on the Thursday “Off-day”).  Beno Udrih (52%) deserves some attention as well, although I might rather own some of the sub-50% owned guys below (or at least the top one)…

No, I'm not a fantasy basketball genius. But I did stay at a Jrue Holiday Inn Express last night. (Getty)

Jrue Holiday (25%, 4 games)

Holiday makes a jump from my “Keep an eye on” list to the top of my pickups list for two reasons.  The first: He averaged 15.3, 4.5, and 6.5 last week with 1.8 treys/stl (and that was before going 4-for-5 from downtown on Sunday).  The second: He’s entrenched in that PHI starting backcourt with the 76ers jockeying for lottery position, and that’s a good thing when you face NY twice and NJ once this week.

Terrence Williams (16%, 3 games)

March splits: 15, 7, and 5.  He’s quietly filling the Yi Jianlian void in NJ and should continue to see around 30 mpg with Yi out.

Quentin Richardson (27%, 3 games)

Although MIA only plays 3 games this week, they happen to play on that Thursday Off-day.  Like I mentioned in last week’s column, Q has always been an “approach with caution” type of guy, but you can’t deny the stats: 4.2 treys per game so far in March, not to mention healthy contributions in pts, reb, and stl.  If Jermaine O’Neal and/or Michael Beasley continue to be slowed by nagging injuries, he might be worth a gamble as MIA will need to lean on his offense more.  (I already picked him up in my main H2H league for a Thursday spot start.)

Jason Maxiell (9%, 4 games)

As long as Ben Wallace is out, I’d be happy marching out Maxiell and his 12+ rpg (over the last 4).  The Pistons have a tricky schedule (4 games, but 1 against BOS and 2 against CLE), but if you need reb, he’s probably the best bet among FA pickups.  (I picked him up for a Monday spot start, and potentially more based on Big Ben’s status.)

Jonas Jerebko (24%, 4 games)

I’ll just copy and paste my blurb from last week: Posted near-1/1/1 stats last week and is getting plenty of touches as DET continues to jostle for lottery position.

James Johnson (1%, 4 games)

He’s averaging 16.5 and 4.5 over his last two games with 1.5 treys/stl/blk.  As long as Luol Deng is out, Johnson seems ready to play big minutes and contribute across the board.

C.J. Miles (5%, 4 games)

Doing his best Rasual Butler impersonation lately.

Toney Douglas (6%) and Bill Walker (6%, 4 games)

Speaking of jostling for lottery position, Douglas appears to have landed the coveted (at least in theory) starting PG job in New York, while Walker continues to post 20-pt games more consistently than Tracy McGrady.

Will Bynum (17%, 4 games)

20-assist games deserve attention.  With Rodney Stuckey nearing a return, Bynum doesn’t appear to have much long-term value, but he might be worth a spot start this week.

Delonte West (24%, 4 games)

Before Sunday’s dud, West had been on a very nice streak (although some of that was due to LeBron’s recent 2-game absence).  He might not have anymore monster games, but he’s an efficient source of across-the-board production (13, 4, and 4 over the last month).

Reggie Williams (2%, 4 games)

Williams has been doing his best Anthony Morrow (from last year) impersonation lately, hitting 3′s (and not much else) at a very efficient clip.  Anybody wearing a Warrior jersey is always a gamble, but he’s worth a look in deeper leagues.

Derek Fisher (11%) and Shannon Brown (4%, 4 games)

Fisher has been solid lately, and with games against GSW and SAC on Monday and Tuesday, Brown might even rediscover some of the scoring touch he displayed when Kobe was on the shelf last month.  They might be useful in deep leagues the first half of the upcoming week.

Keep an eye on:

C.J. Watson (39% — he’s been amazing the last month, but with Monta Ellis and Corey Maggette back, hello Inconsistency), Earl Watson (9%), Anthony Tolliver (18% — see last week), JaVale McGee (25% — see last week), Matt Bonner (6%).

Other Thursday 3/18 options:

If you consider your H2H league competitive, there's a good chance Wright will be picked up by Thursday. (Getty)

Julian Wright (6%)

Wright has gotten big minutes in Peja Stojakovic’s absence, and that has translated into solid albeit unspectacular fantasy lines.  If you’re looking for a spot start, you could do worse than an athletic SF getting 30+ mpg

Matt Barnes (22%)

Ditto from above, although Mickael Pietrus (ditto again) might be the guy to own if Barnes’ wrist injury is serious.

Johan Petro (1%)

If you could use an extra 6 or 7 rebounds this week, you might as well start Petro for the one and only time in your entire life.

And for those of you with bye weeks:

Rudy Fernandez (24%)

Portland has a pretty awful Week 21 schedule (only 2 games), but I’ll mention Rudy because he’s been on fire recently, and those of you with first round byes might be gearing up for Week 22 already, when POR plays on some of the slower days.

Jose Juan Barea (4%) and Rodrigue Beaubois (14%)

The fast-healing Jason Terry is on the verge of returning, but if he experiences any setbacks, keep an eye on these two for Week 22, when DAL has one of the most attractive schedules after only playing 2 games in Week 21.  Beaubois was better last week, but it sounds like Rick Carlisle prefers the veteran Barea.

“Jennings isn’t (Delonte) West, or what we thought (Michael) Beasley to be, for the simple fact that nothing appears to be wrong. That leaves us grasping for motivations, or at least rushing to figure out the consequences. Was it a boast? An off-hand remark? And doesn’t this turn ‘bipolar athlete’ from tabloid material into a potential PSA?”

“For Jennings to share this now only adds some depth, even gravitas, to a player still known as much for his hair as his stellar rookie season. That the reaction over Twitter has been muted suggests that Jennings played this right, and that unless you’ve crossed a line, being bipolar is now socially acceptable.”

And then Jennings tweeted this.

That’s just wrong, Young Money.  (Okay, not really.  It was kind of funny.  Sorry, Bethlehem Shoals.)  Then again, maybe Jennings wasn’t kidding after all.  Maybe he just meant that his home/away splits are bipolar.  (Sorry, Young Money.  Please don’t twit all over me.)

George Hill plays on Monday and Thursday this week. If that's important to you, then congratulations. You're a fantasy nerd. (AP)

Because Week 16 is a short week (4 days), pickups are that much more important in H2H leagues.  So, in order to give you guys some more time to make those make-or-break pickups, I’m skipping the Week 15 Recap (Noah and the Foot Arch) in favor of posting this a day earlier than usual.  First, some logistics:

Mabye the most important thing to note: ORL has 3 games.

Most teams have two games, but SA has two games and plays on both Monday and Thursday (where there are only a total of 5 games going on).  This is important because it allows you to maximize (if your league doesn’t have a cap) the number of games you can get in for this week.

Think about it: If you’re only able to start 6 or 8 players per night, for example, you can maximize your games played (and minimize your games wasted on the bench) by picking up players that play on Monday and/or Thursday (or what I call “Off-Days” because most teams have those days off).  ORL and SA both play on both of the Off-Days for this week.  The following teams have 2 games this week, 1 of which occurs on an Off-Day: NO, GS, DAL, LAK, SA, DEN, and CLE.  In other words, if you have limited pickups, target players on ORL, SA, or these squads. Now onto the pickups (by team, with all/most guys available in 50+% of Yahoo leagues):

Orlando

J.J. Redick and Jason Williams are both decent bets for 3′s, as they’re getting solid minutes off the bench.  Matt Barnes has slowed of late, but he provides across the board production (and 3 games from him might be worth more than 1 game by a better player).

San Antonio

The best potentially available option out of SA is George Hill.  I’ve already written enough about him the past couple weeks so I won’t add too much more.  DeJuan Blair and Antonio McDyess could be helpful if you’re looking for boards.

Guys with 2 games (1 on an Off-Day)

The guys above are nice from a “quantity” perspective.  These guys might provide better quality: Darren Collison (if he’s available in your league, but if you’re reading fantasy basketball blogs, he’s probably not), Marcus Thornton (missed last two games, check status), Drew Gooden and Rodrigue Beaubois (esepcially on Monday vs GS), Shannon Brown, Arron Afflalo,  Daniel Gibson/Delonte West (check West’s status)

And if you don’t care about schedules…

Courtney Lee (heating up again), Brad Miller and Taj Gibson (with Joakim Noah out until the All Star break), Rudy Fernandez (with Roy out next week as well), Brandon Rush (only 1 game)

Mo Williams

The biggest fantasy news of the week involved Mo Williams’ shoulder sprain, which will sideline him 4-6 weeks.  He passed the injury bug to his replacement, Delonte West (fractured finger in shooting hand), and while I still like West over the next several weeks, it might take him a few games to heal and the another few games to regain his shooting touch, so temper your expectations.

I'm sorry, Grant Hill. This is just wrong. (Getty Images)

Corey Maggette

The biggest fantasy news of the month is Corey Frickin Maggette.  I’ve hated him for years and vowed never to own him (unless I owned Dwight Howard in a roto league).  Now I hate him because I vowed never to own him.  He continues to put up top 10 numbers — amazingly, despite averaging less than ONE three/stl/blk per game — which is a tribute to his efficiency.  (He’s averaging 29 ppg on ~15 shot attempts per game.)  The fact that I want to underline this entire paragraph makes me hate him even more.

Logic says to sell high, although I probably wouldn’t do so unless I was getting a near-sure bet in return.  (That GSW squad just can’t seem to stay healthy, so Maggette will likely get his minutes.)  But, because of the sub-1 threes/stl/blk, once Maggette’s 55% FG rate dips closer to his career averages, he’ll likely plummet out of top 10 status back into the top 50 range.  That’s still nice, but if you can snag someone like, say, Brandon Roy from a panicked owner (in a packaged deal), go for it.  Hey, you never know…

ROY Race

Aided by Monta Ellis’ gimpy anke, Stephen Curry continued to take steps forward, and in my mind he took a big step ahead of the pack in the fantasy ROY race, averaging 23, 5, and 5 with a whopping 3.8 threes and 1.5 spg.  Tyreke Evans, on the other hand, had a mediocre week (still averaging 20+ ppg with great percentages), although in his defense that entire SAC squad had a pretty terrible week.

And while he’s in danger of becoming an Also Ran, Brandon Jennings showed some signs of life, averaging 18 ppg and 7 apg with 2 threes/spg (albeit still shooting sub-40% from the field).  The emergence of Carlos Delfino and return of Jerry Stackhouse — both of which (at least for this week) seem much more like playmakers than Michael Redd ever was this year — seems to be having a positive effect on Young Money.  Sure, his big games this week also came against PGs that couldn’t quite abuse him (Aaron Brooks and Jonny Flynn), but at the least Jennings’ trade value has some life again, in case you need to unload that FG% off your squad.

And in other Week 13 news…

Randy Foye continued to hit his shots until a 3-9 dud on Sunday, which made me feel a little better about ‘selling high’ on him earlier in the week.  What also made me feel better: Dwyane Wade’s awesome 2 games after my deal went through.  (In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, I traded Iggy, Foye, and Yi Jianlian for Wade + 2 scrubs who turned into Carlos Delfino and Drew Gooden.  Robin Lopez was sadly picked up before my trade cleared waivers.)

Rashard Lewis is still missing a lot of shots, but also seems to be a more active member of the offense.  There is hope…

F my life — Joakim Noah has plantar fasciitis.  He seemed to be upbeat about the situation, but if he’s just being optimistic, Tyrus Thomas owners have to be thrilled.  (Thomas had 6 blk in 20-something minutes against the (undersized) Rockets in Noah’s DNP over the weekend.)  And by the way, here’s a message to FourPointPlay — I know you rigged my last poll!!  Lol.

Andre Miller continues to excel in Brandon Roy’s absence.

Lastly, Lou Williams’ fantasy season is on life support, but if you can afford to, I’d try to wait until the trade deadline next month before bailing on him.  Many think the 76ers will be active in trades, which might even include Lou but will more likely include Elton Brand or maybe even Andre Iguodala, the departure(s) of which would really help Lou’s fantasy life.  If you need more immediate assistance, see below.

WEEK 14 PICKUPS

It seems like we’ve reached a point in the fantasy season where a lot of managers (namely, the ones out of contention) have checked out.  This actually has a fairly significant impact on fantasy leagues — especially leagues that aren’t as deep — because it means there is a lot of talent in the free agent pool.  If you’re in a H2H league where a lot of these guys are available, it might actually pay off to cut those iffy players and start churning players.  (Although you probably want to hang onto some of these guys.)

Robin Lopez (42%)

Last week when I mentioned him, Lopez was owned in 7% of Yahoo leagues.  That’s up to 42% now, and it should be even more.  After Lopez posted two great lines to start the week, Channing Frye bounced back with a nice performance himself against CHI.  But it’s telling that Lopez and not Frye got the minutes in PHO’s next game against run-and-gun GSW.  Expect defenses to pay closer attention to Lopez in the future, but his starting job seems secure for now.

Since I think this site has more pictures of Robin Lopez than it can handle, I'll give Delfino some well-deserved publicity. (Getty Images)

Carlos Delfino (33%)

I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves: 16.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg, and 3.5 apg with 3.0 threes and 1.5 spg in 4 games last week.  Who knows if this can last, but you want to own Delfino while we all find out.

Drew Gooden (21%)

Gooden was projected by many to be the starting C in Dallas when the year began, but due to injury and Erick Dampier’s strong play, he’s mainly played a bench role.  Sunday may have just been a spot start (Dampier was a DNP-nagging injury), as Gooden probably matched up better against the more mobile David Lee anyway, but even in a bench role Gooden has quietly put up top 50 numbers (by averages) over the last month, with 10 and 8 to go along with ~1 stl/blk and great percentages before Sunday’s 15 and 16 outburst.

Delonte West (23%) and Daniel Gibson (8%)

West is the guy to own in February, but for this week Gibson will hit some threes and get some assists just being in the same building as LeBron.

Craig Smith (5%)

I mentioned that Rasual Butler (and Al Thornton) was worth long-term consideration after it was learned Blake Griffin would miss the entire season.  But it’s Craig Smith who has really thrived while not having to look over his shoulder.  He has solidified his place as the third wheel in that Clipper frontcourt, averaging 15 and 5 on 69% shooting over the last week.

George Hill (8%)

Hill has started three games in a row at SG and produced 16 ppg with 2.3 treys.  Keep an eye on this situation.

Other guys to pick up/keep an eye on: Mike Miller (44% — slowly coming around), Corey Brewer (42% — #38 in Yahoo rankings by averages last week), DeJuan Blair (29% — see last week), Matt Barnes (40%), Brandon Rush (26% — he’s been hot since Granger returned), Rasual Butler (30%), Chase Budinger (3% — if you need 3′s in deep leagues), Cartier Martin (1%).

Anyways.  The obvious pickup would be Delonte West… and that is exactly who you should grab right now.  In my main roto league, I just dropped another one of my favorite pickups, Luke Ridnour, for him.  I’d be a little more hesitant to make the same move in a H2H league, as Mo should be back by the fantasy playoffs, at which point West probably reverts to something closer to his current stats.  But if you need help making the playoffs, I think West will be better over the next 4-6 weeks, and maybe a little longer as Mo gets back into shape.

Anthony Parker (and Daniel Gibson) should see a bump in production as well.  And there’s an outside chance Shaquille O’Neal could pick up some offensive slack, as Mo often leads the second unit when LeBron is out of the game.  That’s just a hunch, and I still don’t want him on my team though.  But if you have Shaq in a deeper league, there is some room for optimism…

(By the way, “Raaaaaaaandy!” is actually spelled exactly correctly.  It’s a reference to Aziz Ansari’s character in the movie Funny People.  Check it out at LaughYourDickOff.com.  Yes, you read that right.)

Randy Foye got off to such a hot start as Agent 0's replacement, you knew Fantasy Hoopster had to trade him. (Getty Images)

Randy Foye

Gilbert who?  Life went on in WAS without Gilbert Arenas, with Antawn Jamison picking up much of the slack.  But it was Foye who particular impressed this past week, playing the best stretch of his year, so of course I just traded him.  Was it the right move?  Who knows, but here’s my reasoning.

Reasons to sell high: He’s shooting well above his career FG% right now.  If Caron Butler or Jamison gets traded, that might translate into more points but at a less efficient rate, which equals a bad tradeoff in my mind (at least for my particular team).  Also, when Mike Miller returns that’ll likely dent into Foye’s AST totals.

Reasons to keep: Apparently he has the reins to the team.  He took shots at the end of both overtimes (missing both) against Chicago.  Maybe he just needed a new setting and style of offense to excel.  His only (current) competition at PG is technically considered a dwarf in certain countries.

Obviously, I leaned towards the former.  In my trade, I packaged Foye along with Andre Iguodala (I also threw in Yi Jianlian) for Dwyane Wade and a couple scrubs who I plan to drop for Luke Ridnour and another player to be determined.  Yes, I know I overpaid, but the trade made sense to me for several reasons, which I might point out in another post if people are interested.

Also, going back to an earlier post when Arenas was first suspended, back then I decided not to drop Nate Robinson for Foye, but then quickly decided to drop Tyrus Thomas instead.  I’m sure most of you have already figured out Foye is currently the hottest player of all three, although as exhibited on Saturday night, he’s not perfect.

Kevin Martin

Martin returned this week and quickly resumed draining threes again.  That’s not too surprising.  The more interesting subplot (or is it main plot now?) to this story involves his effect on a couple of Sacto’s rising rookies: Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi.

Two games isn’t much of a sample, but it appears as if Evans won’t be affected too much at all — he still controlled the ball for the most part and his shot attempts were still there — while Casspi’s role in the offense was reduced.  This isn’t too surprising; even though Martin just signed a nice extension, I’d argue Evans is Sacto’s new franchise player now.  It’s still early, but I’m glad I didn’t advise anyone to sell high on Evans.  Sadly, I also didn’t have enough balls to advise trading for him from a panicked manager who might’ve sold him on the cheap.  Either way, if you own Evans I’d breathe a slight sigh of relief, although everything is fluid in fantasy of course.

As for Casspi, I think some of those shot attempts might come back, but probably not at a consistent enough level for him to be mentioned in the fantasy ROY race anymore.  Evans and Martin are going to get their shots, so that probably means a lot of inconsistency for the rest of the Kings, especially Casspi.

ROY Race

This hasn’t been much of a race lately, at least not between Brandon Jennings and Tyreke Evans.  (Hello, Stephen Curry with your 6 stl/fouls against MIL on Friday night.)  I just mentioned Evans has a great chance to retain most of his value even with KevMart back, but it’s the absence of Michael Redd that might revitalize Jennings’ season.  Jennings is clearly a rhythm shooter, and he never quite found the rhythm (or volume) for his shots with Redd back.  But now that he (and Andrew Bogut) are the primary offensive options in MIL again, Jennings has a chance to get back to his old numbers… although I wouldn’t expect him to shoot above 40%.  If you can handle the ugly shooting, you might be able to snag him with a lowball offer.

Samuel Dalembert

Dalembert has been on a tear the entire month of January, and his last couple games have been particularly sweet.  In the past, I’ve recommended him as a waiver wire pickup that people should sell high on if possible because of his historic inconsistency, but I think I’m changing my tune now, for two (non-stat-based) reasons.

Dalembert’s productivity (along with a lot of other NBA players) is often directly related to his motivation/focus.  Well non-stat-based reason #1 that I like Sammy D the rest of the way is because he really plays with more passion whenever Allen Iverson is on the court.  Back when Iverson was first signed by the 76ers, I mentioned Dalembert even had dreams that AI would return to the squad.  Man-crush or motivation?  Who knows, but it’s translated into great numbers for Sammy D.

Non-stat-based reason #2, on the other hand, is no joking matter at all.  Dalembert is a native Haitian, and in the two games since the tragedy in Haiti, a lot of people have been saying he’s played with a clear focus (14.5 ppg and 16.5 rpg with 2 bpg while shooting a combined 13-15 from the floor).  I hate to bring reality into a blog about pure fantasy, but if you’ve ever had something absolutely shitty happen to you in real life, I’m sure you can relate with “focusing on work” as a temporary escape.  I don’t think NBA players are an exception to that, and it looks like Dalembert might be playing with a heavy heart from here on out.

By the way, there are a ton of ways to help out with the earthquake in Haiti.  Here’s one organization that’s already been working there for 20 years that some friends of mine have volunteered for.  It’s called Partners in Health, and I know they make a difference if you’re worried about how your donations are spent.

And in other Week 12 (fantasy) news:

As the guys at GiveMeTheRock point out, Charlotte is on a roll, led by none other than Stephen Jackson.  Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton are still playing well, but the other big fantasy news out of CHA is Boris Diaw, who is finally adjusting to his new teammate.  Buy low if you can.

In LA, Pau Gasol returned from injury, and Andrew Bynum decided to put up another great line.  This is encouraging news if you own Bynum, although I wouldn’t expect it to be the norm.  I still expect Bynum to have many more night like this, but with some mediocre games sprinkled in.

In Chicago, Joakim Noah is on fire from the free throw line and the sole reason why I’ve risen a couple spots in that category so far this month in one roto league.

In Indiana, Roy Hibbert is on fire from everywhere… and that’s with Danny Granger and Troy Murphy back.  Remember when I said he’d average a double-double with 2 bpg back when he was mired in a slump?  Even I laughed at myself.  Expect some inconsistency, but I’m glad/relieved I still have him in all my leagues.

WEEK 13 PICKUPS

Since my top pick from last week is still owned in less than half of Yahoo leagues, I’ll just mention Kirk Hinrich (49%) first.  Okay, there.  Now onto to some fresh meat.

Rasual Butler (26%)

Just in case you were wondering who that guy who keeps hitting 3's for your team looks like... (Getty Images)

Okay, so he’s not exactly fresh because this is probably the fourth time he’s made this list.  Also, I alluded to this earlier in the week, but with Blake Griffin out for the year, both Butler and Al Thornton don’t have to look over their shoulders quite as much anymore.  I much prefer Butler (as does Mike Dunleavy Sr.), and he has a real chance to keep up his current pace of 13.8 ppg with 1.7 threes as starting SF (including 33 pts and 4 treys versus the Cavs Saturday night), albeit with some inconsistency.

DeJuan Blair (23%)

I mentioned Blair in a recent Eye-Opening Lines post.  Since then, the undersized center had 8 and 8 in a foul-plagued game against MEM.  If you need a big man, check him out.

Luke Ridnour (38%), Ersan Ilyasova (38%), and Carlos Delfino (6%)

I mentioned these guys last week, and I still like them to benefit from Michael Redd’s season-ending injury (roughly in this order).  At one point earlier in the year, Ridnour was actually ranked in the top 50 as he was an efficient source of 3′s and ast.  Meanwhile Ilyasova had already been solid in recent weeks, while Delfino exploded for 28 pts in his last game.

Robin Lopez (7%)

I’ve been waiting for Lopez to eat into Channing Frye’s minutes all year and it finally happened last week.  In PHO’s two most recent games, Lopez averaged 12.5 ppg and 4.5 bpg in 27 mpg (all season highs).  One of the games was a blowout; one was highly contested.  I’m not sure if this is a trend, but pay close to attention if you need blk.

Some guys I’ve spent plenty of ink on already:

Mike Miller (37% — no official word on return, but should be owned in most leagues), Martell Webster (47%), Matt Barnes (29% — if you’re worried about Rashard Lewis, it’s actually Barnes and not Vince Carter who is hurting him more)

Some other guys to keep an eye on:

Corey Brewer (34%), Jonas Jerebko (7% — back in the starting lineup…for now), Delonte West (21%), Steve Blake (10% — still hitting 3′s as a sub), Vladimir Radmanovic (5% — check status), Chuck Hayes (12% — last week’s averages were inflated by a monster 3OT game, but he was relevant earlier in the year), Earl Watson (10%), Jared Jeffries (1% — still a cheap source of stl/blk), James Posey (5%), Shannon Brown (2%), DeAndre Jordan (3% — check Chris Kaman’s status)

Elbows to his face aren't the only high-percentage shots Carl Landry is taking lately. (Getty Images)

Week 9 featured the return of some quality fantasy backups, the emergence and re-emergence of some efficiency experts, and the re-emergence of an inefficiency expert.

Tyrus Thomas, Leandro Barbosa, and Jameer Nelson

All three guys returned this week, and I’m pretty psyched to have all three on one of my squads (Thomas and Barbosa as of two weeks ago).  Thomas made the biggest noise with a 21 and 9 performance vs. the Hornets Saturday night, while Barbosa had a couple solid games and Nelson was a little up-and-down.  Needless to say, all three should be taken in most formats.

Zach Randolph and Carl Landry

Meanwhile, two guys who started off the season with fairly pedestrian numbers have really stepped their games up over the last several weeks.  Don’t look now, but Z-Bo is averaging 23 and 14 in the month of December on 51% shooting from the field and a ridiculous 92% from the stripe.  Meanwhile, Carl “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth” Landry has averaged 17.6 and 5.6 on a whopping 63% from the field and 86% from the stripe (and with a nice 7 attempts per game).

They’re also both relatively cheap trade targets, for different reasons.  Landry, because he’s still relatively unknown, and Randolph, because he’s traditionally known as only a “points and rebounds” guy, which is still mostly true (he’s also at 1.1 spg over the last month), but his efficiency has translated into a #28 ranking by Yahoo averages over the last month.  (Landry is #44.)  Both will likely drop off  some, but if you’re going to target either, you can probably get Landry at a much better value, although you might want to wait for him to stop having 20-point games before making an offer.

(And speaking of efficiency, I also wanted to note another potentially “cheap” guy.  Raymond Felton is ranked a ridiculous #14 over the last month, shooting 53% from the field and 90% from the line.  Again, he likely can’t keep that up, but he looks to have turned a corner with his improved shot selection.)

Gilbert Arenas

Meanwhile, everyone’s favorite inefficiency expert is finally hitting enough shots and providing enough stats everywhere else to come close to justifying his third round draft pick selections.  Over the last week, Arenas averaged 24, 6, and 6 with 2 threes and a steal per game.  He shot less than 40% from the field and turned the ball over more than 4 times per game, but these numbers are probably closer to what you were expecting from Agent 0 all along.

Brandon Jennings vs. Tyreke Evans vs. Stephen Curry

Jennings had a pretty rough week adjusting to the return of Michael Redd and just generally playing poorly.  Meanwhile, Evans had another great week, including leading the Kings in that sick comeback against the Bulls and perhaps cementing his position as the top rookie over the first trimester of the season.  But it’s Curry who’s ranked highest by averages over the last month.  I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves:

All I want for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa is Stephen Curry and Carl Landry on my team.  I can’t believe I don’t have either in any of my leagues, which somehow kind of makes me hate/love my leagues at the same time.  Anyhow… onto the pickups.

WEEK 10 PICKUPS

Yi Jianlan (38%)

The Nets are 2-22 without Yi, and 0-6 with Yi. The analysis? Holy F that's ugly. But you should still check out Yi. (AP)

Yi returned from injury and had his best game of the season with 22 pts, 8 reb, and 4 treys vs. the Wolves.  He followed that up with a solid 17 and 6 performance vs. the Rockets in a near-upset.  Yes, Chris Douglas-Roberts was a DNP for both contests so Yi might not get as many looks in the future.  But then again, the Nets are a team that has suddenly made CDR a very useful fantasy option, so just imagine what Yi’s potential is…  (I picked him up last week in one league.)

Omri Casspi (19%)

Although Casspi didn’t start the Kings’ last game, he still got big minutes and posted a double-double.  I’m still not sure how Kevin Martin’s return will affect him as they don’t play the exact same position, but that’s still a while away.

Delonte West (20%)

Last week I worried a little that Mo Williams would take a small hit with Delonte coming back to form (a la the beginning of last season).  Well, Mo had a great week while Delonte posted another week of solid numbers as well.  (It looks like Anthony Parker might be the one to take a hit in productivity for now.)  If you need an efficient source of across-the-board production a la one of my other favorite FA guys C.J. Watson, check out West.

Jarrett Jack (39%)

As long as Jose Calderon is out and the Raptors are unable to say exactly when he’ll be back, Jack can post solid fantasy numbers for your squad.  I might not drop a long-term prospect for him, but if you need another week of solid stats, check him out.

Rasual Butler (13%)

Here’s another guy whose value will likely take a dip when a teammate (Blake Griffin, even though he’s at a different position) comes back, but as of now, Butler is getting the minutes at SF for the Clippers over Al Thornton and he produced at a clip of 15 pts with 1.7/0.7/1.3 threes/stl/blk last week.

Other guys I’ve mentioned before who still deserve a look: C.J. Watson (13%), Quentin Richardson (19%), Brandon Rush (23%), Earl Watson (7%), C.J. Miles (4%), Martell Webster (11%), Kyle Lowry (14%), Serge Ibaka (3%)

7 minutes in heaven? Seventh graders are getting more play than T-Mac is right now... (Getty Images)

In Week 8, some of the most important fantasy happenings occurred off the court, with several fantasy stars on the verge of returning to the court.  It also featured Superman returning to form, T-Mac getting “out-played” by seventh graders, and a possible new contender in the fantasy ROY race.

Lou Williams, Jameer Nelson, and Tyrus Thomas (and Marreese Speights)

Hopefully you heard some of my barking (as well as some of the guys on my message boards) and were quick enough to pick up Williams, Nelson, or Thomas over the past week.  Williams actually already returned to action with a subpar outing versus the Clippers, but with Allen Iverson out at least a week due to arthritis, Sweet Lou will have plenty of time to get back into form… and before we know it, Iverson will be the one adjusting to him instead of the other way around.

Meanwhile, Nelson is expected to return early in Week 9, while Thomas will likely return at the end of the week.  And another guy who returned to the lineup after an extended absence and has already turned in 3 solid (including one great) game is Marreese Speights.  With both Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert healthy and playing decently, I’m not expecting too much consistency from Speights.  But if you need help at C, he’s definitely worth a look, and he’s only taken in 30% of Yahoo leagues right now.

By the way, if you missed out on any of the above guys, the next (mini) wave of injured guys returning includes Leandro Barbosa (expected to return around mid-to-late week) and in deeper leagues, Yi Jianlian (expected back mid-week).

Dwight Howard

Meanwhile, Superman returned to form, averaging 17 and 18 with 4.5 bpg in 4 games.  It’s no coincidence this Superman-esque stretch occurred after a Dec. 11 game at Phoenix in which the Suns went Hack-a-Howard and allowed D-12 to only get off 1 (yes ONE) field goal attempt.  I unsuccessfully tried to buy low on Howard all year in one H2H league where I already own Rajon Rondo and Andrew Bogut (FT% punt, anyone?), and that window has probably slammed shut for good now.  Oh well.

By the way, I happened to play against this same guy who owns D-12 in that H2H league this week and still managed to eke out a 5-3-1 win with a classic anti-D-12 strategy: targeting FT%, 3PM, AST, and STL; punting FG% and REB; and churning to go after one of his strong categories — BLK, which I ended up tying him in.  (I also happened to win TO.)  Just in case anyone has to face the reborn D-12 anytime soon…

Caron Butler

Thanks to a few fantasy-friendly matchups and an injury hampered (but still active) Antawn Jamison, Butler had possibly his best week of the year, averaging 18.5 and 7 with 3.3 spg and solid percentages in 4 road games.  Even with an expected drop in AST, I thought Butler had the all-around game (and track record playing alongside Gilbert Arenas in 06-07) to have a top 30 season this year.  Well, he needed a favorable schedule and injury to a teammate to have a top 30 week.  But is this a buy low point or a sell high point?  The safest thing to do is probably wait and see when Jamison gets healthy again, but if you can sell him (or get him) at a nice price, by all means go for it.

Brandon Jennings vs. Tyreke Evans (vs. Stephen Curry?)

The matchup of the two best real-life and fantasy rookies played out on Saturday night, so I was of course having a holiday dinner with my girlfriend’s parents (and I also failed to negotiate the rights to my own smart phone — so alas, no stat checking until later that night).  The box score didn’t feature anything too eye-opening, with Jennings chipping in 15, 6, and 9 while Evans delivered 24, 7, and 3.  In fact, that’s pretty much what both have been doing all year — Evans with better FG%, Jennings countering with AST, Evans stepping up his STL, Jennings coming back with 3′s, etc.

But in real life the game was much more exciting, and Evans may have delivered the perfect counter-punch to Jennings’ double-nickel in the real life ROY race, scoring the go-ahead bucket with 0.9 seconds left.

But in the fantasy race, we just might have a new contender in Stephen Curry, who had the best game of his career on Friday versus the Wizards with 30, 8, and 4, including 5 threes and 3 steals.  Don’t look now, but over the last month Curry is ranked #33 in Yahoo leagues by averages, averaging 14, 4, and 4 with 1.4 3pg and 2.5 spg.  I don’t believe in selling low on any of my players, but I’ve even been considering offering Russell Westbrook for Curry in a roto league where I need a boost in FG% without sacrificing too much elsewhere.  Just a thought; I’ll keep you posted if anything happens.

Other Week 8 Highlights

A couple fantasy “surprises” continue to roll.  Raymond Felton posted another top 50 week, punctuated by a studly 27, 9 and 7 line against the Knicks on Sunday.  Yes, the Bobcats were without Gerald Wallace the entire game and Stephen Jackson during crunch time, but Felton still hit 11-22 shots and only turned the ball over 3 times.  His efficiency continues to amaze me, and each week it looks more and more like a 45+ FG% might actually be possible…

Meanwhile, Danilo Gallinari might have had his best (real life, not fantasy… but also very solid in fantasy) game of the year in that same game on Sunday, chipping in 22 pts and 2/2/2 3pm/stl/blk, including the game-saving/winning block.  His starting spot seems pretty safe for now.

Also, don’t look now but the Knicks are 9-8 after a 1-9 start (and 6-2 in their last 8).  Looks like their D’Antoni’s decision not to sign AI has really inspired the team to play better ball.  Al Harrington has been a big part of that, but the two most important ingredients have been Chris Duhon (65% owned) and Wilson Chandler (76%).  Make sure both those guys aren’t available on waivers.  Jared Jeffries (3%) is also worth a look if you need help in the defensive categories.

And in other news…

Andre Miller is starting but not doing too much with the extra vote of confidence yet.

Jason Thompson is rapidly approaching center-eligibility (at least in Yahoo leagues).

And Tracy McGrady is spending less time on the court than seventh-graders spend locking lips in the closet on a Friday night.

WEEK 9 PICKUPS

If you missed out on Lou Williams (56% owned), Jameer Nelson (76%), or Tyrus Thomas (41%), check out Leandro Barbosa (54%) or Yi Jianlian (21%).  I’ve also already mentioned Marreese Speights (31%) and for deeper leagues Jared Jeffries (3%).  Here are some more potential short-term and long-term pickups.

Roy Hibbert (43%)

Given my man-crush on Hibbert, after he dominated Tim Duncan Saturday night (20 and 7 with 6 blk), I absolutely had to drop Tyrus Thomas (who I had just picked up) for him in one league.  (I already own Hibbert in all my other leagues.)  Just click on Hibbert’s name in the Tag Cloud to the right to see why, but mainly it’s because I think Hibbert will average close to a double-double with 2 bpg when all is said and done, with an added boost in points this next month while Danny Granger mends.

Omri Casspi wishes Gilbert Arenas a Happy Hanukkah by delivering a kosher facial. (Getty Images)

Omri Casspi (16%)

It looks like Casspi will be a fixture in the starting lineup for now, at least until Kevin Martin (and Francisco Garcia) return.  He contributed back-to-back 20-pt games in his first two starts, and Paul Westphal seems determined to keep him in the starting lineup for now, starting him at — get this — PF then SG then SF to see where Casspi best fits.  It doesn’t hurt that the Kings have gone 2-1 in those 3 games as well.

By the way, this move initially sent Spencer Hawes to the bench in what was likely a motivational ploy.  Hawes has since returned to the starting lineup, and I still own him in most my leagues, although as I mentioned in an earlier post I dropped him for Thomas (then Hibbert) in one league.  In other words, he should still be rostered in most formats.

Quentin Richardson (13%)

Yes, that’s right.  Q went 7-7 on 3′s against the Blazers Sunday.  The Heat need his defense to help spell Dwyane Wade from guarding the other team’s top wing player, and of course Q responds by hitting some 3′s too.  He’s just as likely to go 0-7 his next game, but I’d be willing to find out if I needed 3′s in a deeper league, especially with 1 of the Heat’s 3 games this week against the Knicks (Christmas day).

Delonte West (18%)

West’s minutes and production have steadily increased his last 3 games, culminating in an 18, 7, and 4 performance against the Mavs on Sunday.  I’m not sure whether the bigger fantasy story here is West’s increasing production, or Mo Williams’ sub-par last 3 games though…

Earl Watson (4%)

Not only do the Pacers have a nice 4-game schedule this week, but Watson started his second game of the year over T.J. Ford on Saturday and the Pacers nearly upset the Spurs.  Watson’s stats (3 pts, 5 ast) were nothing spectacular, but keep a close eye on this situation.

Tim Thomas (1%)

Thomas had a nice spot-start for Dirk Nowitzki on Sunday and might be worth a fantasy spot-start if Dirk can get the teeth kinks out of his elbow by the Mavs’ next game on Tuesday.

Other guys I’ve mentioned before and still like: Joel Przybilla (39%), C.J. Watson (17%), Anderson Varejao (47%), Martell Webster (12%), Jonas Jerebko (7%), C.J. Miles (3%), Josh Boone (4%).

Other guys to keep an eye on: Andray Blatche (38%), Jarrett Jack (35%), Jose Juan Barea (12%), James Harden (36%), Kyle Lowry (9%), Dorell Wright (3%), Willie Green (3%).

Fantasy basketball draft rankings: 126-150

These rankings are based on a standard 9-category format, with a slight leaning towards H2H leagues, although differing strategies for roto leagues are noted when applicable.