Fantasy Basketball: Many Players Can Be Jettisoned

By Steve Krebs | Feb 4, 2015

Dec 31, 2014; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Gerald Green (14) reacts after being called for a foul against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

We all have worthless clutter that for some reason, manages to keep itself around, even though it is of no use whatsoever. Whether, that consists of pizza boxes circa Christmas 2011, or just a bunch of ties with the tags still on them (even though you have not had an office job in years) , that depends entirely on the person.

Though, in Fantasy Basketball, purpose is everything, so having one or not, means being on a roster, or becoming waiver fodder.

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If even one of the following individuals reside on your team, either your league is inactive, extremely deep, or you are hoping every other game before and after their hot stretch was the exception. Any of these reasons hold no weight in an argument to keep them, and here they are:

Gerald Green – The DNP based on a coach’s decision, followed by a three-minute performance, is certainly not the best way to keep yourself on any roster, let alone one where only about 150-180 out of the whole league are of any worth.

The three-pointers have been steady all season, but other than that it’s been quite the ho-hum campaign for Green. Over the past 30 days, he falls at 162 on the ESPN player rater, which includes being better than a 1 compared to the rest of the league in only the three-pointers made category.

The following statement stands for any player in fantasy basketball; if they are only going to produce in one category, let someone else own them.

Alex Len – Staying in the land of the rising Suns, the Maryland product continues to develop quite slowly, and has some how surpassed Miles Plumlee as the starting center, and lost minutes to Brandan Wright, all in the same season — confusing, I know!

In the last two outings, Len failed to score a single point, on a total of six shots (eight if you count free-throws) , while playing a combined total of 41 minutes. Over the last 30 days, he is averaging 5/6, with help in field goal percentage (.559) , and blocks (1.5) — productivity in two categories is not of much use either.

What a difference a month can make:

Evan Turner – For a second there, even I believed a good stretch might turn into something that sustains, considering it was not long ago where Turner was one of the only options on Philadelphia, and provided mid-/late-round value.

When you factor in coach Brad Stevens’ wild minute fluctuations, the desire to get Marcus Smart a few more minutes of floor time, along with spraining his thumb, it would be a complete waste of time to think better days are on the horizon.

Jusuf Nurkic – Owners are holding onto a strong two-week stretch that was so productive, Denver moved Timofey Mozgov thinking they had an ace in the hole, problem is they have something else that can be fused with the word hole in regards to their coach — Bryan Shaw will not give the frontcourt high volume minutes, and that’s just it.

Even before the return of JaVale McGee, Nurkic was not touching the 25-minute mark every contest. The eight rebounds over the past 15 days, with 1.3 blocks, is decent — but that 40 percent field goal shooting for a center, though … is a tough one to roster.

It would take the firing of Shaw for this situation to turn itself around to the point of possible consideration, but Jusuf is definitely not someone owners should be rolling out there when they are trying to make a push for the playoffs.

Channing Frye – Certainly a player you only add for when the shots are falling, because the 39 percent field goal percentage is a killer. Frye will not do much in any department but three-pointers made, which means you can find a lot more across the board value from your wire.

With Kyle O’ Quinn sneaking his was back into the good graces of coach Jacque Vaughn‘s lineup, it is almost a death sentence unless the axe finally falls on Vaughn, and the next coach feels Channing is the better play – one of those two things are entirely more likely to happen than the other.

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