Evan Turner, PHI: Philadelphia’s new starting shooting guard may not be Allen Iverson, but he’s averaging 17 points and 12 rebounds over his last four games. Pretty sure AI never did that! The word out of Sixer camp is that Turner is feeling more confident lately, resulting in a higher level of play. A little confidence certainly never hurt anybody, and maybe it’s all Turner needed to begin with his breakout.
Ersan Ilyasova, MIL: None other than Ersan Ilyasova posted the best numbers in fantasy basketball last week, and that’s whether you sort it by totals or averages. He put up 25 points, 11 rebounds, and a pair of threes per game as the Bucks went 3-1, losing only to Chicago. I think it’s more than safe to say he’ll be continuing to beast for the duration of the season… and then he’s gonna get paid.
Goran Dragic, HOU: Kyle Lowry is out at least a couple of weeks with some sort of bacterial infection. Goran Dragic has probably already been added to someone’s roster, but you should check anyway. Dragic will be starting until Lowry comes back, obviously, and he averaged 17/5 last week. Man, I wish the T-Wolves had Dragic to fill in for Rubio.
Arron Afflalo, DEN: Afflalo did not score 20 points one time in his first 23 games of the season. He did it twice last week, and even had a career-high 32 against the Kings. It appears that he’s finally turned the corner after a disappointing start (not just saying that because of two games… he’s been pretty good since February).
Mike Dunleavy, MIL: Back on February 13th I recommended giving Dunleavy a look in deeper leagues. If you followed my advice, you’ve gotten… well… maybe not as much as you’d hoped. However, Dunny Jr. did manage to knock down seven threes last week as his minutes spiked up. Milwaukee plays three games between now and Friday, so I suppose Dunleavy could serve as an inexpensive source of offense in the near future.
Corey Maggette, CHA: Did you hang onto Corey Maggette this season in hopes that he’d eventually take advantage of a good fantasy situation? I did… and that’s probably why I’m 12 games under .500. I looked like I knew what I was doing last week, though, as Maggette’s 90% freethrowing (on about 10 attempts per game) helped me lock up a 6-3 victory. Actually, wait a minute… yeah, I lost FT%.
Raymond Felton, POR: Benching Felton didn’t work, so he’s back in the starting lineup now. That hasn’t really worked either (for the Blazers, I mean), but it’s led to a bit of an individual resurgence. Ray put up 16/7 last week, but most importantly he shot over 50% from the floor. Four games of solid play don’t equal a turnaround, obviously, but he probably just had his best week of the season so I figured I’d report it.
Brandon Bass, BOS: Chris Wilcox will be out for the remainder of the season, making Boston’s front line especially thin. Bass isn’t much of a fantasy player as all he really does is score (and rebound a bit), but at least he’ll be on the floor a lot. That makes better than most free agents in a 14-team league by default.
DeAndre Jordan, LAC: DJ hasn’t played 30 minutes in a game since February. This 20-game month of March was supposed to be when fantasy owners cashed in on their Clippers, but Jordan’s disinterested play has been landing him on the bench. Last night, as the Clipps lost to Golden State, DeAndre was virtually unheard from in 19 minutes. Meanwhile, Reggie Evans came in, had a double-double, and sparked a 21-point comeback.
JR Smith, NYK: It’s certainly fair to say JR has struggled since joining the New York Knicks. He’s shooting just 37% from the field, and even worse from three-point range. I think you should stick it out with JR, though, assuming there isn’t some great free agent available. He figures to get hot eventually.
