Three weeks into the NBA season and players are showing their worth for your fantasy team. Not all are performing up to standard thus far. Now is the time to identify the dead weight on your fantasy roster and cut it lose.
If you were looking for a bargain in a salary cap league and you stuffed your roster with expensive players leaving only scraps left. These guys might have looked like a decent option; truth of the matter is that there are many sleeper picks and players on the rise that can be had for cheap.
A six part series will look at each division and identify the fantasy duds. We are starting in the Atlantic division where we have identified the following five players who are underperforming. If you drafted any of these guys and are relying on them for fantasy points; cut your losses now and move on.
Leandro Barbosa – Boston Celtics
He was brought into Beantown as a means of getting Rajon Rondo some rest, with the potential for pairing the two in the backcourt in certain situations. Barbosa has seen his minutes severely limited to due to the fact that Rondo is the best player on the team and the catalyst of the offense. Don’t be fooled by the last few games production out of Barbosa as Rondo has been out with an ankle injury. Once Rondo is back in the starting lineup; Barbosa’s minutes will again revert back around 12 per game.
Excluding the past few games while filling in for Rondo, Barbosa had been a bust. With averages of 4.4 ppg, 1.4 apg and 0.7 rpg this was not the sparkplug off the bench that the Celtics were hoping for. Barbosa’s fantasy value is directly correlated to the health of Rajon Rondo; so long as Rondo is good-to-go, Barbosa needs to go.
Darko Milicic – Boston Celtics
Here is another Celtic that is a big zero in terms of fantasy value. Milicic has played in just one game thus far for the Celtics and has been a healthy DNP in the rest. In the one game where he saw action, he played just 5 minutes and registered a rebound. If you were taking a flyer on Milicic early on and were hoping he’d carve out some minutes ahead of Jared Sullinger or Chris Wilcox; that just didn’t pan out for you. This guy is representing serious wood on your team and he needs to be chopped immediately.
Josh Childress – Brooklyn Nets
Since his return to the NBA, Childress’s production has been in steady decline. This season is no exception in Brooklyn as he has officially hit rock-bottom. Childress has played in four games this season registering a total of 4 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. Now keep in mind that isn’t game averages or even one game’s stat line; nope, that is total production on the year. I’ll let you work out the averages, needless to say they represent zero in terms of fantasy value. Any gamble on Childress needs to be chalked up as a loss and move on.
Jason Kidd – New York Knicks
I’ll admit it, I like Jason Kidd. Years ago when he was a free-wheeling point guard who was a legitimate threat to register a triple-double every night; I drafted him every year onto my roster. Now a day we are seeing a nearly 40 year old guard who lacks the explosiveness and quickness to be an effective fantasy option.
The surprise for me was that Kidd isn’t registering the assists I thought he would. Mind you Carmelo Anthony is a create-my-own type of shot guy and Amare Stoudemire is still out with injury which limits the pick and roll options. Nonetheless, Kidd wouldn’t have been a cheap player in many drafts; he represented a mid-level value going in. There are plenty of players out there who are contributing much more and can be had for much less. For a guard getting almost 25 minutes a night and only registering 8.7 ppg, 3.0 apg and 2.3 rpg he can be easily replaced, and replace him you should.
Terrence Ross – Toronto Raptors
The lottery pick that shouldn’t have been just isn’t even coming close to expectations in Toronto. Once again I believe that Bryan Colangelo over reached in terms of drafting a player way ahead of scouting report speculation. Preseason talk was of Ross contending for ROY honors, and people were starting to buy the hype that Colangelo was selling.
The reality of situation is that here is a player who is getting about 10 minutes of game action a night and who looks lost and timid during the limited minutes he does get. In terms of fantasy value, averages of 3.9 ppg, 0.4 apg and 0.7 rpg are total garbage. Fantasy GM’s shouldn’t wait to see if this kid can produce; don’t keep players based on what they might do, cut him loose.