Moving And Shaking: He Who Laughs Last

"Hold the phone, I'm going to the D-League?"

For those of you who are joining us for the for the first time, Moving And Shaking is a weekly (*cough*) piece that examins the moves made in my 176 leagues by myself or other owners in the league. It’s really a moment to reflect on who did what throughout the week. It’s what we do at Damn Lies.

This week I wanted to start the piece by talking about a transaction question I was e-mailed from one of my favorite readers, Mark. In Mark’s 16-team league making moves is key, and using your waiver priority is a must since you know that at least one other owner in your league is after the same gold you’re after. In Mark’s case, the gold happens to be D-League dunce Terrence Williams. The quandary here is, with Williams being recalled to the Nets from the ‘D’ should Mark use a waiver add on T-Will and drop Greg Monroe or Wesley Johnson. Here’s the catch: Johnson is keeper-eligible and Williams isn’t, while if he were to drop Monroe he would face a 25-point deduction for the week (points league) since he had picked up Monroe and hadn’t used him since adding him. You still with me? Good. So, is a 25-point hit worth Williams or does dropping a keeper like Johnson make more sense in order to grab T-Will.

Let’s find out, after the jump!

In this instance I would say that if you are inclined to add Williams, drop Monroe. While Monroe has been more productive in the early months than Williams has, T-Will is a higher impact player. That doesn’t mean he’ll be on the court to show off his talents (just ask Troy Murphy about that!), but it also doesn’t make sense to drop Johnson if you’re able to keep him at a low cost. Johnson has shown that he can go off (see: Cleveland, Dec. 4), but his true value will be realized next season. Give him a year to grow in the system and he’ll be a nice fantasy impact player. With Monroe not eligible as a keeper, you’re basically losing a guy who has similar value to Johnson while not impacting next season. Really at this point you’re talking about three low-impact players, so the keeper status takes the nod. If you feel inclined to add Williams, drop Monroe.

Added: Spencer Hawes (C, PHI)
Dropped: Kris Humphries (PF, NJN)

Tomato, tomato. Hawes and Humphries are very similar in what they can and can’t do on the court. Both rebound fairly well, with Humphries getting a slight nod in that category, and both are low-impact scorers. They can also reach up and block a few shots and neither shoots free throws particularly well. Hawes has a slight advantage in hitting the occasional 3-pointer, but this season he’s only 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. Really what’s happening here is the owner is moving on a big who is trending upward while selling on a player who’s had minimal impact over his last three games. This is the way that fantasy basketball is supposed to be played. Neither Humphries or Hawes are going to useful options all season long, so you go with the hot hand. No complaints on this move. Humphries will be added another 3-4 times before the season ends. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Hawes becomes a casualty of a Hump-day add.

Added: Brandon Rush (SG/SF, IND)
Dropped: Marvin Williams (SF, ATL)

I like this move, a lot. I’ve been pushing Rush for some time now, so it’s good to see that owner ‘Flock of Seagulls’ is on the same page as me. Rush is starting for the Pacers, again, and has been excellent over the last three games (including Monday against the Raptors when he came off the bench). He has 12 threes and 62 points on 55 percent shooting over his last three games. Do the math! Williams, on the other hand, was supposed to step up with Joe Johnson out of the lineup. Nope. Didn’t happen. He has one 3-pointer and 14 points over his last three games. Again, do the math yourself. Great move here. Williams has proven to be nothing more than a lazy talent. Damn shame.

Added: Richard Hamilton (SG, DET)
Dropped: Carl Landry (PF, SAC)

This one looks like a wash right now. Hamilton is a better basketball player than he is a fantasy player, while Landry has been wasting away in Sacramento thanks to Paul Westphal and his inability to stick with a rotation. Hamilton adds little besides points, threes and a nice FT%. Not much else. Landry is a guy who can score, block shots, rebound and shoot at a high FG%. But this season his minutes have been erratic, so really he’s been nothing more than a low-impact disappointment. On Monday against the Clippers, however, he did play 34 minutes and score 15 points with three rebounds and two blocks. He’ll regain his value, which is why I have a hard time dropping him, but if you need help in Hamilton’s categories and he’s there for the taking, I say go for it. It will all even out in the end when you’re complaining about being stuck with Hamilton while Landry is starting to regain his confidence.

There really wasn’t much movement in my many leagues. Aside from the laugher of a trade offer Jeff made, trying to send Chauncey Billups to another owner for Andrew Bogut (really, Jeff?!) there were no deals. Some weeks are diamond, some weeks are stone.