Day 63 of 170: Tracy McGrady Has Earned $502,732 Per Minute This Season

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball
Posted on: December 29th, 2009

Line of the Night: It’s been a relatively quiet year for Gilbert Arenas (1.05), in regards to both his on and off the court performance. Arenas currently sits at 117 on the GMTR 9-cat player rater, thanks to a second worst in the league 3.8 turnovers a game. Last night against the Grizzlies he still had 4 turnovers, but compensated for that with 30 points, 5 assists, 5 threes and 5 steals. If you can take the turnovers or play in a league that doesn’t count them, then Arenas might be a guy worth acquiring in a trade as he’s been getting better and better as the month of December has gone on.

Honorable Mentions: Nene Hilario (0.98) scored 28 points in a loss to the Kings, adding 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. Nene and Melo were the only two bright spots in that game for the Nuggets; Rajon Rondo (0.92) scored 30 points with 15 assists as the Celtics lost (lost!) to the Warriors. This is after losing on Sunday to the Clippers and I want to know if Nostradamus predicted death for us all by the end of the day today; Zach Randolph (0.85) torched the Wizards for 23 points and 19 rebounds (somebody get Z-Bo a towel, he’s about to explode); and Kevin Durant (0.79) dropped a 40 spot on the Nets.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Andres Nocioni (0.86) – currently owned in 11% of leagues – has been the equivalent of a fantasy roller coaster ride this season (a couple big peaks with a heavy dose of drops). Coming off 4 straight games where he scored 3 points or less, Nocioni scored 21 points off the bench against the Nuggets, adding 6 rebounds and 4 threes. It’s best to stay away from the Noc right now as consistency hasn’t been his strength.

Jared Dudley (0.71) has been doing some good things lately for the Suns. Last night he scored 19 points and grabbed 7 boards in 28 minutes off the bench against the Lakers. He now has 3 double-digit scoring games in a row; and Yi Jianlian (0.32) is currently owned in 49% of leagues. That number will be much higher very soon considering he’s back and now starting for the Nets.

Auf Wiedersehen: Tracy McGrady and the Rockets have agreed to let him take a leave of absence while the team explores trade options. And what team wouldn’t want that $23 million contract? Fantasy wise, it doesn’t have much of an impact on the Rockets since they were already playing without him, although I guess Kyle Lowry and Jermaine Taylor can breathe a little easier now that their bench duties remain safe.

The Biggest Loser: You know who wasn’t good for the Nuggets yesterday? J.R. Smith (-0.71). Smith shot 1-9 for the night and didn’t hit a three in his 23 minutes off the bench. I’d call it the universe evening itself out after Smith hit 10 threes on the 23rd.

All Eyez on Me:

Cleveland (24-8) at Atlanta (21-8) – Cleveland is allowing opponents to score 94 points a game this year, while the Hawks are averaging 105 a game. My guess is that the Hawks are slowed down in this one, like they were in Charlotte (83 points on the Nov 6th) and Detroit (88 points on Nov 29th).

Minnesota (7-24) at San Antonio (17-11) – It’s been a while since we checked in with Minnesota (and for good reason considering their record). But based on my quick read of Canis Hoopus, Jonny Flynn still needs to work on a few things, Corey Brewer keeps getting better, and Kevin Love remains God’s creation.

The Golden Ticket: Golden State (9-21) at Los Angeles (24-6) – Could the Warriors knock off the Celtics AND the Lakers in back-to-back nights? Andris Biedrins is finally back for Golden State after missing all but 4 games, but he’s clearly working himself back into game shape. Keep him out of your lineups if possible until you see a decent game out of him.

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Tags: Andres Nocioni, Gilbert arenas, J. R. Smith, Tracy McGrady