2010 GMTR Valentine Special

Categorized as: Author: Erik
Posted on: February 14th, 2010

It’s Valentines Day!

This season, we wanted to something a little bit different. As much as we were tempted to get our backs shaved like this dude…

We figured we should probably do something that our fantasy basketball readers would actually appreciate.

Last season, we did an “I heart (insert player name)” series. I kicked things off back then with a post about how I loved Danny Granger from the point of view of a  fantasy basketball manager.

This season, we wanted to mix things up a little.

It’s easy to say you “love” a chalk-clapping player, who fills up your fantasy team’s category-needs at an almost nightly basis. In fact, there’s nothing wrong with it all. Unfortunately, the chalk-clapping dude is already taken.

Since he’s busy this evening making, trying to give Dirk Nowitzki a defensive-headache. We thought about giving out some fantasy basketball love to some NBA players who aren’t as popular or aren’t as loved in fantasy basketball circles. All in appreciation of what they’ve been able to do this 2009-2010 fantasy basketball season.

Patrick chose Corey Maggette:

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Warriors forward Corey Maggette for reasons that I can’t I fully explain, and I probably don’t even really know. Alright, I always appreciated his efficiency as a shooting guard/small forward, his ability to put up good scoring numbers while maintaining great percentages. But, let’s be honest, Jason Terry and Manu Ginobili can also fill that role, only better and with less baggage. With the exception of a couple of season with the Clippers, Maggette has spent the greater part of his career either injured or underachieving to some extent. And after the Warriors signed him to an insane five year deal in 2008, he promptly played in only 51 games all of last season.

Maggette also started off this season slowly, shooting under 30% in three of the Warriors first four games and getting booed at home. And then, he slowly began to turn things around, rolling off six 20+ point games in the first half of November and really hitting stride in January when he topped 30 points on five different occasions. Maggette is now averaging 20.8 points per game this season on 52% shooting from the floor and 84% from the line. He has only missed 4 games through the all-star break. While that doesn’t put him in line to receive an ironman award or anything, it is nearly as many games as he played all last season. It’s almost enough to justify the contact the Warriors gave him. Almost.

Maggette is the second best Warrior on the roster right now and an underrated fantasy player considering that he is currently ranked #41 on the GMTR player rater. There is a good chance that he can’t keep this act up for an entire season, but for now it’s time to give Maggette some love for his ability to quietly put up top 50 numbers in a slightly unconventional way.

I chose Brendan Haywood:

Yeah, I chose Big Bren before the Wizards traded him to the Mavericks, just recently.

I’ve been wanting to do a post honouring those late-pick specials. Well the big men in particular who have been just solid for fantasy teams this season. I’ve been too Erick Dampier to follow through with it. So when Valentines Day was rolling around the corner, I decided it was the right time to give one of them his much deserved props – love if you will.

They’re not Brook Lopez nor Chris Bosh, and yet as long as their teams are not playing only one game for the week, you would normally expect them to stay in your starting line-ups.

Marc Gasol has been great. He’s even been chosen as a fantasy basketball all-star by some experts. He is still young, improving, and a GASOL.

Brendan Haywood, on the other hand, was almost forgotten in this fantasy draft by many drafters. A token last-pick flier by most. He played in six games last season, dealing with an injury that made him miss majority of the Wizards’ games. He has so far this season outperformed his ADP. He’s 88th on GMTR’s player rater, a far cry for from what you would expect 13th pick in most 12-man leagues to deliver.

Brendan’s owners have been counting on him to deliver those 10 boards and two blocks a night. You first think of names like Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and more controversially-speaking Gilbert Arenas; when you think of the Washington Wizards. It’s Haywood’s quiet, yet consistent productivity that I appreciate about him. 49 Games played; 9.1 PPG; 10.4 RPG; 2.1 BPG; 56.1 FG%; at 1.4 TOs; what’s not to love? It’s been pretty good bounce-back season for this once under appreciated, third string fantasy center.

Fantasy basketball is still more about team composition and productivity. You may have a great team anchored by some chalk-clapping superstar, but it’s the not-so-well-known or not-as-popular players, whose combined efforts bring in those extra numbers that translate to Ws.

Apparently Haywood’s efforts on the court have not gone unnoticed. The Dallas Mavericks really wanted him involved in the deal that recently fell through where they sent Josh Howard and Drew Gooden to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson, and Brendan Haywood.

The Wizards were prepared swap  Butler for Howard 1:1, but the Mavs clearly wanted Haywood as part of the package.

I would like to wish Brendan the best and hope he can now flourish in a team that actually has a shot at competing in the Playoffs this season. Good Luck.

How about you, dear readers, who are some of  the NBA’s unsung fantasy players who you would like to send out some love to on this day of hearts?

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• Day 127 of 170: Now I Know Why People Ignore The Bucks (4)
• Day 112 of 170: Night of the Waiver Wire Players (8)
• 2010-11 Top 25 Fantasy Small Forwards (13)
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Tags: Brendan Haywood, Corey Maggette