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JaVale McGee getting challenged for minutes

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Categorized as: Author: Erik, Fantasy Basketball, Trades, Washington Wizards
Posted on: February 25th, 2010

When the Washington Wizards shipped off its starting frontcourt (Brendan Haywood and Antawn Jamison), in separate transactions, we knew that this would open doors for both Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee. I quickly pulled the trigger and grabbed McGee in around three of my yahoo leagues.

Blatche has been stellar thus far, and is even on list of players I am considering as a keeper in one of my keeper leagues.

All along I expected McGee to not get much competition for playing time, especially once word broke out that the Wizards were planning on buying out, then waiving Zyrdunas Ilgauskas (acquired in the Jamison trade). That word has now become a reality. However, the expectation of McGee getting large amounts of minutes on the floor has not come into fruition.

James Singleton, who was an overlooked component (at least by many fantasy experts) of the deal that sent Josh Howard to Washington and Caron Butler, Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson to Dallas. We did not see much of what he could deliver in fantasy back in Dallas due its talent-laden roster. While a forward, at 6’8″, Singleton is very athletic and is a tenacious rebounder and defender. He even blocked Mike Miller with his pinkie, back in the day when they were playing for non-Wizards teams!

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In Washington’s win over Chicago; Singleton posted nine points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks. In the very next game, when the Wizards lost to the Memphis Grizzlies; Singleton logged nine points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks. He’s averaging roughly 27 minutes on the court over those two games. McGee, on the other hand, averaged slightly more than 13 (minutes).

JaVale will not likely lose his starting gig at Center anytime soon. He’s still a 7-footer and a true center. There will be days that McGee will have good games and Singleton won’t get too many minutes, but as performances currently stand, Singleton looks to continue to be Washington’s version of Charlotte’s Tyrus Thomas; a solid defender coming off the bench.

I have since abandoned McGee in all of my leagues, and picked up Singleton in an 18-man H2H league.

I recommend giving Singleton a serious look if your team is in need of REB and BLK.

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  • spades

    Is it time to drop Dalembert for Singleton yet?

  • http://nelswadycki.com nelswadycki

    Good call, Erik. If you look at the games where Singleton has had 25+ minutes (there aren't many in the 4 years he's played in the league) he's put up pretty decent numbers. I'm not sure why no one has realized this yet and given him a longer stretch to see what he can do.

  • http://nelswadycki.com nelswadycki

    That's a hard one. Dalembert is certainly capable of more than Singleton. If you're looking at it for Blocks and Rebounds as Erik recommended, I'd stick with Dalembert. More of a track record there – he's just in a bit of a slump.

  • http://givemetherock.com/ Patrick

    At their current production levels, Dalembert and Singleton project out at around the same value. Like Nels mentioned, Dalembert has shown a higher level of production in the past and is probably the guy I'd take as well.

  • http://www.facebook.com/fredrick.ong Erik Ong

    If your team needs rebounds and blocks, I do not see how the decision should be about having Dalembert OR Singleton, who by the way is now the starting PF for WAS. A replacement move will be a wash or a marginal gain, at best. I would suggest dropping someone else and then combining both their contributions. IF Dalembert is your team's weakest link, then your team is probably doing very well. Good luck!

  • spades

    Yeah, I'm actually very strong in rebound and blocks, but marginal gains are always welcome, haha. I'm probably going to stay put though. thanks for the advise!

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