This article is part of our Centers of Attention series.
We are only about two weeks into the NBA regular season, but that doesn't mean this can't be a make-or-break time for your fantasy squad. This tends to be the time of year when owners overreact to hot or cold starts. You might be able to snag someone valuable from an owner already pressing the panic button or sell high on a player who is bound to see some regression.
Let's take a look at both of these angles in terms of the center position and also look at some centers who are worth adding that might be on the waiver wire in your league.
Buy-Low Targets
Jusuf Nurkic, Portland Trail Blazers: Nurkic's counting stats aren't terrible as he is averaging 13.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 blocks per game. However, that's a far cry from his production last year when he averaged 15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 blocks per game after coming over from Denver.One of the main reasons for his drop in production is that he is only shooting 39.4% from the field. This has never been an area of concern for him (46.4% career FG) and is likely to stabilize as the season progresses. If you can find an owner panicking early after spending a high pick to draft him, see if you can swing a deal.
Willie Cauley-Stein, Sacramento Kings: Stuck in a bit of a log jam up front, Cauley-Stein has only averaged 28 minutes per game
We are only about two weeks into the NBA regular season, but that doesn't mean this can't be a make-or-break time for your fantasy squad. This tends to be the time of year when owners overreact to hot or cold starts. You might be able to snag someone valuable from an owner already pressing the panic button or sell high on a player who is bound to see some regression.
Let's take a look at both of these angles in terms of the center position and also look at some centers who are worth adding that might be on the waiver wire in your league.
Buy-Low Targets
Jusuf Nurkic, Portland Trail Blazers: Nurkic's counting stats aren't terrible as he is averaging 13.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 blocks per game. However, that's a far cry from his production last year when he averaged 15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 blocks per game after coming over from Denver.One of the main reasons for his drop in production is that he is only shooting 39.4% from the field. This has never been an area of concern for him (46.4% career FG) and is likely to stabilize as the season progresses. If you can find an owner panicking early after spending a high pick to draft him, see if you can swing a deal.
Willie Cauley-Stein, Sacramento Kings: Stuck in a bit of a log jam up front, Cauley-Stein has only averaged 28 minutes per game this season. The Kings are clearly a rebuilding team and they are already showing signs of wanting to play their young players more, resting both George Hill and Zach Randolph Sunday.
Cauley-Stein is off to a slow start as a result of his limited minutes, averaging 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game. If the Kings increase his minutes as the season progresses, he could be in for a big jump in production. He played at least 30 minutes in a game 13 times last season and averaged 15.6 points and 10.2 rebounds in those contests.
Sell-High Targets
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: I'll start off by saying I didn't want any shares of Embiid heading into the season. With his minute's restrictions and injury concerns, I couldn't convince myself to spend a high pick on him.That said, he's off to a hot start, averaging 20.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.0 block per game. The problem is, he's only averaging 28 minutes per game and is still sitting out one half of back-to-back sets. The 76ers are not quite ready to be an upper-echelon team in the Eastern Conference, so expect them to be cautious with him throughout the season.
I still don't feel super-comfortable about his season-long prognosis, so I'd be looking to move him while he's still healthy and producing at a high level.
Robin Lopez, Chicago Bulls: To no one's surprise, the Bulls are terrible. With Zach LaVine (knee) yet to make his season debut and the whole Bobby Portis-Nikola Mirotic fight fiasco, a team already lacking depth is playing without significant pieces.
Lopez has been thrust into a prominent role as a result, and he has not disappointed, averaging 14.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field and 87.5% from the charity stripe. The key is, he is averaging 31 minutes per game.
Portis is approaching the end of his suspension, so he could eat into some of Lopez's minutes. With the Bulls in full rebuild, expect Lopez to be someone they try to trade away as well as the season moves along. With his value likely at its peak, see if you can cash in.
Waiver Wire Targets
John Collins, Atlanta Hawks: Like the Bulls, the Hawks don't have a ton of talented players on their roster. Collins already looks like a big part of their future, however, and has played well in the early going, averaging 11.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in fairly limited minutes, considering the environment.The most impressive part about his early performance though is that he is averaging only 20 minutes per game. It would be hard to imagine that the Hawks don't give him more playing time as the season progresses, so add him now before he becomes a nightly double-double threat.
Alex Len, Phoenix Suns: Len continues to be stuck behind Tyson Chandler and he has averaged only 23 minutes per game as a result. He has made those minutes count, though, and has still been able to average 10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game with solid percentages (48.3% FG, 78.3% FT).
The Suns are going nowhere fast and would love to find a taker for Chandler and his big contract. Len would be in line for a big bump in playing time if Chandler were to be traded. Even if Chandler sticks around, the Suns may simply pivot toward the younger option anyway, as was the mantra over the final months of last season.
