Wire to Wire aims to be your waiver wire resource for all of your fantasy basketball needs. It will dive into playing time trends, injury replacements, and even an occasional category specialist—all of which can be found on a typical waiver wire within your fantasy league at any given time.

A lot of forward-types to choose from this week.  A career resurgence in Denver and a rookie cleaning up the glass in Minnesota, but neither of these will alter the fantasy landscape over the next week like the playing time that may open up in Portland with the foot injury sustained by a certain second-year big man.  On to this week’s edition…

Shallow Leagues (Less than 12 teams)

David Lee, SF/PF, New York Knicks
Talk about frustrating.  Knicks forward David Lee has a ton of potential, but he just can’t seem to log consistent minutes.  Night after night, the Knicks send Quentin Richardson out with the starting group and night after night, Q logs in sub-par shooting nights with little contribution anywhere else.  Lee, on the other hand, is averaging nine points and eight rebounds per night on only 25 minutes a game.  Take his minutes to 30 and you have yourself 12 points and 10 rebounds per night with incredibly solid percentages.  It may take an injury to the front court, or it may take a coaching change, but Lee deserves to be owned in all leagues simply for the fact that he just has to get minutes…eventually.

Andres Nocioni, SF/PF, Chicago Bulls
Yes, I know I mentioned him last week, but I’m still seeing him out there.  Andres Nocioni may not be starting, and he may not be getting 35 minutes per night, but has arguably been one of the best sixth men in the NBA over the past few weeks and Scott Skiles has noticed.  Over the past six contests, Nocioni has averaged nearly 20 points per night – and what is even better is the fact that the Bulls have won four of said games.  Couple in the six steals and nearly seven boards per night in the same stretch and Nocioni deserves consideration in all formats whether he is starting or not.  If you have room for a swingman, give him a shot!

Beno Udrih, PG, Sacramento Kings
I am not sure how Udrih may have slipped through the cracks in shallow leagues, but I have seen him on several waiver wires – and this shouldn’t be the case.  With Mike Bibby over a month away from returning, Udrih is racking up 15 points and four assists per night with a three, a steal and a very efficient conversion rate from the charity stripe.  Yes, he’s only a temporary fix, but who’s to say that Udrih can’t squeeze some minutes even when Bibby returns?  Sacramento has won three of their past five games including games over the Rockets and the Jazz – both playoff teams.  Udrih shouldn’t see less than 33 minutes per game until Bibby returns.

Carlos Delfino, SG/SF, Toronto Raptors
I hesitate to put Delfino here simply because of the occasional nights when the Raps juggle their minutes much to the chagrin of fantasy owners.  However, after seeing Sam Mitchell yank Jamario Moon a couple of games ago to put Carlos Delfino on Tracy McGrady - and Delfino responding with 12 points, eight rebounds and a steal - I believe I am sold despite his 26 minutes per game.  Shooting guard is typically a deep position, but if you need the help, Delfino should be owned in all leagues, so why not have him on your team?

(Last Week: Jason Maxiell, Juan-Carlos Navarro, John Salmons, Andres Nocioni)


Standard Leagues (12-14 teams)

James Posey, SG/SF, Boston Celtics
I admit it.  When the Celtics signed James Posey, I assumed that he would have no value in this upcoming season.  Little did I know, Boston would stick to a pretty tight rotation, and while the “Big 3” are getting a ton of minutes, Posey is still finding a way to figure in to games – and he’s producing, as seen by his three straight games of double figures.  He’ll max out around 12 points per game, but with his solid percentages and ability to factor in on the three-ball as well as steals, you could do a lot worse for an end-of-bench player in standard leagues.

Travis Outlaw, SF/PF, Portland Trailblazers
Another repeat this week, but this one may deserve a bit more attention with the news that LaMarcus Aldrige will miss at least a week’s worth of time with the ever-dreaded plantar fasciitis.  If you know anything about big men and this foot injury, it usually never works out well – just ask Brad Miller owners from last season.  Channing Frye (more on him later) will be getting the start, but Outlaw’s role will definitely increase with this injury and he should be owned in all standard formats.  Monitor his progress as I may just have to mention him as an “all-league” addition next time around.

Corey Brewer, SG/SF/PF, Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves rookie is sort of a ‘tweener between standard leagues and deeper formats, but I’m going to list him here because of the likelihood that he was snatched up in deep leagues after his 18-rebound outburst last week, and the fact that he followed that up with an 11-board night almost assures it.  However, the fact that Brewer shot 6-for-25 in the same stretch makes it a bit tough to rely on the kid.  I think that the shot will fall eventually, and as long as Theo Ratliff is out, the T’Wolves will be giving Brewer a shot to flourish.  Pick him up for hustle stats, and everything else he gives you is a bonus.

Kenyon Martin, PF, Denver Nuggets
Speaking of hustle stats, talk about a career revival with the Nuggets power forward.  Having Nené ahead of you is far from a tough roadblock to overcome given his injury history, but Kenyon Martin hasn’t exactly been the model citizen of health over the last few years either.  His 20 point, 12 rebound night this past weekend made a lot of fantasy owners feel like it was 2003 all over again.  He’ll have the chance to keep this up as long as Nené is out, so make sure you ride his production while you can.

(Last Week: Brevin Knight, Chris Duhon, Travis Outlaw, Brent Barry)


Deep Leagues (14+ teams)

Channing Frye, PF/C, Portland Trailblazers
As mentioned above, second-year big man LaMarcus Aldridge will miss at least a week with plantar fasciitis, and Frye will be the one getting the start in his place.  In extended time earlier this season, Frye was able to muster a few nights that sniffed double-double territory.  And as we know from his rookie year, he’s quite the free-throw shooter for a big man.  There is no telling how many minutes the new “starter” will get, but he’s worth nabbing in deeper leagues if only for the match-up against Golden State on Wednesday night.  At worst, you have a starting center for the next week or so.

Dorrell Wright, SG/SF, Miami Heat
One of this past off-season’s biggest sleeper prospects was apparently just a bit late to the party.  After starting the season off with an awful drought, Wright has seen his production jump in two of the past three games.  A near 20-20 game a few nights ago coupled with his production in Monday night’s win over the Suns will start to turn the heads of fantasy owners as well as Pat Riley who appears to be comfortable starting the forward with Ricky Davis coming off of the bench.  He could fall back into irrelevance just as easy, so nab him in deeper formats and get what you can, while you can.

Brian Skinner, PF/C, Phoenix Suns
Almost the complete opposite of Frye, Brian Skinner has turned up his production over the past week, but with very limited playing time.  In 36 total minutes over the past two games, Skinner has totaled 17 points, 14 rebounds, a steal and five blocked shots – providing owners with quite the per-minute punch.  His minutes will never really get a chance to break the 20-minute point, but if you’re in the need for cheap boards and blocks, consider Skinner a poor-man’s Jeff Foster with an ability to reject the opposition.

James Jones, SG/SF, Portland Trailblazers
Making the third ‘Blazer on this week’s list, Jones is getting the nod simply due to his playing time over the past week.  Since December 2, Jones has averaged about 25 minutes and has provided Portland with 12 points, three rebounds and nearly a steal per night.  What’s even better is that he seems to have supplanted Martell Webster as the deep threat, as Jones has nailed 12 long-balls in the same stretch.  With the loss of Aldridge, Jones may see even more time if Portland is forced to go small against certain opponents – specifically the abovementioned Golden State Warriors. 

(Last Week: Louis Williams, Shannon Brown, Jerry Stackhouse, Wally Szczerbiak)

Good luck this week as we head into the end of the year!