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.

Another injury in Washington seems to have opened up some playing time for a few guys who were struggling to get touches as early as a few weeks ago.  If small-ball isn’t your thing, then take a gander at some of the “bigs” that we have going this week.  One of them fell threw the cracks last week, so here’s hoping that he fell through your leagues’ as well. 

Shallow Leagues (Less than 12 teams)

Juan Carlos Navarro, PG/SG, Memphis Grizzlies
It seemed like it was only a few weeks ago that I was all about Navarro.  I had added him in a shallow league and reaped all of the benefits of his double-digit, multiple three-point games towards the end of November.  I had then dumped him when he fell out of favor in the second week of December, and now I’m regretting it.  If you have an owner that also acted irrationally in your shallow league, jump all over “La Bomba” as he’s back and he’s producing.  Does 44 points and eight threes in the last two games sound good to you? 

DeShawn Stevenson, SG, Washington Wizards
Another one bites the dust in Washington now that Antonio Daniels is slated to miss the next two-to-four weeks with an injury to his knee.  While Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison have more than stepped up in the absence of Gilbert Arenas, it is apparently Stevenson’s turn to do some damage as he has four straight games of double figures with a ton of threes; Sixteen to be exact.  While I haven’t been a big fan of Stevenson in the past, if you’re hurting at your guard slot with an injury to either Areans or someone like Kevin Martin, Stevenson should be more than ample in the near-term.
Joel Przybilla, C, Portland Trailblazers
Last week, I mentioned that Travis Outlaw and Channing Frye would be huge additions with the news that LaMarcus Aldridge was down and out with a foot injury.  I’m not sure how it happened, but I totally neglected to mention the Vanilla Gorilla, and he is paying me back in spades.  He still isn’t scoring a lot, but in the last five games, Przybilla has averaged 9.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks.  You can always use a bit of depth for your centers, and with his recent play, I think the Portland center deserves to be on a roster in all league shapes and sizes.

Cuttino Mobley, SG, Los Angeles Clippers
I have seen Mobley’s name hit the drop list in several leagues, and while I agree that he has been a bit shaky as of late, there are entirely too many injuries in Los Angeles to not own the guy.  Factor in the recent release of Ruben Patterson and I think that Mobley will be able to get that much more time.  Take out his recent stinker in LA and you have a guy that has averaged 12 points, three rebounds and one and a half threes.  Ride through this bumpy stretch as the veteran should turn it around soon.

(Last Week: David Lee, Andres Nocioni, Beno Udrih, Carlos Delfino)

Standard Leagues (12-14 teams)

Anthony Johnson, PG, Atlanta Hawks
Sometimes, players just flourish by default.  Think of guys like Shareef Abdur-Rahim a few years back when he was the only player on the Hawks.  Ironically, we have the same team, but a different player and position as Anthony Johnson is the only healthy option for Atlanta these days when it comes to a point guard.  Yes, Acie Law is the future at this position, but this guy is coming off of a 17 point, 14 rebound performance so nab him up before someone else does.  If he gives you another double-double before the end of the year, it’s well worth it.

Josh Boone, PF/C, New Jersey Nets
On the outside, you see a guy that is averaging only three points and four rebounds per game.  On the inside, you have a guy that has been pulling over 25 minutes of playing time over the past four games and has provided a bevy of points, rebounds and blocked shots.  Word on the street is that the second-year center should be starting in Tuesday night’s game.  Pick him up now in anticipation of a solid night.  If he doesn’t produce, what’s the worst that can happen?  We’ll swap him out for someone who will – if you learn one thing, there’s always another option!

Paul Millsap, SF/PF, Utah Jazz
It appears that Jerry Sloan has been a fan of the whole Don Nelson match-up scheme for his starting lineups.  While Millsap doesn’t start often, check out the last game in which he did: 20 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.  Now that is some serious upside, people.  Granted it has taken an injury to Mehmet Okur, but in limited minutes since the start, the Jazz forward has given us some decent per-minute stats that include five more steals and two more blocks.  He won’t deserve to be started every night, but you’ll want him on your roster when he is.

Morris Peterson, SG/SF, New Orleans Hornets
Injuries to a few Hornets players have allowed guard Chris Paul to launch himself into the top echelon of fantasy hoops thus far.  Well, Morris Peterson is back to rain on Paul’s parade a bit, as he has recovered from a back injury that forced him to miss a few games.  He’s as inconsistent as ever, as seen by his recent string of five, 21 and six point-games, but if you need an end-of-bench option with some scoring potential, Peterson could be your man.

(Last Week: James Posey, Travis Outlaw, Corey Brewer, Kenyon Martin)

Deep Leagues (14+ teams)

Sean Williams, PF/C, New Jersey Nets
Think of Williams as a cross between Juan Carlos Navarro and Josh Boone above.  I’m a huge fan of Williams’ upside, but he’s recently hit a string of rough games that have been inundated with either a lack of playing time or foul trouble.  With Boone, it appears that Williams will be the starting power forward in Tuesday’s game.  If he can stay on the floor, it wouldn’t surprise me if this kid went for 12 points, 12 boards and four blocks.  Deep league owners will want to jump all over him now, because in the even he blows up, there’s a good chance you will be too late.

Glen Davis, SF/PF, Boston Celtics
When your team is littered with All-Stars, especially in the frontcourt, there is a slim chance that you will see any time if you are playing behind said stars.  In Boston’s case, the Celtics have been blowing teams out by an average of 14.5 points over the last seven games.  When this happens, it opens up the door for some contribution from the role players, and in this case Glen “Big Baby” Davis.  The former LSU star is putting up seven points, six boards and half of a block in only 19 minutes of playing time.  While this isn’t anything to write home about, you can do a lot worse in ultra-deep formats.  Give Davis a shot and hope for more Boston blowouts – assuming you can stomach them.

Anderson Varejao, PF/C, Cleveland Cavaliers
We can never have enough big men here on Wire to Wire.  While several pundits thought that Varejao was a must-add the second he was signed, I thought it would be best to wait things out and see how he fit into the rotation.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden are in the midst of solid seasons, so Mike Brown isn’t going to be pulling the trigger very often.  However, when Andy gets some time, he has been a great source of hustle stats and is coming off of a nine point, six rebound game that also featured a block and a steal.  If you’re hurting at center, Varejao may be well worth your time as a poor-man’s version of Andres Biedrins.

Nick Young, PG/SG, Washington Wizards
Okay, I will throw you a bone and give you a guard.  A point guard at that.  You can bet that one game I will be watching very closely on Wednesday night will be the Washington Wizards/Chicago Bulls match-up.  The rookie Nick (“The City”) Young recently got the starting nod with the injury to Antonio Daniels.  His scoring was a bit weak thanks to some foul trouble, but the kid still looked good in his limited time.  Running with the first team may not provide the most opportunities, but you can bet that the high-flier will get several chances to finish a fast break.  Keep an eye on the box score as this kid as what it takes.

(Last Week: Channing Frye, Dorrell Wright, Brian Skinner, James Jones)