Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups – Week 14

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!



By Brian Cho
Staff Fantasy Basketball Writer

It was announced on Sunday afternoon that Rajon Rondo will miss the rest of the season due to a torn right ACL. Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee, Leandro Barbosa and Jason Terry will have to fill in for Rondo’s absence in the backcourt. All of them are worth a hard look with their minutes and hopefully their production to increase. As of now Avery Bradley is starting point guard and Courtney Lee will start at shooting guard, but keep in mind that nothing is set in stone.

On Sunday, the biggest beneficiary was actually Paul Pierce (a player we discussed as a buy low just last week), who did a lot of the ball handling, finishing with a triple-double of 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. The four players mentioned above all played between 26 and 32 minutes, and none really distanced themselves from the pack. The Celtics will most likely make some moves before the trade deadline especially if their backcourt doesn’t meet expectations. Let’s take a look at each of these players and the rest of this week’s hot pick ups (Feel free to also check out recent Pickups columns for Week 13, Week 12 and Six Players to Buy Low): 

Early Fantasy Baseball Rankings - 2B

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!


The top 25 fantasy baseball second basemen are presented here for standard 5x5 Rotisserie leagues (R/HR/RBI/AVG/SB and W/ERA/WHIP/K/SV). To better understand the difference between the 2B options, the players are divided into tiers. For example, while Dustin Pedroia, Jason Kipnis and Brandon Phillips are ranked 3 through 5, the drop off between Pedroia and Kipnis is much less than between Kipnis and Phillips. First basemen rankings are also released and can be viewed here.

Second base is known as a shallow position which can be illustrated by only three players that have second basemen eligibility this season finished among the top 50 players in 2012. Robinson Cano is clearly the "belle of the ball" at 2B, and is easily a top 10 player for 2013.

However, second base is laden with other good options if you aren't able to grab Cano:

Get ‘Em While You Can – Six Players to Buy Low

Trading in fantasy sports is all about maximizing value. It's the most fun part of the game, but also the most difficult to master. A well-timed trade, acquiring a player for less than he's worth, could easily make the difference between winning and losing your league. Here are some players that are worth targeting while their values are depressed.

Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups - Week 13

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!



On Friday night, Lou Williams tore his ACL in his right knee and will miss the rest of the season. While it's a terrible injury for Lou and his fantasy owners, there are a number of Hawks that stand to benefit from the additional opportunity.

On Saturday night, rather than moving Devin Harris into the starting lineup to replace Lou, the Hawks opted to go with a bigger lineup starting Teague, Korver, Smith, Horford and Pachulia. Devin Harris got banged up on Saturday night, but had been averaging 16 points and 2.3 threes in his last 3 games. Harris missed Monday's game, and has been injury prone in his career, so it's unlikely he will be back for a little while.

Early Fantasy Baseball Rankings - 1B

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!


In fantasy baseball, first base is a very important position to fill because so much of your team's power will come from that position. However, it's also a very deep position. In 2012, 9 of the top 50 hitters and 20 of the top 100 had 1B eligibility. Therefore, if your team has a corner infield position, try to draft two quality 1B (3B is a much shallower position).

The top 25 fantasy baseball first basemen for 2013 are presented here. To better understand the difference between the first base options, the players are divided into tiers. For example, while Joey Votto, Prince Fielder and Edwin Encarnacion are ranked 2 through 4, the dropoff between Votto and Fielder is much less than between Fielder and Encarnacion.

Early 2013 Fantasy Football Rankings

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!



With the fantasy football season still fresh in our minds, it's the perfect opportunity to look at the top 60 players for the 2013 season. Individual position rankings with a few more players listed can be consulted as well for QBs, RBs, WRs and TEs.

There are a few takeaways from the rankings:

• QB is extremely deep and therefore, there is not much need to spend a high pick on a QB, I'd much rather wait and grab a guy like Stafford, Luck or Ryan later and spend the early pick locking up an elite RB.
• WR is also extremely deep, which is why there are only 4 WRs ranked within the top 22 players. It's a much bigger priority for me to grab a couple elite RBs and wait to grab a bunch of reliable WR2.
• TE completely fall off a cliff after Gronk and Graham. Hernandez and Witten are both pretty decent value picks if they fall to the 5th or 6th rounds, but in most leagues, I'll likely be waiting on TE until the final few rounds and grab a few high upside guys. Every year there are a bunch of TEs that come out of nowhere and have a lot of fantasy value so there is little point to spend mid-round picks on guys like Gresham, Pitta, Rudolph, or Olsen.

Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups - Week 12

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!



By Brian Cho
Fantasy Basketball Staff Writer

We are nearly halfway through the 2012-13 NBA season and there have been some very interesting story lines over the past few weeks. The Lakers keep losing (though they beat the Cavs on Sunday) and might not make the playoffs, while the Boston Celtics are continuing their surge to get back into the mix, winning their last five games. However, the biggest headline was on January 9, 2013 when reports went viral stating that Kevin Love re-fractured his third and fourth metacarpal in his right hand. With the Love Machine out for at least eight to ten weeks, the Wolves need to rely on their other forwards, Derrick Williams and Dante Cunningham.

Many of the players discussed in recent pickups columns (Week 9, Week 10, and the discussion of the Lakers injuries and Scott Skiles firing) are still available in a lot of leagues so check those articles out as well.

Now, let's check out some hot pickups for this week.

Fantasy Thoughts: Lakers Bigs, Scott Skiles Fired

By Brian Cho
Fantasy Basketball Staff Writer

Over the past couple days, the two biggest stories in the fantasy basketball world has been the injuries to the Lakers' big men, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, and the firing of Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles.

Dwight Howard left Sunday's game with a shoulder injury, which was later revealed to be a torn labrum and would be missing at least a week of action. (It was later reported, that it might not actually be torn but regardless there isn't a timetable for his return) Pau Gasol got hit in the face and suffered a concussion. He hasn't passed his concussion tests yet and will be tested again on Thursday to determine if he will be able to return to action on Friday.

Fantasy basketball owners rejoiced as one of the most frustrating coaches (because his rotations are so unpredictable), Bucks coach Scott Skiles, was fired and replaced with interim coach Jim Boylan.

Early 2013 Quarterback Rankings

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!


The Early 2013 Fantasy Football Rankings were presented in an earlier post. Here, the individual ranks for the QB position are outlined. For additional position rankings the early 2013 RB, WR and TE rankings can be consulted.

Early 2013 Running Back Rankings

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!


The Early 2013 Fantasy Football Rankings were presented in an earlier post. Here, the individual ranks for the RB position are outlined. For additional position rankings the early 2013 QB, WR and TE rankings can be consulted.