Two weeks into the season and the waiver wire cupboard for guards is surprisingly empty. Outside of Stephen Curry playing even better than last year and establishing himself as the best player in the league, the guard position has played out the way many thought it would. C.J McCollum has opened eyes to just how dangerous a scorer he can be and Kawhi Leonard has opened my eyes to the fact he is now as much of a Superstar/MVP type on offense as he has been on defense. Also, it is very clear Emmanuel Mudiay is going to be a better point guard than D'Angelo Russell and it's time to take a side and stick with it forever. I'm team Mudiay.
Today RotoBaller will examine which flawed guards who do remain on many waiver wires are worth a look. Be sure to also check out Week 3's Waiver Wire Centers, and we will talk about forwards tomorrow.
Position Eligibility & Ownership Rate Based on Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Player List
NBA Week 3 Waiver Wire: Guards
Standard League Adds
Trey Burke (PG, UTA) - 52 % Owned
Burke has been hot the last four games, averaging 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. As a result, he's been flying off the waiver wire and you should grab him if you still can. Raul Neto is starting ahead of Burke, but the third year point guard out of Michigan seems to finally be settling into his back up role. Burke is averaging 13 points in 23 minutes played this year versus 12.8 in 30 minutes from last year. He's been more efficient in almost every way. He looks like he's improved and should be a consistent force night in and night out for 10-20 points. With Dante Exum out for the year, there is also still the chance that Burke eventually beats out Neto for the starting job this season. Burke has both current value and a high upside, which makes him a hot ticket on the waiver wire.
Langston Galloway (PG/SG, NYK) - 48% Owned
The Knicks are in a three way point guard rotation with Galloway, Jose Calderon, and rookie Jerian Grant. So far Galloway has been the most consistent and productive of the three. In a half a season last year, Galloway averaged 11.9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists coming off the bench for a Knicks team without Carmelo Anthony. This year Langston is again leading the bench players and seems to be coach Derek Fisher's most trusted point guard. Galloway should be owned in almost all leagues as he will continue to be a big time bench scorer who gets around 25-30 minutes per game.
Deep League Adds
Will Barton (SG/SF, DEN) - 25% Owned
Barton has played well enough in the beginning of the season that he might have earned the starting SG spot for Denver. Barton has scored in double figures every game this season (seven times) and is doing so on 49% shooting (31% from three). This is a new look Denver team with all kinds of crazy names on it (Nikola Jokic, Jusuf Nurkic, Kostas Papanikolaou, Joffrey Lauvergne, Nikola Radicevic) and everyone is trying to figure out who plays where.
So far Kenneth Faried and Emmanuel Mudiay are the only ones who you can guarantee will get minutes and the team will play through. Barton's main competition for minutes at the 2 is coming from 21-year old Gary Harris, who is talented, but very young and inconsistent. So far Barton has been a more reliable fourth or fifth option for the team. He might carve out a spot for himself in the league this year if he can keep it up.
Zach LaVine (PG/SG, MIN) - 20% Owned
Last years dunk contest champion might be the least exciting player on the Timberwolves. This young team is packed with scorers and distributors and finding time for LaVine seems like it will be a problem. The young point guard has shown flashes this year of being able to contribute but there's no way he's going to play ahead of Ricky Rubio. LaVine's totals per 36 minutes played are around 17 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds which would make him a mini Russell Westbrook if he actually did play 36 minutes a game. He is a stash player at best but definitely someone worth keeping an eye on, given Rubio's injury history.
Jerian Grant (PG, NYK) - 16% Owned
While Galloway has been the most consistent point guard for the Knicks, Grant has undoubtedly been the most exciting. Right now he makes too many rookie mistakes for Derek Fisher to consider giving him more playing time, but it seems very obvious that the Knicks will go a lot further this year if they can develop Grant. Grant's four assists in 20 minutes played show just how good of a distributor and "pure" point guard he can be. Like LaVine, Grant may not be worth the add in standard leagues quite yet, but if he can earn more playing time, he could be extremely productive.
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