Norris Cole (PG, NO) - NBA Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Leagues

OWNED IN: 20% of Yahoo! Leagues

ANALYSIS: Norris Cole has been a solid bench contributor throughout his five years in the NBA, dating back to his time with the Miami Heat. Now, in his first full year with the New Orleans Pelicans, he is seeing the most minutes of his career (25.1 per game). Cole has averaged 8.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists over his 28 games played this year. In the month of January, he is playing 27.8 minutes and scoring 9.8 points per game.

Tyreke Evans has been battling a knee injury that could cause him to miss additional time going forward. Cole has been starting at PG in his place, with Jrue Holiday remaining on the bench to lead the second unit. Additionally, Evans' name has been circulating in trade rumors, so Cole could continue to see increased minutes. If Evans were to re-injure his knee or get traded, Cole's role would become set in stone. Even with starter's minutes, he hasn't quite had the production to warrant rostering in most standard leagues. Still, as it stands now, he has been playing well enough to warrant a look in deep leagues, and that production could be here to stay.