Omri Casspi looks to be the real deal more and more each game

It’s Week 8, which means that trade season is almost upon us. Trade rumors are swirling, and it won’t be long before the fun really begins. While there may not be any notable trades currently taking place, there are still players available on the wire worth picking up in many, if not all, leagues. So, let’s begin with our point guard pick of the week, a veteran out of Dallas who looks to be making a bit of a late-career turnaround.

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Ownership totals are in ESPN leagues as of December 17.

Raymond Felton – PG – Dallas Mavericks – 29.9%

When Deron Williams missed the Washington game due to an illness, Felton was asked to take his place and he did just that by pulling a triple-double out of nowhere. Since that game, Felton has remained in the starting lineup, despite Williams returning the next game and also getting the start. Felton hasn’t averaged more than 10 points per game since his 2012-13 season in New York, and while he’s not quite there yet this season, with the way he’s played recently, it shouldn’t be long until he’s back averaging double-digit scoring. Over his last five games, the 12-year vet has averaged 13.6 points, 5.4 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 1.8 three-pointers and 1.2 turnovers. He’s also shooting 90 percent from the line and 45.5 percent from the field over that period.

The scoring is low-level in standard leagues but coming with over five rebounds and assists definitely adds value (not to mention the nice threes and steals he’s providing). Is this a revival for Felton? We’re probably not at that stage yet, but for now, he’s worth an add in all category leagues and most points leagues.

O.J. Mayo – SG – Milwaukee Bucks – 26.1%

It was expected that, with the return of Michael Carter-Williams to the starting lineup, Mayo would be bumped back to the bench, Instead, he simply moved over to the shooting guard position, where he remains today. Over the Bucks’ last five games, Mayo has averaged 13.4 points, 4.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 2.0 three-pointers and 2.4 turnovers. Actually, his numbers aren’t that much different than Felton’s with the exceptions of rebounds and steals. Mayo is actually averaging 3.1 rebounds on the season, but you’re not going to pick him up to get a boost in that category anyway, so it’s not that important.

What you want out of Mayo is scoring, specifically threes, and steals (the assists aren’t bad either). Very capable of recording three or four steals and threes in a game, Mayo can be a nice addition to anyone hurting in those categories. Even in points leagues, he’s holding nice value to be free on the wire. At his current pace, Mayo is worth a grab in deeper leagues for sure and probably useful to at least a few owners in most 10-team leagues. His production, however, could very well be tied to Jerryd Bayless and his current absence due to injury. When Bayless does return, which definitely won’t be in the next two games, Mayo could find himself back on the bench or see reduced playing time. Whether that will be the case is yet to be seen, but for now, he’s worth a look. If he can avoid the MCW hurdle, maybe he can do the same to Bayless.

Courtney Lee – SG – Memphis Grizzlies – 5.9%

The center position is a little thin at the moment, and there seem to be plenty of nice shooting guards available, so we’ll be going shooter heavy this addition, with the hopes that the big men can pick it up next week. For our second shooting guard, we have Courtney Lee, who is available in practically every league, despite the fact that he’s currently putting up numbers that have him just outside the top 100 players this week. He also seems to still be on the rise. Lee just recently tied his season high in points for the second time this month and is averaging 13.6 points (and shooting nearly 60 percent from the field), 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.8 threes and just 0.4 turnovers over his last five games.

Lee has seen extended playing time (33.8 minutes per game) due, in part, to the Toney Allen knee injury. Allen looks to be returning soon, as he was given the “questionable” designation going into Wednesday’s game against Chicago, but it’s not clear how much that will effect Lee’s playing time. Lee has been playing at a higher level than what Allen was bringing before he got injured, so it may not make sense to change things up too much anytime soon. He’s shooting at an extremely efficient pace, rarely turning the ball over, and providing nice scoring, steals, and threes. That makes Lee a must grab in all deep leagues and a pretty solid option in standard-sized leagues, with potential longer-term value if he can continue to see a nice workload after Allen returns.

Omri Casspi – SF – Sacramento Kings – 34.1%

Casspi returns for the second week in a row as a top waiver wire pick. He’s seen a bit of an increase in ownership, with an eight percent bump, but it really should be greater than that. In last week’s waiver wire article, Casspi was listed as a definite add in deep leagues, with four-game averages of 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 three-pointers in 33.8 minutes. Over his most recent five games, Casspi is now averaging 15.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 threes in 36 minutes. He’s also shooting close to 50 percent from the field and added a few assists per game over that stretch. He looks more like a sure thing every day and is getting pretty hard to ignore in 10-team leagues. If you’re in need of threes, Casspi is a great option, and even if you’re good from beyond the arc, Casspi could hold value long enough to become a player worthy of including in multi-player trade deals.

Jon Leuer – PF – Phoenix Suns – 39.6%

We have another repeat player in Leuer. Like Casspi, Leuer was also a part of our Week 7 edition, which saw him averaging 14.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 blocks, 0.8 steals, 1.6 turnovers and 0.8 three-pointers in 32 minutes over a five-game stretch. If you ignore his most recent game, in which the Suns were blown out by Golden State, causing Leuer to see just 14 minutes, over his last five games Leuer is now averaging 13.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.8 threes and 0.8 blocks in 31.1 minutes. So, he’s pretty much playing just as well as he was last week, and, as a result, has seen a 19 percent increase in ownership. His only opposition, when it comes to playing time, are Markieff Morris and Mirza Teletovic. Morris has been benched (like the kind of benching that requires you never touch the court) for six of the last seven games and doesn’t appear to have any value as long as he’s in Phoenix. As for Teletovic, even with his big game in the Golden State blowout, it appears that Leuer will continue to hold his position in the starting lineup, and is therefore still worth a look in most leagues.

Alex Len – C – Phoenix Suns – 32.1%

If you must have a center to investigate, Alex Len is worth keeping an eye on. While Tyson Chandler was out, Len was putting up great numbers. Chandler’s first game back was against Golden state, which was, as previously mentioned, a blowout, so we haven’t yet seen how his return will affect Len in a competitive game. If he’s available in your league, he should probably remain that way, for now, but he could be a sneaky add if he manages to carve out enough time with Chandler playing.

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George Haw is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from George, check out his archive and follow him @georgeWarfieldH.