The Nets’ new starting point guard, Donald Sloan, shouldn’t be overlooked

In this weekly column, I will be focusing on the best/worst performances over the past week. I will focus on out of the ordinary trends, or players that have strayed greatly from their average draft position. Great performances by top players or bad performances by benchwarmers will generally be ignored.

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RISERS

• Robert Covington (SG/SF – Philadelphia 76ers) – Coach Brett Brown announced that he expected Covington to get big minutes with Jerami Grant out with an injury. Covington quickly took this opportunity to find his shooting stroke. Over the last two games, Covington has averaged 20 points, five rebounds, a steal and a half, two assists and five three-pointers per game. This is a small sample-size, but Covington has proven when he shoots with confidence and plays starters’ minutes he is a must-own in all standard leagues. Pick him up if he is still available on the chance that Coach Brown will want him playing over 30 minutes a game for the rest of the season.

• Donald Sloan (PG/SG – Brooklyn Nets) – After experimenting with Shane Larkin as their starting point guard, Brooklyn has decided to give the starting role to Donald Sloan. Sloan had a nice extended run with the Indiana Pacers last year while they were dealing with injuries but got buried in the depth chart once they were healthy. Now with a similar opportunity on the Nets, Sloan has the ability to provide standard league value if the Nets continue to give him starters’ minutes. In the last week, Sloan played 26 minutes per game and was able to provide seven points, four rebounds and seven assists. Sloan isn’t suddenly going to blow you away with steals or lead the team in scoring, but it is hard to find assists off the waiver wire. If you are in need of point guard stats, Sloan is worth a flyer.

• Mario Chalmers (PG/SG – Memphis Grizzlies) – Chalmers has gotten hot over the last few weeks as he is starting in the place of Mike Conley. In the last seven games, Chalmers has averaged 16 points, four rebounds, seven assists and two steals. You might have to watch the Twitter feeds to see when Conley comes back, but Chalmers should be owned in all leagues while Conley is out.

FALLERS

• Kent Bazemore (SG/SF – Atlanta Hawks) – Bazemore has struggled over the last week, and the Hawks have started to reduce his minutes in response. In the last three games, Bazemore has averaged 10 points, two rebounds, two three-pointers, three assists and a steal. Bazemore continues to start and still provides solid three-pointer value. Unless the Hawks continue to decrease Bazemore’s minutes or move him to the bench, owners of Bazemore should be able to weather this slump.

• Al Horford (PF/C – Atlanta Hawks) – Horford’s week was pretty terrible. In his last three games, he averaged 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and under two blocks a game while shooting only 41.7% from the field. Horford has been far too good to panic about his bad week. I doubt any Horford owners would want to sell, but any opportunity to buy low should be attempted no matter how small the chance.

• Jeff Withey (C – Utah Jazz) – Withey had been starting in the place of Rudy Gobert and producing great block numbers and good rebounding. Now that Gobert has returned from injury, Withey has returned to the bench and a diminished role in the Utah lineup. In the last week, his minutes have dropped below 15 per game. It is safe to drop Withey in all but the largest leagues.

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Mike Catron rambles on about the fantasy impact of NBA box scores and provides other insights on strategy at WatchtheBoxes.com. You can follow him on Twitter @WatchtheBoxes where he will be live tweeting various NBA games, answering your fantasy questions and mostly retweeting stuff you need to know from people you already follow.