Three Up

Samuel Dalembert: At the beginning of the year Samuel Dalambert was a blip on the fantasy radar, he was being drafted, but no one took pride in that pick. Now he’s one of the better centers in the league and number five on ESPN’s player rater. That’s not bad for a guy who still isn’t even owned in all leagues. Over the last five games Dalembert is averaging 15.2 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. Dalembert is shooting 61Z% from the field and an unbelievable 91% from the free-throw line, even if he hasn’t taken many free throws. Dalembert was a huge grab for the Rockets and if you drafted him he’s been a nice sleeper.

Lebron James: So far this season Lebron is staking his claim for the best player in fantasy basketball going toe-to-toe with Kevin Durant as both put up big time stats. Last night Lebron played against the Lakers with the flu and came through for a stat stuffing 31 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks, 4 steals and 2 three-pointers. Lebron’s three point totals have been down and he’s only shooting 71% from the line, but if he’s averaging 30 points, 8 boards and 7.5 assists are you really going to complain?

Pau Gasol: It hasn’t been a bad offensive year for Pau Gasol, but it hasn’t been a very good one so far either. Gasol is averaging a career low in point so far this season with 16.5. Last night however Gasol scored a season high by netting 26 points against the Heat. The biggest thing last night was that Gasol was assertive getting the ball in the post and taking 19 shots which is also a season high for him. Despite the struggles Gasol has still been a top 15 – 20 player, but with only three 20 point or better games you’d like more.

Three Down

Norris Cole: The rush to grab Norris Cole we saw earlier this season has now faded as he has gone from a time share with Mario Chalmers to a full on backup role where is averaging just about 20 minutes per game. Cole has a ton of potential , but we might have let our expectations get a little out of hand early on when he was putting up some big time numbers In deep leagues and keeper leagues you still should hold on to Cole, but in standard leagues you probably have better options on your waiver wire.

Devin Harris: At this point you have to be grateful that Harris’ backup isn’t any better than he is cause he’s already splitting minutes. For some reason Harris just hasn’t been able to get it going this year and last night was no different as he missed all seven shots he took and scored one point while handing out two assists over 24 minutes. I’ve been advocating holding on to him and waiting for the bounce back, but at this point if there is someone on the wire you really want, Harris is droppable in standard leagues.

Metta World Peace: At this point I’m not sure why World Peace is owned in the 6% of leagues he is owned in. Metta is still getting minutes, but he’s not doing anything with them. Last night he recorded just 7 points, 3 assists, 1 rebounds and 1 block. And that’s his best stat line recently. The biggest contributions from World Peace have been three’s and defensive help. This season he is averaging 0.3 treys, 0.1 blocks and 0.6 steals. Time to cut this one, even in some deep leagues.