4 More Moves

Though 'the bear awoke' only briefly, and he and both WozBros are back to their non-lineup-setting ways, other, more active teams have been making what we call 'Moves'. We promise some exciting analysis soon, as the dawn of Week 9 means we're nearing the end of the first Cycle, and are over 1/3 of the way through the regular season.

LES DIGITS DROP HILL FOR DezMase

George 'the Animal' Hill, IUPUI legend, was productive in his time filling in for T-Park, but since his return, his minutes and production have dwindled. He might be good for 8 (points) and 2 (other things) going forward.

It's remarkable, we think, that this is the first time we've had a Desmond Mason pickup this year, as, for many years previous, Mase has been the very definition of a marginally rosterable player. We were particularly amused that, in the year we expanded to 12 teams, DezMase was still dropped and picked up several times. In his good years, he was good for 12/4/2, with a steal and mediocre FG%. He's never been a 3pt shooter, and he often just loses his job suddenly. He's clawed his way into the murderer's row that is the OKC starting 5, displacing a similarly mediocre Damien Wilkins. In his 3 starts, he's managed only 2, 7, and 2 points, though he's pulling down some rebounds and getting plenty of minutes.

Judgment: Mason's shooting looks terrible, but he'll be given the opportunity to turn it around, and he just might. A good speculative pickup.

Hosens spurn the Birdman, pick up Joel Anthony

Chris 'The Birdman' Andersen is a delight to watch, and a remarkable 'energy' player. He's been OK on the boards and a monster shotblocker - he had 6 against POR on Sunday. He doesn't score many points, and we assume the Hosens wanted more line-filling production than the Birdman provides.

Enter Joel Anthony, the 2nd year C out of UNLV, who's recently been inserted into the MIA starting 5. He too has been impressive on the boards, averaging about 2 per game in his 11 games as a starter. He's not scoring much more than the Birdman (a mere 4 per game in those same 11 games), but he is getting good minutes, and his rebounding numbers are good. He's a bit more fouly than Birdz. Fun fact: he's from Quebec!

Judgment: This is close to a wash, but Anthony has more of an opportunity right now. Andersen is far more handsome.

Maxy Out; Mbah a Moute In for thenopp

Jason Maxiell has been rendered (even more) useless by the return of McDyess to DET. The promotion of R-Stuck to the starting lineup means fewer minutes for the other bench folk, especially Amir and Maxy. Also, because the Pistons aren't blowing people out this year, we're not seeing the 'garbage time' specials that he used to pad his stat line much of last year. Maxiell had 4 double digit games around Thanksgiving, but hasn't reached that plateau in December. More tellingly, he's only gotten 20 minutes once in that stretch.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has, somewhat surprisingly, returned to the MIL starting 5 and has started in 7 straight. He's played pretty well, too, putting up nice 15/9 type lines with fine PCTs on nights when C-Vill can't find the rim. He's probably destined to alternate good stretches with Charlie going forward, but that's not really such a bad place to be.

Judgment: A fine move for thenopp - we hadn't noticed Luc Richard's return to relevance, and Maxiell is not worth owning at all at this point.

Jack snapped up by thenopp, Dixon back in the FAP

We're certain we were not the only ones surprised by Jack's two game outburst (24/6/2 and 27/4/7) when he filled in for T.J. Ford last week. Of course, in the first game they were up against the Warriors, and in the second, he was also filling in for Granger, Dunleavy, and T-Murph, as the flu bug (and whatever is ailing Dunleavy) hit the Pacers hard. T.J. is back and Jack will surely go back to his 8/3/3 ways.

Which is still better than what Juan Dixon is putting up, as 'The Juices' has filled WAS's terrible outside shooting, non-passing PG role to perfection. (Also, 'The Juices' was on a very special episode of 'Supernanny' - I can't find the Ruben episode).

Judgment: Jack is no prize (we would recommend taking a look a Brandon Rush, Hibbert, or Rasho, if one needs a marginal Pacer), though his performances were eye-opening. Either way, getting rid of Dixon is clearly the right call.

Kleiza Dropped!

Thenopp drops Kleiza, picks up J. Maxiell

We discussed Maxiell here. He's had 10+ PTS in 4 straight (until today), including an eye-opening 13/8/6 BLK line. We know he had that kind of potential, and could put up 13 & 8 with decent block numbers easily if given the minutes, and if he can stay out of foul trouble. But a crowded frontcourt and the imminent return of McDyess give us pause. Also, those 4 games were either blowouts, or against teams with poor frontcourts (the Bogut-less Bucks, for example).

Linas Kleiza, Denver's Lithuanian backup SF/PF, was thenopp's 15th round pick. Since he gets few minutes as Carmelo's backup, the Nugs sometimes try to play him at PF (he's started there twice this year), where, gets some rebounds, but isn't much of a defender. On the other hand, he's a good shooter, and shoots a fair number of 3s. We saw toward the end of last year that he can put up big PTS numbers when his 3s are falling, but doesn't provide much else. He's averaging 10/4 this year (basically the same as last year)., and unless he gets significantly more minutes as Big K-Mart gets banged up, probably won't get much higher than that. Still, his 3's/DREB combination will make him useful for some team.

Judgment: Though we suspect Kleiza will put up better overall numbers this year, Maxiell makes sense for thenopp. As an addition to their relatively thin frontcourt (Yao, Hurt Jermaine, B-Lop, and M-Gas), Maxy should provide, though inconsistently, enough blocks and OREB to be useful. Watch the minutes when McDyess returns, however, or if one of the other Piston frontcourters (Herrmann, A-Johnson) gets hot.

Thompson scooped up again

Nor'Eadter drops Maxiell, picks up Thompson

In another dropping of an overhyped big man, Nor'Easter has given up for now on Jason Maxiell. Like recently dropped Blatche or Amir Johnson, many had Maxiell pegged as something of a sleeper, and indeed, he looked quite good in spurts last season. But thus far he's just not getting the minutes in a deep DET frontcourt to produce. So far, he's averaging only 5/3 in only 16 MPG. Remarkably, he has yet to produce an assist this season. With Kwame Brown now starting, Rasheed playing extraordinarily well, and McDyess perhaps returning to DET, Maxiell's short term upside is low.

We've talked about Thompson quite a bit - to review: Thompson is a rookie PF in Sacramento - in Brad Miller's absence during the first 5 games of the season, he looked terrific. My$hkin dropped Paul Millsap to pick him up. Then Miller returned, and Thompson's minutes declined steeply; my$hkin dropped Thompson at that point for Gerald Green. Then Kevin Martin got hurt, and Thompson was inserted into the starting lineup, and had a fine game or two. Martin should be back in a week or so, and Francisco Garcia will eventually return as well, so presumably Thompson will not be starting for long at SF. Mikki Moore is a pretty terrible PF, though, so there's hope for Thompson. It should be noted that Spencer Hawes has been producing, and adds to the crowd in the frontcourt. In any event, Thompson seems quite capable of 15/10 nights, if given the minutes.

Judgment: We're not convinced either player will be helpful for very long, but Thompson has shown he's NBA-ready and is at least producing a bit right now. Maxiell won't be missed (though all should keep an eye on him, in case his role increases), but we suspect we'll see Thompson on the wire again in the coming weeks.