Days 33-34: Let's chat about Andrew Bynum

(Illustration courtesy of Timothy McAullife/ESPN)

Kay, so here's the thing. I didn't post anything yesterday, and the goal of this site is to provide a daily update of fantasy basketball goodness. So I kind of dropped the ball the other day. Sorry about that! In my defense, I was traveling between states and encountered hours (yes, plural) of logjam traffic. So by the time I finally got in front of a computer, it was not only too late to put up anything, I was too flippin' exhausted to want to write anything anyway.

However, here's how I can redeem myself. Except for the Timberwolves' players, nobody who played on Saturday also played on Sunday, so essentially, I can recap both days' worth of NBA action at once -- as though it were a 15-game Wednesday. A tad unorthodox, sure, but considering it was Thanksgiving weekend, I'm sure most of you guys can sympathize with my inability to get to a keyboard during all the hoopla.

So, let's get into this thing.

• Andrew Bynum had by far his best game of the season for the Cavs, scoring 20 points, pulling down 10 rebounds, handing out 3 assists and even blocking 5 shots in 30 minutes on Saturday. Hubba-hubba! Bynum's injury situation is so nebulous that he's liable to utterly disappear in his next game, so don't expect the beastly Bynum from a few years ago to suddenly rear his ugly head on a consistent basis. I say that, even though I do think he should be picked up if he's available. Bynum is an elite center when he's healthy so it's worth the risk to pick him up -- even if it's unlikely that he'll go more than a few games without a setback.
• Marco Belinelli had a nice outing for the Spurs, putting up 18 points and hitting 3 three's off the bench. That makes 14 three's for Belinelli over his last five games. In San Antonio, he's never going to get enough minutes because of the presence of Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili, and that makes him pretty forgettable for fantasy purposes unless you're the hunting for an erratic three-point specialist.
• Aaron Brooks was not so good against the Spurs, going 1-8 from the field and finishing with 3 points, 3 steals, 4 assists and 2 rebounds. Yeah, it was a bad night, but Brooks seriously only needed to go 3-8 from the floor to have a thoroughly-acceptable line of 9-4-2-3. Obviously, he's not for you if you're searching for a long-term add, but Brooks has a chance to be very helpful to anyone needing three's and steals over these next couple weeks.
• Paul Millsap came back to life on Saturday, scoring 23 points to go with 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 4 three's. Millsap's ability to occasionally hit a three certainly elevates his fantasy value, but he's not the consistent 20-and-10 guy a lot of people were hoping he'd be. That's not much of a slight on him though, because he's still a terrific power forward.
• After sitting out Friday's game with an injury, Nene resumed his terrific play of late, notching a 13-12-3 line against the Atlanta Hawks. The story on Nene never changes: he's great when he's in there, but he's extremely injury-prone and is completely unreliable. The smart, smart, smart thing to do with Nene is to sell high on him if it's at all possible. His talent may be for real, but his knees aren't.
• Brandon Knight was sensational over the weekend, scoring 20 points and chipping in with 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. At long last, Knight is showing that I wasn't a raving lunatic when I recommended him at the beginning of the year. So long as he doesn't slip on a banana peel or hurt himself somehow, Knight has a chance to be an enormous difference-maker to your fantasy team. Don't hesitate to add him, folks.
• John Henson got the start on Saturday and was great: 13 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Henson has 9 blocks in his last two games and should get regular playing time at center until Larry Sanders trudges his way back onto the court. He doesn't quite have the offensive repetroire for me to pimp him as a "must own" player. Still, he should be a fairly reliable shot-blocker over the next month, and if that's a category you need help in, I'd seriously consider making the add.
• Jeff Green had 18 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds on Saturday. He's averaging 26 a game over his last three contests and is even rebounding and dishing it better than he has all season. Blessed with triple position eligibility on Yahoo!, Green is a fantasy asset.
• Jared Sullinger continued his great play as well, scoring 21 and adding 14 rebounds against the Bucks. Sullinger has a three in seven of his last 10 games and has scored in double-figures eight times in that span. There's just enough depth on Boston, with guys like Kris Humphries and Kelly Olynyk and Gerald Wallace lurking around, that he's not poised to be a night-in-night-out monster. Still, he's very aggressive and is capitalizing on the minutes he's been granted; he's averaging 20-and-10 in games where he's played over 30 minutes. Plus, it's exceedingly rare to find a quality power forward who can also hit three's, so he should be on your fantasy team if you can make room.
• Jose Calderon set out Saturday's game with an ankle injury, allowing Gal Mekel (who???) to fill his place with 6 points and 7 assists. Calderon, who's averaging 11 points, 5 assists and 0.8 steals, is having a miserable season, and has posted more than 6 assists in a game just three times this year. While his averages aren't so bad that he deserves to be rostered, his ball-handling duties are greatly reduced with Monta Ellis around, which makes him mostly a middling option at best right now.
• Andray Blatche scored 21 points and added 8 boards on Saturday. He ceded his starting spot to Brook Lopez, who had 20 points and 9 rebounds in a rare Nets victory. The Nets are so banged up that there's a chance Blatche could post a decent line here and there, but his run as a consistent fantasy force ends with Lopez' return. Keep him on your watch list, because holy moley are the Nets snake-bitten this year, but you're allowed to drop him at this point.
• Jamal Crawford scored 20 points in 33 minutes on Sunday. Crawford is averaging 16 a game this year and was already a dependable scorer. Now that J.J. Redick is slated to be out for 6-8 weeks, Crawford becomes an even more integral part of the Clippers' offense, and should see well over 30 minutes a night regardless of whether he starts or not. Redick, meanwhile, is absolutely droppable; two months is too damn long a wait for someone who's essentially just a three-point specialist.
• Andre Drummond was pretty awesome against the Sixers, posting 31 points, 19 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 blocks in only 33 minutes. This was the first time all year he's scored more than 16, so the outburst in points is something of an aberration. The other counting numbers are legit, however, which makes Drummond one of the more valuable centers in fantasy basketball. (If you're considering selling high on him, please don't.)
• Derrick Williams played 21 minutes on Sunday and notched a mere 4 points and 7 rebounds against the Warriors. No one in the Kings' starting lineup played more than 21 minutes, so the performance it's a mostly-forgivable bad outing. We're still in wait-and-see mode with him, but I'm strangely optimistic he can be a decent contributor if/when he gets 30 minutes.
• Chris Bosh had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 3 three's on Sunday. Bosh's numbers have taken a nosedive this season, and unfortunately, he doesn't hit enough three's for his downslide in points and rebounds to be tolerable. His name has a lot of equity, however, so if I owned him, I'd be using this opprtunity to try to sell him before it becomes universally-understood that he no longer approaches elite-fantasy-player status.
• Pau Gasol sprained his ankle on Sunday and didn't play at all in the fourth quarter. The Lakers don't play again until Friday, so there's a good chance Gasol won't be out for very long, if at all. The more pressing issue is his shooting. Gasol is an astoundingly-bad 41.9% from the floor this year, which is shocking considering the rest of his numbers are totally fine. Assuming his shooting woes are tied to his ankle injury, the one gaping flaw in his stats should be correctable.
• Steve Blake had 13 points, 9 assists and 3 three's on Sunday. Blake has been tremendous this season, and is averaging 10 assists a game over his last 10 games, while also hitting a three in all but one game this season. Considering he's only averaging 31 minutes a night and is only putting up 9 shots a game, I firmly believe these numbers are sustainable even when Kobe Bryant returns... IF Steve Nash happens to be out of the picture. It's anyone's guess to what Nash's status will be from here on out, so for now, keep rolling out Blake with confidence.
• Okay, so I was able to catch the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead, and all I can say (*spoilers, BTW*) is that I'm glad the one-eyed murderous crazy guy known as The Governor is out of the picture. Three straight episodes with him as the central character? Good lord, that was more than enough. I liked the performance of the guy playing him, but sweet criminy was he a poorly-written, uninteresting character who got way, way too much exposure.