Day 46: Jumping aboard the Terrence Ross bandwagon

Illustration courtesy of Matthew Wolff)

"Oh fiddlesticks," you might be saying to yourself. "Gosh darn it. If only I had drafted Klay Thompson when I had the chance. I literally only need a good three-point shooter to make my team complete. Oh, woe is me! WOE IS ME!!!" Well, fear not you odd person, you, because there's a guy on the waiver wire, right now, who might very well turn out to be nearly as valuable as Klay Thompson -- and no, I'm not being hyperbolic. Intrigued? You should be. This player is available in 83% of Yahoo! fantasy leagues, meaning there's an 83% chance that you could go out to the free-agent pool and add this Klay Thompson-esque player, right now, without conflict. And who is this mysterious Thompson substitute? Why, it's no other than the starting small forward of the Toronto Raptors: Terrence Ross.

Now, yes. When the Raptors traded away Rudy Gay a week ago, and it was announced that Ross would be filling Gay's spot in the starting lineup, I was skeptical that he was going to be much of a fantasy asset. After all, this is a player whose career averages are 6.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists a game. However, Ross has a few things going for him that make him a compelling add right now, principally that he's getting a ton of playing time. Ross is averaging 36 minutes a game since being inserted into the starting five, and with the Raptors planning for the future, there's no reason to think that Ross won't continue to get a lot of run throughout the rest of the season.

What I've come to like about Ross is that he's not afraid to jack up shots, which is what you want in a guy on a bad team. Ross shot the ball 16 times yesterday, connecting on 5 three's for 25 points, so it's looking like he's going to be a mainstay in the Raptors' offense for the foreseeable future. He's a terrific three-point shooter -- having hit 8 three's in his last two games -- and while it doesn't look like he's going to contribute in a hell of a lot of other categories, that's par for the course when comparing him to Klay Thompson.

Ultimately though, Ross just has the intangibles to be a must-add fantasy player. Yeah, his career numbers are lousy, but before now, he's never gotten the opportunity to showcase himself like this. He's just 22 and he's only started in four games in his career. And let's not forget that he was taken with the eighth overall pick in the 2012 draft, meaning it's not unreasonable to expect great things from him now that he's been given this opportunity. After all, Klay Thompson (who was taken with the eleventh pick of the 2011 draft) was averaging just 8 points per game in his rookie year before he became a starter. And hey: Paul George averaged a measly 8 points a game in his rookie season, and look how good he now he is.

No, Ross might not become as good as either of those guys, but he's in a wonderful fantasy situation that's about to get even better, as the Raptors are poised to trade Kyle Lowry in the near future, which will firmly establish Ross as the team's No. 2 scorer behind DeMar DeRozan. The players we should want to invest in aren't old dudes whose best days may be behind them, but young guys like Ross who have the potential to put up deliciously-inflated stats on an incredibly pitiful basketball team like the Raptors. If you need three's, there's absolutely no reason to pass this guy up.

Now, onto other guys:

• Kevin Love was amazing yesterday, scoring 42 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and connecting on 8 three's. There are maybe half a dozen players in the entire league capable of putting up 42 points and hitting 8 three's, but Love is the only one among them who's able to also pull down that many rebounds. He's having a spectacular season and could reasonably be considered, by those who wish to have such an opinion, the best player in fantasy basketball.
• Joakim Noah was awesome against the Bucks, scoring 21 points and adding 18 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. There are quite a few "block specialists" in the NBA, but Noah might be the best of them all -- better than even Serge Ibaka -- simply because of how proficient he is in passing and stealing the ball on top of reeling in double-digit rebounds. After a miserable start to the season, Noah has 10 blocks and 38 rebounds in his last three games and can safely be trusted again as an elite center.
• In his first game as the team's starting point guard, Kobe Bryant handed out 13 assists in 23 minutes, which is an especially impressive total considering the Lakers got annihilated by the Thunder on Friday. Meanwhile, Jodie Meeks shifted over to shooting guard for L.A. and went 3-16 from the floor for 9 points and 5 turnovers. Yeah, Meeks was miserably bad, but the fact that he could even get up this many shot attempts is quite encouraging. Meeks makes for a nice addition at the moment, although, I'd take Terrence Ross over him in a heartbeat. Kobe, meanwhile, is off to a slow start in the scoring column since returning to the team, but that's bound to change once he no longer has to assume the role of pass-distributor.
• Even with Ed Davis returning, Jon Leur kept the good times rolling, posting 19 points and 8 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench. Kosta Koufos, meanwhile, started at center but played only 14 minutes. Leur, despite my initial pessimism, is playing quite well at the moment and could be a decent fantasy contributor until Marc Gasol comes back in January.
• Deron Williams is trying his best to make good on his draft status, as he scored 22 points and added 9 assists and 2 three's in 41 minutes Friday. The minutes restriction has been lifted off Williams, and for good reason, as the Nets need him to play every available minute if they hope to make it back in the playoff race. Owners patient enough to stick with Williams through his prolonged absence are being vindicated.
• The Knicks went to a seven-man rotation on Friday, which allowed Andrea Bargnani to score 22 points and add 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 38 minutes. It also enabled Amar'e Stoudemire to play 30 minutes off the bench, and Stat responded by scoring 18 points on 7-9 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and a block. Stoudemire has been playing terrific lately, enough so that it may be time to wonder if some semblance of the old Amar'e Stoudemire is upon us. When Tyson Chandler returns, neither Bargs nor Stat poses to be that great of a fantasy option; and in case you were wondering, both players are so wildly overpaid that there's virtually no chance of a trade occurring that would open up playing time for one of them. Still, both players are decent options in the short term, with Stoudemire being the much more intriguing option.
• Trevor Booker was terrific yesterday, posting 24 points and 14 rebounds in a staggering 44 minutes. Booker was filling in for the oft-injured Nene, who's likely to sit out Saturday as well. Wizards coach Randy Whitman hands out so many minutes to his starters that Booker is completely worthless when he's coming off the bench. At the moment, however, he's a terrific play if you need rebounds and blocks.
• Tobias Harris made his return to the Magic, playing 15 minutes and getting 10 points and 5 rebounds. We've seen what Harris can do when he's in the starting lineup, but unfortunately the Magic are so healthy at the moment that he's been resigned to a meager sixth man role. For now, Harris isn't a great fantasy option, though that could change if something happens to Glen Davis or Nikola Vucevic.
• Paul George was horrifyingly bad on Friday, shooting just 2-12 from the field and finishing with only 10 points. George may very well be the MVP of the NBA if the season ended today, so this outing should have be viewed as nothing more than a freak occurrence, like that time Tony Delk scored 50 points in a game.
• Jimmy Butler returned to the lineup yesterday, scoring 16 points and adding 3 steals in 37 minutes last night. With Derrick Rose out, Butler has an opportunity to be outstanding the rest of the year. If he was dropped, don't hesitate for an instant to pick him up.
• Rudy Gay made his debut for the Sacramento Kings, scoring 24 points while providing almost nothing else (1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 2 blocks). Gay's value remains mostly unchanged in his new digs, though he might have a harder time to jacking up 37 shots in a game like he did earlier in the year with the Raptors. Poor Ben McLemore, meanwhile, mustered only 4 points in 27 minutes. Aw...
• Dwight Howard continued to be incredible on Friday. In fact, not only did he score 18 points and pull down 11 rebounds, as he is wont to do, Howard even hit a three-pointer (!) and connected all 7 of his foul-shot attempts. Howard is 38-56 from the free-throw line in his last five games, which is good for 68% and is a freakin' fantastic rate as far as his owners are concerned. No, Howard probably hasn't turned the corner in that area, but if he can be even a 60% foul-shooter, it's scary how good the Rockets could be.