Category Strategy: Every Rose Has Its Hinrich

CATEGORY STRATEGY

Each week, this article highlights players who are widely available in standard leagues that can help in specific roto categories. Remember, while each player highlighted can help in a specific category, there's no guarantee for production in other areas.

POINTS

Glen Davis, PF, Magic
In terms of widely available players, Davis may have the most ability as a scorer, but his playing time situation is a little murky. He saw 26 minutes in his first game back from a foot injury, but Tobias Harris, who plays the same position as Davis, is also nearing a return from his ankle injury. Once the Magic's frontcourt is fully healthy, it's hard to say how many minutes Davis will receive. Assuming Orlando wants to trade Davis so that they can give more minutes to youngsters Harris and Andrew Nicholson, there should be a short-term window where Davis sees 25-plus minutes per game and will offer owners solid scoring numbers. He averaged 15.1 points per game last season before getting injured, but there seems to be a misnomer that he also shoots a high percentage (probably because of his body type), when in actuality, his 44.4 percent shooting mark for his career is below average for a power forward. Still, he's owned in just 18 percent of Yahoo! leagues and five percent of ESPN leagues, so even deep leaguers might still have a shot at claiming the 27-year-old forward.

REBOUNDS

Terrence Jones, PF, Rockets
Jones should be owned in almost all formats, but right now he is still available in 56 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 38.6 percent of ESPN leagues. The Rockets are a much better team when Jones or Omri Casspi are on the floor instead of Omer Asik, and Jones has been particularly good for Houston of late. He's averaging 8.2 rebounds in 31.6 minutes per game over his last five contests, and he's not just a one-stat contributor. Jones is shooting 64.7 percent from the field, with 16.0 points, 1.4 blocks and 1.0 three-pointer per game over that stretch, and while the field-goal percentage isn't sustainable, the three-pointers and blocks should remain in addition to the rebounding and scoring numbers.

ASSISTS

Kirk Hinrich, PG, Bulls
Assuming you missed out on Steve Blake, Hinrich is the top guy to pick up for assists. With Derrick Rose out indefinitely, Hinrich will play major minutes over the next several months and should have no problem averaging close to five assists per game. Last season, he averaged 5.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 29.4 minutes per game, and there's no reason he shouldn't be able to match those numbers again while Rose is out. Hinrich is owned in 17.4 percent of ESPN leagues and 27 percent of Yahoo! leagues, and those numbers will likely double in a couple days, so the time to buy is now.

STEALS

Corey Brewer, SF, T-Wolves and Iman Shumpert, SG, Knicks
Last week I recommended adding Brewer, and he has kept up his solid steals rates, with a four-steal and a five-steal game last week. However, he is still available in 53 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 29.9 percent of ESPN leagues. If he's already been added and you're still looking to get some steals on the waiver wire, Iman Shumpert is also a good option, especially in deeper leagues. Shumpert has a steal in seven straight games and has eight steals in his last two games combined. He is owned in 51.4 percent of ESPN leagues and 24 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

BLOCKS

John Henson, PF, Bucks
Henson remains the best player for blocks who is readily available in most leagues. He is owned in 29.6 percent of ESPN leagues and 24 percent of Yahoo! leagues, despite averaging 2.2 blocks per game over his last five contests, with multi-block games in four of those. He's probably not seeing as many minutes as he deserves, but so far it hasn't had a negative effect on his output in the defensive categories. Look for Henson to continue to block around two shots per game, and if he starts to see closer to 30 minutes per game, he could become a top-five option for blocks.

THREE-POINTERS

James Anderson, SG, Sixers
Anderson has played 33-plus minutes in each of his last four games, and is averaging 7.3 three-point attempts per game over that stretch. He's hitting 34.7 percent of his attempts from downtown this season, so he isn't the most skilled marksman, but he's getting enough minutes and is taking enough shots that we can feel confident that the production will be there as long as he remains the starter. Anderson is owned in just 8.5 percent of ESPN leagues and 25 percent of Yahoo! leagues, and while he lacks significant upside, his floor is higher than most waiver wire options.

FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE

Andray Blatche, PF, Nets
With the fluidity in Brooklyn's starting frontcourt due to injuries and age, Blatche should remain a fairly safe bet for solid playing time, which has resulted in great production of late. Over his last five games, the 27-year-old big man is averaging 16.0 points in 26.8 minutes per game while shooting 57.4 percent from the field. He's just a 46.6 percent shooter for his career, but that number is watered down by some really bad seasons with the Wizards, and he actually shot 51.2 percent from the field in 2012-13. Blatche is owned in just 8.5 percent of ESPN leagues and 18 percent of Yahoo! leagues, making him a solid target in most category leagues.