This article is part of our Category Strategy series.
CATEGORY STRATEGY
Each week, this article highlights players who are widely available in standard leagues who can help in specific roto categories. While each player highlighted can help in a specific category, there's no guarantee for production in other areas.
POINTS
Shabazz Muhammad, SF, T-Wolves
Muhammad should be owned in almost all formats right now, but he remains available in over 50 percent of leagues. The T-Wolves are committed to the youth movement, as they demonstrated by trading Corey Brewer to Houston, and Muhammad has emerged as the team's go-to scorer. In addition to Brewer's departure, Kevin Martin is out indefinitely, leaving just Muhammad and Andrew Wiggins to handle most of the minutes on the wing for Minnesota. Over his last five games, he is averaging 20.8 points on 52.5 percent shooting, while taking 16 shots per game. He is a 50 percent shooter for his career, and is shooting 51.9 percent on the season, and while he is shooting better than 40 percent from downtown, that is not his game. Muhammad is something of a throwback scorer, and thrives at getting in close. He is shooting 49.2 percent from between three and 10 feet away from the basket and 41.9 percent from between 10 and 16 feet away. His emergence may come as a surprise to those who don't pay attention to amateur basketball, but he was projected as a consensus top-3 pick heading into his freshman season at UCLA, and was projected by many to be the
CATEGORY STRATEGY
Each week, this article highlights players who are widely available in standard leagues who can help in specific roto categories. While each player highlighted can help in a specific category, there's no guarantee for production in other areas.
POINTS
Shabazz Muhammad, SF, T-Wolves
Muhammad should be owned in almost all formats right now, but he remains available in over 50 percent of leagues. The T-Wolves are committed to the youth movement, as they demonstrated by trading Corey Brewer to Houston, and Muhammad has emerged as the team's go-to scorer. In addition to Brewer's departure, Kevin Martin is out indefinitely, leaving just Muhammad and Andrew Wiggins to handle most of the minutes on the wing for Minnesota. Over his last five games, he is averaging 20.8 points on 52.5 percent shooting, while taking 16 shots per game. He is a 50 percent shooter for his career, and is shooting 51.9 percent on the season, and while he is shooting better than 40 percent from downtown, that is not his game. Muhammad is something of a throwback scorer, and thrives at getting in close. He is shooting 49.2 percent from between three and 10 feet away from the basket and 41.9 percent from between 10 and 16 feet away. His emergence may come as a surprise to those who don't pay attention to amateur basketball, but he was projected as a consensus top-3 pick heading into his freshman season at UCLA, and was projected by many to be the No. 1 overall pick. He didn't quite live up to the hype that season, and there were enough questions about his makeup that he slipped to the 14th pick in the 2013 draft. Considering how weak that class was, the fact that the T-Wolves nabbed both Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng with mid-first round picks is an absolute coup.
REBOUNDS
Mason Plumlee, C, Nets
Yes, Brook Lopez could return soon, but will he stay healthy? Moreover, will Kevin Garnett continue to see big minutes upon Lopez's return? Garnett already sits for a game in back-to-back sets, and the deeper we get into the season, the more his ability to keep playing significant minutes will be questioned. It seems inevitable that Plumlee will retain value in mid-sized leagues, and he has really started to blossom. He was always seen as a much better player than his brother, Miles, and the older Plumlee was fantasy relevant for most of the 2013-14 season with the Suns. Over his last five games, Mason is averaging 17.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 34.2 minutes per game. He is also a 60 percent shooter for his career, which adds another category that he can affect positively.
ASSISTS
Jarrett Jack, PG, Nets
With assists, sometimes the only way to find them on the waiver wire is to be extremely proactive. With news breaking Saturday that the Kings are in talks with the Nets about acquiring Deron Williams, Jack is someone worth grabbing if it assists are a category of need. It certainly makes sense that Williams is being shopped, as he is due a lot of money, and the Nets want to cut payroll since they no longer view themselves as contenders. Jack can turn into a bit of a chucker when he is given free reign of an offense, but he has four seasons of averaging five-plus assists per game, and even averaged 6.3 assists in 2011-12 with New Orleans. There is certainly no guarantee that Williams gets dealt, but in the meantime, Williams is also dealing with a calf strain, so Jack should offer some immediate value as well. Dennis Schroder is another player to consider here, although when Jeff Teague returns, Schroder will be more of a deep league option.
STEALS
Norris Cole, PG, Heat
This is more of a deep league option, but Cole is the Heat's best perimeter defender, and was able to hold Derrick Rose to 14 points last week while notching three steals in that game. Consistent playing time is not always there for Cole, but he has 30-plus minutes in three of Miami's last four games, and offers one to two steals per night when he is getting run. Shaun Livingston is another option here. Mario Chalmers took over the starting point guard job from Cole in their last game, but the Heat have been mixing things up all season, so watch Cole's minutes rather than whether or not he's starting.
BLOCKS
Alex Len, C, Suns
Len moves well for a stiff, if that makes any sense. He out-stiffed Cole Aldrich on Saturday, which does not say much, but at least it seems like Len is starting to make slight improvements in his first real season (he was hurt for almost his entire rookie season). Len has three blocks in two of his last three games, and could start to earn slightly more playing time as the season progresses. If he is available, Rudy Gobert is still the preferred option here even with Derrick Favors healthy.
THREE-POINTERS
C.J. Miles, SF, Pacers
Miles get shots when he plays for the Pacers, which admittedly has not been much this season as he has been pretty banged up. It's not clear how long he will be allowed to hoist at will with a sub-.400 shooting percentage, but for now, the volume will be there. He has seen 30-plus minutes and attempted a whopping 16 three pointers over his last two games, and is a solid source of points too, given Indiana's lack of scorers.
