The Skinny: After losing the starting gig to Mo Peterson due to a back injury before the All-Star break, Thornton's production went down big and was dropped by virtually all owners. Well, you better check your waiver wire now if he's still available after he dropped 37 pts, 3 3's, 2 asts and 2 stls against the Cavaliers.He was totally unstoppable in the 2nd quarter where he scored 23 of his 37 pts and set a new franchise record for points made in a quarter. In his last 3 games, he has averaged 26.7 pts, 2.3 3's, 4.7 rebs, 1.3 asts and 1.3 stls. Congratulations are in order if you remained patient with him during his poor stretch as he is sure to light up the box scores with his offensive firepower. Why He's Risky: Despite coming off the bench, he is still more potent than current starter Mo Peterson. The only risk you have is if let another owner pluck him up the waiver wire before you do.
Al Thornton - Washington Wizards - Small Forward
The Skinny: Al Thornton is now the starting forward for the Wizards after Josh Howard tore his ACL in the game against the Chicago Bulls. In his last 5 games, he has averaged 15 pts, 5.6 rebs, .8 stls and 1.4 blks with just 1 TOs and shot a sizzling 52.2% from the field. He should finish the year strong as the Wizards don't have anyone else to play and are going to give him all the burn he can handle.
Why He's Risky: Taper your expectations as Thornton is not going to shoot that high a percentage for long and doesn't give you much contributions aside from scoring points but is still definitely worth a look.
Drew Gooden - Los Angeles Clippers - Forward-Center
The Skinny: After Gooden's trade to the Clippers, there has been much speculation that he would be bought out of his contract. However, The Clippers have announced that they will retain him for the remainder of the season. In his last 3 games as a Clipper, Gooden averaged 15 pts and 10.3 rebs in 30 mins. That's a solid double-double if you ask me. It looks like he is locked as a starter and now has a better situation than he did when he was in Dallas.Why He's Risky: The Clippers are already out of the playoff picture and may opt to play young guys like Craig Smith and DeAndre Jordan at the tail end of the season.
Anderson Varejao - Cleveland Cavaliers - Forward-Center
The Skinny: Anderson Varejao has filled in admirably for injured starting Cavs center Shaquille O'Neal. In the last 2 games without Shaq, Sideshow Bob has averaged 14 pts, 8 rebs and 1.5 blks while shooting 63% from the field. Not a bad pick-up if you are desperate for boards, blks, stls and FG%. And with reports coming out that Shaq's Thumb injury is severe and may miss a couple of weeks, this makes Varejao a decent pick-up till he returns.
Why He's Risky: He is going to share time with J.J Hickson for the meantime but might lose time with the impending return of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was bought out by the Washington Wizards this week.
TJ Ford - Indiana Pacers - Point Guard
The Skinny: It has been quite a roller coaster ride for T.J. Ford this season. Despite being named as a starter at the beginning of the season, he was still rather disappointing and fell into Coach Jim O'Brien's doghouse and out of the Pacer's rotation for the whole month of January. Now Ford is back in the rotation and has averaged 13.6pts, 2.6 rebs, 4 asts and .9 stls in 10 games for the month of February. He is currently back in the starting line-up and is worth a pick-up if he can sustain these kind of numbers.Why He's Risky: Jim O' Brien is keeping him on a short leash and has to be more consistent and be on his best behavior if he doesn't want to go back to the coach's doghouse.
The Skinny: Another player spending time in his coach's doghouse is Spencer Hawes. But with Jason Thompson out for two weeks, this will be Hawes time to shine. In the game against Utah, Hawes notched 15 pts, 1 3's, 12 rebs, 5 asts and 1 blk with a 54% clip from the field. He is a multi-cat player that can contribute in pts, rebs, asts, blks and 3's if really given the mins and seems to have patched things up with his coach as seen on this video.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVjwuCJfbeI )
Why He's Risky: Paul Westpaul can easily change his starters on a whim and plug Jon Brockman instead of Hawes. He has to show consistency that he has been lacking all season if he want to stay in the starting line-up.
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