RealGM

Hi everyone!
I'd like to improve my team using waiver wire, preferably at SG/SF spot, since I own both Kawhi Leonard (still injured) and Ersan Ilyasova. I heard that Wizards' backcourt is torn apart now (Price and Wall out for a longer period), so maybe I should take advantage of this situation? Jordan Crawford and Bradley Beal are still available in my league. Current roster is (10-team, 9-cat roto):

PG: Paul, Conley, Curry
SG/SF: Pierce, Foye, Ilyasova, Leonard
PF/C: Love, Horford, Gasol Brothers, Hibbert, Vucevic

And waivers are:
Scola, Patterson, Aminu, Beal, Crawford, Ridnour, Seraphin, Landry, Favors, Blatche, Novak, Valanciunas, Matrix, J. Thompson

Who would you advise me to pick? Who should I drop in return?
Thanks in advance, fellas!

In roto you have 82 games to use. They are v ery precious and there is no rule saying you have to use them throughout the season. Instead, you should wait until you have ~top75 talent to put in them. If you don't have the talent, don't use the spots until you acquire it. If you don't acquire it, just wait 'til the last minute -- you can catch up on your games quite quickly if need be (and get very behind quite quickly as well).

So I wouldn't play mediocrity like Beal. Crawford's worth a look, yes. Just a look though. You should spot start. Matchups are important.

Right now I'd just stand pat

Thanks for your insight, it's always very appreciated.
What do you exactly mean by 'spot start'? Should I just avoid putting mediocre players into my lineup (for example, Ilyasova vs New York Knicks)? Or maybe the better solution is to spend a couple of hours on actual planning on how to use my players throughout the entire season? Is it reasonable? I'm curious, because I used more than 1/4 of available slots, but most of my rivals played ~25 games more...
To put it in context, I occupy 3rd position with 206 games played, the leader played 232 games total and the gap between us is huge, 15 points or so... and I have no idea whether my team's capable of beating his (he's got Durant, Lowry, Bosh, Varejao, Harden and few others studs).

Sorry if my questions are cheesy.

page wrote:Thanks for your insight, it's always very appreciated.

You're welcome.

What do you exactly mean by 'spot start'?

Pick up players with just one start (or week, or w/e) in mind. Remember how in past seasons any match v the Warriors was gold? They played a fast pace with little D. That's what you're looking for.

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamst ... order/true

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamst ... rder/false

Should I just avoid putting mediocre players into my lineup (for example, Ilyasova vs New York Knicks)?

Yes.

Or maybe the better solution is to spend a couple of hours on actual planning on how to use my players throughout the entire season?

You don't gotta do that. Just go week by week.

most of my rivals played ~25 games more...

Most of your rivals have no idea how to optimize the game for roto. Most people use their games waaay too quickly. IMO FA gets the most talent after the All-Star break. There are always no-names who pop up because guys get injured, teams start tanking, and trades occur.

Glad you pointed out advanced team stats. It seemed sensible to put players against Bobcats, Cavs or Suns; good to know that advanced metrics support these notions.
Knowing this already, I'd try to get a top-notch wingman instead of picking Beal-type... I suppose my big man department is strong enough to perform such a trade.
Would you mind sending me a PM with your contact e-mail? I'd love to have more of such discussions in future.

Be loathe to trade big for small. FA talent always comes up, and when it does it's usually SG/SF, not PG or PF. Sometimes you get some low-end PF/Cs...

mr.adam.madison@gmail.com. Dun care who e-mails me; my brain is free to pick for all.