"Deep. You want to go deep? I'll take you deep." -- Outkast, "Deep"
The NBA season has begun, and we are off and running for an exhilarating, exciting marathon of a campaign. Inevitably, there are players who weren't drafted in most leagues that are showing they need to be rostered and, in some cases, started.
It makes sense, too. In standard 10-team, 13-round leagues, 130 players are drafted. But, with 30 NBA teams and typically around a 10-player rotation on each team, that means there are roughly 300 players that have a realistic chance to produce at any given time. And that group is dynamic, with movement all over the place, as injuries, player development and shifting opportunities allow different players to shine.
My colleague Jim McCormick does an excellent job with the Waiver Wire column on Mondays that identifies players who make good fantasy pickups.
But, when looking to improve your team, you can't overlook the low-rostered players who have the talent to produce but may be stuck playing behind another player until an injury or shifting opportunity gives them the chance to show what they can do. That's where we'll be living in this weekly column.
We're going to really dig in, here. Go a step deeper...
"Deeper than the page of a book, let me look."
...to identify players available in more than 80 percent of ESPN leagues that should be on your radar. Some of these will be names you know, but some may be entirely new. In either case, they're all players doing things that you should be paying attention to, as they just might be worthy of a free agent pickup or a bid during an upcoming FAAB session.