Fantasy Basketball: Fresh Life in the Motor City

Earlier in the season, the Detroit Pistons lost 13 games in a row and were outscored by 108 points during that span. Fast forward to the present, and the Motor City appears to have a legitimate NBA team again, with the Pistons standing at 7-0 since waiving forward Josh Smith. It couldnt have been that simple, could it?

This night and day reversal of fortune is truthfully pretty telling about the teams poor chemistry withSmith, and the fantasy implications ofthe movehave become resoundingly clear.

Greg Monroe looks to be reestablishing his value after returning to the starting lineup. For some reason, conditions in Detroit have always seemed to fail him, but thats not going to be the case from here on out. Additionally, he is playing for what he probably hopes is a maximum contract from someone this summer. Not that anybody has ever played harder when they are playing for a contract

Monroe has nevertheless been able to slide comfortably into a more prominent role and has put up four straight double-doubles. This includes a monster performance against the Dallas Mavericks in which he dropped 27 points, 18 boards, 6 assists, and a block. More nights like these will be coming, and his minutes should continue to rise. He has always deserved to be a starter for this team, and now hes proving why.

If you own Monroe and are thinking about selling high, dont do it. If you want to think the Pistons are just on a hot streak, thats your prerogative. But the seven-game win streak has included impressive victories over the Cavs, Mavs and Spurs. They are playing like a team and have found a second wind (or technically, theyve found their first wind). Sure, theyre still going to lose some games but the 7- or 8-seed in the Eastern Conference are very attainable. Dont be surprised to see the Pistons representing the Motor City in the Playoffs this year.

Brandon Jennings would be a huge part of that. He has always been a player who has gone through hot and cold streaks, but this season has featured a lot of the hot and his performance since Smith left has been pretty outstanding. His field-goal percentage has never impressed his owners, but its sitting at a 49 percent clip since Smith left (under 39 percent with Smith). A blind man could see that he will have more opportunities with the ball in his hand without Smith next to him. His explosive scoring ability and 85 percent from the charity stripe keep his value up, and his hot streaks keep owners happy (enough). Its not like anybody is drafting him above his value.

Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. Be careful about attempting to sell high on him; his value can only go so high given his up-and-down history so you are better off as an owner by playing to his positives and hoping for the best.

Jenningss backup, DJ Augustin, is a similarly streaky and is occasionally worth taking a look at in daily leagues and situations. If Jennings isnt feeling it on any particular night, DJ has been there to pick up the slack, and has even been deployed ahead of Jennings at times by coach Stan Van Gundy to teach the latter a lesson or two.

It needs to be pointed out that its not fair to blame everything on Josh Smith. Thats not really the implication here. Andre Drummond has nearly played his way into untradeable territory since a slow start, but he started to turn his season around before the Pistons waived Smith. Fantasy owners would be wise to view the early season struggles as nothing more than a mirage that will be forever forgotten.

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Fantasy Basketball: Fresh Life in the Motor City