All the rookie attention this season has gone to O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley and Greg Oden. Rightfully so, but we're forgetting about two first-year players out of UCLA who are making immediate impacts with their respective teams.
Love, the 5th overall pick in the NBA Draft, is averaging 9.4 points and 6.6 boards per game for Minnesota in a backup role. Not bad, but after leading the Bruins with 17.5 and 10.6 last year, he's not doing as well as his former teammates.
Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook, the 4th overall pick, wasn't even a starter in Westwood until Darren Collison injured himself. Westbrook, a sophomore last season, scored 12.7 points per game and was known for his athleticism and defensive prowess. Westbrook could assume a starting role for the Thunder shortly and has been playing well averaging 15 points, five rebounds and five assists over his last three games.
But the player who has been the best in the early going from UCLA's rookie class has a name that is much harder to spell and pronounce then his former teammates and he's been doing some job in the absence of Michael Redd in Milwaukee.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, SF, Milwaukee The man finished fifth on the Bruins in scoring last season with an average of 8.8 per game but is dropping 10.6 per over his first 11 NBA games. With Redd out of action, Mbah a Moute is doing even more for the Bucks. He's averaging 15 points, 11 rebounds and over a steal per game in his last three contests. He's played over 30 minutes per game in each of the last five games and has become a prominent figure in the Bucks rotation. He's been starting with Charlie Villanueva out and there is talk that could continue even when Villanueva returns. Mbah a Moute has earned his way into more playing time and should now be useful in Fantasy for the rest of the season.
Yao Ming, C, Houston After averaging 22 points and almost 11 rebounds per game last season for the Rockets, Yao -- and teammates Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady, actually -- has been underachieving a bit after 10 games this year. Yao scored 21 on Saturday but is averaging just 15 points and 8.7 boards over his last six contests. He's even blocking fewer shots lately and is turning the ball over a little too much. He's not off by chasms; the numbers are just below what is expected from the No. 1 Fantasy center. That said, Houston has four games in Week 4 and Yao could be back to his old self in no time. He's still a must-start in Fantasy despite his slow start to the season.
Rasheed Wallace, C, Detroit Fantasy owners who thought Wallace was slowly playing his way into irrelevance haven't noticed what he's done over his last two contests. Wallace's numbers for the season after nine games are solid at nearly 14 points and 9.3 boards but he's gone nuts lately. Wallace scored 19 points and grabbed 11 boards against Golden State and followed that with 25 and 13 against the Lakers. He's had at least one block in every game this season and is playing like one of the best three Fantasy centers and not like someone drafted after centers like Tyson Chandler and Andrew Bynum, who he ate up on Friday. Wallace and the Pistons play three times in Week 4 and he's very worthy of starting across the board.
Randy Foye, PG, Minnesota It is almost inconceivable right now that Foye was chosen over Golden State big man Andris Biedrins -- who is featured later on this list as a stock up player -- but that is exactly the case. Foye was chosen as a No. 2 Fantasy point guard but has not played as such to start the year after eight games. Foye is averaging just 10 points and 5.4 assists per game this season. The assist totals are up from last year but the scoring is down and the Timberwolves could use his production after notching 13 per last season in just his second year in the league. He should be blossoming in his 3rd season but instead, he's playing under his potential. The Villanova product is still worth starting in deeper Fantasy leagues, but he is far from the breakout player we expected.
Andris Biedrins, C, Golden State Talk about a candidate for breakout player of the year. Fantasy owners who drafted Biedrins in Round 8 or later should consider themselves winners already. Biedrins, who averaged about 10 points and 10 boards last season, his fourth in the league, is dropping almost 17 and 15 over his first 10 games this season. He hasn't had less than 15 rebounds in his last four games and he's adding a block and a half per game as well. Biedrins is playing like a top three Fantasy center right now and should be starting in all leagues right now. He's playing like an All-Star and if he is just your secondary center, as he was drafted, your Fantasy team is probably rocking and rolling right now.
Deron Williams, PG, Utah This is not a good situation going on in Utah right now. Williams averaged 19 points and 10.5 assists last season and was among the first five players chosen in almost everyone's Fantasy draft this year. He missed the first six games of the season due to an ankle injury, returned to play in two games and sat out of Saturday's contest as coach Jerry Sloan admitted he allowed Williams to return too early. Williams obviously wasn't himself in the two games in which he played as he's averaging just 7.5 points and eight assists in the two games. His owners have had a huge gap in their roster for most of the year and he's now a major injury risk for Week 4.
Devin Harris, PG, New Jersey Harris scored 38 points and dished out two assists on Nov. 7 against Detroit and missed the next three games with a sprained left ankle. Apparently, the time off -- and the Hawks -- did him a world of good. Harris came back on Friday against Atlanta and scored 30 points with eight assists. If that wasn't good enough, on Saturday he dropped 33 and 10 on the Hawks. That is three straight 30-point games for the Nets point guard and he's averaging 23 on the season. He's getting more and more comfortable in his first full year in the Garden State and is scoring like the best point guard in the league in the last week. He has become a must-start in Fantasy. The Nets play three times in Week 4 but Harris is still worth starting across the board.
Roger Mason, Jr., SG, San Antonio Remember when Mason scored 26 points at Minnesota on Nov. 5? He followed that with an 18-point game and with the Spurs missing Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, Fantasy owners rushed out to pick up Mason under the assumption he'd be the team's No. 2 scorer alongside Tim Duncan. Mason is now owned in 74 percent of Fantasy leagues and that is, frankly, way too many. All Mason has done since the 18-point game is average 8.3 points per game, and his last two were his worst outings of the entire season. He's not playing better in Parker's absence, he's actually playing worse and might be pressing just a bit with a lot of pressure placed on his head in his fifth year in the league. He's still averaging the best scoring numbers of his career after eight games, but he's not the guy who scored 26 against the Timberwolves. He's really only worth owning in the deepest of Fantasy leagues right now.
Jeff Green, SF, Oklahoma City For a guy who wasn't even drafted among the first 30 small forwards in Fantasy this season, Thunder forward Jeff Green is playing like a No. 1 option this season after 10 games and has been even better of late. The Georgetown product is enjoying the team's move to Oklahoma City from Seattle in his sophomore season in the league as is averaging over 15 points and six boards per game. He's dropping 21 and seven over his last three games and he continues to improve with each passing week. He's even adding assists and steals to his game. He's still owned in just 83 percent of Fantasy leagues so if you have him available on waivers, get him now. This guy is going to be viable in Fantasy for a long time.
LaMarcus Aldridge, PF, Portland We know, we know. Aldridge was listed as a stock up in last week's Stockwatch. Hey, that's what stocks do. They rise and fall like the sun and basketball players are no different. Last week, with Greg Oden hurt, Aldridge stepped up and averaged well over 20 points and 10 boards over a three-game stretch. The Blazers have now had Oden back for the last two games, at a limited capacity mind you, and Aldridge's stats have taken a nose dive. Aldridge scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds at New Orleans and followed that -- as Oden got more minutes -- with six points and six boards. Aldridge even played his fewest amount of minutes of the season and it seems the more Oden plays, the less Fantasy viable Aldridge becomes. He should still be owned in most Fantasy leagues and there is always the chance that Oden gets hurt again but with a healthy big man in the middle, Aldridge's stock can go nowhere but down.
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