Fanhouse Fantasy

Home Delivery: The Vince Carter Show

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-09T07:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

It was like watching highlights from the 2003-04 season when the Magic and the Hornets got together on Monday night. First you had Vince Carter, who has risen from the dead over the past week, drop 48 points on 19-of-27 shooting and six 3-pointers -- the most points he's scored in a game since 2000. It was like Carter hadn't come off a month in which he averaged 8.7 points on 28.4 percent shooting in 14 January games. Carter is on a three-game streak in which he's scored at least 20 points. It would seem as if his shoulder is healed, as is his game. I think we can all agree on that.

On the other side of the court we saw another oldie, but goodie, Peja Stojakovic forget that he's no longer a relevant fantasy basketball stud. Stojakovic scored a team-high 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting, five 3-pointers, nine rebounds and five assists in 41 minutes. But it wasn't just Peja who looked to be on top of his game on Monday night for the Hornets. Rookie point guard Darren Collison scored a career-high 27 points on 12-of-22 shooting, nine assists and four steals in 47 minutes. I hope you're not letting this guy sit on your waiver wires. He's been a savior for those Chris Paul owners who quickly scooped him up off the wires and painful to watch for those who had let this year's Paul Millsap slip through their hands.

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Home Delivery: Paul Pierce Returns for Super Showdown

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-08T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

While most of you got together with family and friends on Sunday, sat through the commercials and placed intricate wagers on the Raptors-Kings game, others were more intrigued by another game. Yes, the super showdown between the Celtics and the Magic. Boston had some reason to be optimistic about their chances against the Magic with Paul Pierce returning to action. After missing two straight with a sore left foot, Pierce laced 'em up and played 30 minutes, scoring 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting in a losing effort.

The Celtics also saw one of their key reserves return to action against the Magic. Having missed the last 28 games due to a major surgery on his thumb, Marquis Daniels was back on the court. He managed to play just 13 minutes, but did score eight points on 4-of-7 shooting with three rebounds and a steal. I think Daniels has some deep-league value right now. Though I imagine he'll start picking up more minutes, and could eventually have enough value for 12-team leagues. But not quite yet.

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Who's Got Next: Miller Time? Hardly

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-06T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Waiver Wire, Fantasy Basketball

Who's Got Next is a weekly look at some of the top players widely available on the waiver wires.

The upcoming week is a tough one to read. First you have nine teams who only play once. Then you have 20 teams with two games on the schedule with the Orlando Magic as the only team in the Association with three games on their slate. It's also become trendy to give some key players an extended rest by holding them out until "after the All-Star Break" -- Joakim Noah, Brandon Roy, possibly Carmelo Anthony, etc. That's All-Star week for you. So if you're looking to stream this week, you might have a hard time finding many options.

Two players that intrigue me are Brad Miller and Tyrus Thomas. With Noah out until after the break (plantar faciitis) Miller has replaced him in the starting lineup. He wasn't much of a factor in his first start -- 10 points and five rebounds in 40 minutes against the Hawks. But neither was the other guy I thought would see an increase in production, Ty Thomas -- four points, four rebounds, two steals in 16 minutes. The Bulls play twice this week (@IND, ORL), against two teams who I think Miller could post decent numbers against. Neither Thomas and Miller are must-adds this week, but if you have a fringe center or power forward who plays only once you could consider adding either. Just know that once Noah returns after the ASB, it's back to the wires for both.

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Home Delivery: Parker Returns; Roy Remains Out

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-05T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

After missing his team's last three games, Tony Parker returned to the court on Thursday night against the Blazers. Parker logged 30 minutes, and played a fairly efficient game -- 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting, six assists, one steal and just one turnover. With Parker back, George Hill remained in the starting lineup at the two-guard position. Hill was... well, Hill. He scored 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting in 37 minutes. To go along with those points he added just one rebound and zero assists. As I've said in the past, he's a decent add for scoring purposes only.

The Spurs are looking to lean a little on their younger players in the second half of the season. This means that guys like Hill and DeJuan Blair -- 11 points, four rebounds and a steal in 21 minutes against the Blazers -- should have some nice value. Neither are a reliable play right now, but in deep leagues that should both be rostered. In 12-team leagues, there will come a time when Hill and Blair will be more attractive adds. To be honest with you, even Antonio McDyess could be a nice add. He's had nice stretches this season and last. This will lead me to an eventual headline that reads: A Role of the McDyess -- or something along those lines. Can't wait!

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Home Delivery: Three Hours Later, the Celtics Beat the Heat

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-04T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Despite not having Paul Pierce (foot) in the lineup, the Celtics managed to score 107 points against the Heat. This was the first time in 10 games that the Celtics topped the 100-point mark. Rajon Rondo ran the offense efficiently with 22 points and 14 assists in 44 minutes. He also added three steals to his league-leading total. With Pierce out, Tony Allen got the start at small forward for the Celtics. He only managed six points in 27 minutes, but as I pointed out in the chat on Wednesday he's really best served as an add for owners who are looking to up their steals total. Against the Heat he picked two balls.

On the other side of the ball, Dwyane Wade did his best to keep this one competitive. He scored a game-high 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting, two 3-pointers, 13 assists, five rebounds, a steal and two blocks. Wade being Wade. The Heat actually shot 52.2 percent from the floor in a losing effort, but also managed to get outrebounded by the Celtics 41-31, including a 15-6 margin on the offensive glass. Hit the glass!

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Fantasy Basketball Chat Recap

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-03T17:55:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Expert Chats, Fantasy Basketball

We've officially made the move -- for now. The fantasy hoops chat has been moved to 6PM ET to accommodate more people. Now I'm sure those of you who preferred the 1PM chat time will send me e-mails asking me to change it back to 1PM. Then we'll probably split the difference and chat at 3PM and nobody will be happy. See what happens when we fight?

Make sure you join me Wednesday night at 6PM ET for the chattiest of all chats. The trade deadline is approaching so I'm sure many of you are scrambling to make moves. It's also that time of year when the waiver wires start to thin out, so catching players at the right time is key. Should you drop Jose Calderon? Should Coby Karl be added? What's the secret to Shaq's recent offensive surge? Can pandas keep secrets?

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Home Delivery: A Celtic Sigh of Relief

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-03T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Go ahead, let out that major sigh of relief. On Tuesday we learned that Paul Pierce's foot might have been broken, meaning weeks, maybe months on the bench. However, we got some good news later in the day. It seems as if Pierce had just sprained his foot and is now listed as day-to-day. Phew. It seems as if he's targeting this weekend for his return.

The Celtics have been struggling of late, losing three of their last four. Why should fantasy owners care? Well in their last nine games they've failed to score 100 points. That's a serious struggle for the Celtics. Over that span they are the 24th most effective scoring team, and the struggle doesn't stop there. They are 29th in the league in rebounding at 37.6 per game and, interestingly enough, their struggle extends to the free-throw line where they are hitting just 69.7 percent of their attempts from the line over the last 10. Imagine what this team would have looked like without Pierce in the lineup for the next month. I imagine they'd look a lot like... Milwaukee? Zing.

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Hedo Turkoglu Out; Devin Harris Questionable

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-02T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Injury Report, Fantasy Basketball, NBA Lineup Planner

It appears that Hedo Turkoglu has fractured his cheekbone, and will not be available on Tuesday night. Not sure how much time he'll miss, but in the short-term this opens up minutes for Antoine Wright and possibly a chance to see more of the Jarrett Jack-Jose Calderon backcourt set, with Sonny Weems slotting over to the wing. Tonight's game will be a rematch of Sunday's contest against the Pacers. In that one Wright scored 15 points with three 3-pointers and six rebounds in 36 minutes. I still don't think he's worth a flier in standard leagues, but if you're in a 16-team league you can certainly look to add him.

Also in that Pacers-Raptors game on Sunday we saw Jack play 33 effective minutes with Calderon chipping in for 28 of his own. Both are ownable and probably more valuable now that Turk is out. In three games against the Pacers this season, the Raptors have scored 113.6 points per game. This could be another huge night for Chris Bosh.

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Home Delivery: Life After Paul

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-02T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

The post-Chris Paul era in New Orleans got off to a nice start on Monday night. Well, from a fantasy perspective at least. Starting point guard Darren Collison filled Paul's shoes nicely with 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting, one 3-pointer, 14 assists, four rebounds and one steal in 36 minutes. You'll take that each and every night! Over his last two games Collison has a grand total of 32 assists. Seems like he's got this play-making thing figured out. That's good news for David West, who added 20 points and eight rebounds in 38 minutes. I was concerned about how West would respond without CP3. Worry no more.

Marcus Thornton picked up the scoring slack as he led the team with 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting, with five 3-pointers, four rebounds, four assists and a steal. It looks like Thornton can turn into a 16-20 point per game scorer in the second half. His peripheral stats don't add much value, but he's likely one of the three top scorers/3-point shooters available on your wires right now. He's scored 18-plus in four of his last five, hitting 14 3-pointers in that span. Thornton is another guy to look at in all leagues. Life after Chris Paul ain't so bad after all... as long as you're not a Paul owner or a Hornets fan.

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Home Delivery: Cleveland Cavaliers, Party of 3's

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-02-01T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

I hope you were wearing your 3-D glasses Sunday night, because if you weren't ... you did not enjoy the Grammys. The Cavs certainly had their 3-point glasses on against the Clips (see how I tried to tie those in). LeBron James and company hit 11 3-pointers in the first quarter -- tying an NBA record and setting a team record for most threes in a quarter. Not only was it the most 3-pointers they've hit in a quarter, but it ties a team record for most threes in a half. They slowed down from beyond the arc after that illustrious first 12 minutes, finishing the game with 16 long balls. The Cavs set another team record with 46 first quarter points, with LeBron James himself outscoring the Clippers 23-20 on 8-of-9 field-goal attempts, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. He finished the night with 32 points on 10-of-20 shooting and did not take any 3-point attempts after the first quarter.

Daniel Gibson hit two treys in the first quarter and finished the night with four 3-pointers, 14 points and six assists. Jamario Moon came off the bench and dropped two 3-pointers in the first, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds. Even Jawad Williams got involved hitting 2-of-5 3-pointers. I have to say that the Cavaliers' 3-point clinic in the first -- they were averaging 7.4 threes per game heading into this one -- was enough to push Kobe Bryant's game-winning jumper to after the "jump." They were that impressive.

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Fantasy Spin: Chris Paul Needs Surgery

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-31T23:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Injury Report, Fantasy Basketball

I really don't know how to express my feelings toward Chris Paul's imminent surgery and absence from the game for the next two months without using an emoticon. Upside-down smiley face, anyone? But that's not my style. I'm more of an "ugh" kind of guy. So ... UGH!

Word broke that Chris Paul will reportedly miss the next 6-8 weeks after tearing cartilage in his left knee on Friday night against the Bulls. It looks like he will have surgery on Monday and an optimistic return is no sooner than one month from now. Paul missed eight games in late-November, though he's still in the Top 5 due to his tremendous skills on both sides of the ball. There really is no way to replace Paul unless you can convince another owner to trade you Deron Williams, Steve Nash or Rajon Rondo. Even then, you're not going to get back fair value. So once again you are forced to weather the storm and hope for the best.

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Who's Got Next: The Moment Millsap Was Waiting For

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-30T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Sleepers, NBA Waiver Wire, Fantasy Basketball

Who's Got Next is a weekly look at some of the top players widely available on the waiver wires.

Calling all Carlos Boozer owners. Calling all Carlos Boozer owners. Now is the time to pick up Paul Millsap. With Boozer down and out -- for a least a few games -- due to a strained right calf, Millsap is now in line for a major bump up in production. In his first start of the season this past Friday, Millsap posted a "what were you waiting for" line -- 32 point on 11-of-17 shooting, 10-of-11 free throws, 14 rebounds and seven assists in 43 minutes. Yes, this is the same Paul Millsap who posted 16 straight double-doubles last season while Boozer was sidelined.

We don't know just yet how much time Boozer will miss, but what we do know is that there is no reason why Millsap is still available in 25 percent of leagues. I thought we learned our lesson last season. Even if last season's breakout campaign isn't fresh in your mind, more recently many Gilbert Arenas owners who slept on Randy Foye are regretting not hurrying to the waiver wires to handcuff their third rounder. At the very least, Jerry Sloan has endorsed giving more minutes to Millsap. He's the hot add right now, so make sure he's not sitting on your wires.

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Home Delivery: The Old Turk

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-29T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Well it's been quite some time since we've seen the old Hedo Turkoglu this season. In fact, not since Dec. 13 has he hit the 20-point mark in a game. Finally, though, we got a little taste of what he's actually capable of on Thursday night against the Knicks -- 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting, three treys, 11 rebounds, two steals and a block. Where did that come from? The heart maybe? For the month of January Turkoglu has averaged 9.3 points and 31.1-percent shooting from the floor. He's been dropable and/or sitable (those are made up fantasy hoops words) over the last 10 games. Now we finally get some real action from him. Let's hope he can at least give us a few solid scoring performances and shoot over 40 percent from the floor for the next few games. Then we can get serious about putting him back in our lineup.

The other disappointing Raptor, Jose Calderon, played a nice game as well against the Knicks -- 12 points, one 3-pointer and seven assists in 24 minutes. He actually led a second quarter charge to help bring the Raptors back into this one. I know that many are looking to drop/move Calderon, but I would say that you shouldn't do so on the cheap. Jarrett Jack is still the starter, but Calderon's name has more value than anyone else on your waiver wires. At least try to trade him before dropping him.

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Fantasy Basketball Chat Recap

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-28T13:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Expert Chats, Fantasy Basketball

I figure that since we had so much fun last week with the live chat, why not go ahead and devote another hour this week to talking fantasy hoops. And that's what we're going to do. This and every week we'll be chatting and opening up the dialogue for an hour. We'll keep updated on the most disappointing point guard in the league, Devin Harris, and try not to turn this into a forum for any Harris bashing. I feel your pain, but taking any anger out on Harris won't make his wrist heal any faster.

Any and all topics are on the table this week. I'm just going to try and get through the chat without writing lengthy answers to your questions. My tip-tapping of the keyboard coupled with the 250-word answers I tend to give sometimes limit the number of questions we get through. Not this week.

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Carlos Boozer Suffers Right Calf Injury; Pick Up Millsap

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-28T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

You hope for the best, but it's not looking so good for Carlos Boozer who left Wednesday night's game against the Blazers after just 15 minutes due to a calf injury. As someone who owns him, I'm having a hard time just writing about his injury. Boozer was on his way to posting a huge line against the Blazers before he left in the second quarter, never to return -- 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting and five rebounds. Your instant reaction to his injury is to pick up Paul Millsap, who since the start of the season was a Boozer injury away from being a Top 50 fantasy baller. It's put-up or shut-up time, or so it would seem. No word on if Boozer misses any time, but he has had trouble in the past with his calf and since he was unable to play at all in the second-half of Wednesday's game, I'm getting a bad feeling about this injury.

Millsap came off the bench to play 33 minutes and post a double-double with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 12 rebounds, a steal and two blocks. Add Millsap now. You need to handcuff Boozer, and if you're not a Boozer owner you need to jump on Millsap as a valuable piece. Remember what he did last season? For those who don't recall, Millsap posted 16 straight double-doubles while Boozer was sidelined. What are you waiting for?

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Carmelo Anthony and Devin Harris Out Tonight; Eric Gordon In

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-27T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fantasy Basketball, NBA Lineup Planner

I've decided that since I usually give you a heads up on injuries and start/sits in my morning Home Delivery, it might be better off if I just start a separate post to give you updates throughout the day as we learn more about the status of certain players. I've yet to come up with a name for this post, but with 11 games on the schedule Wednesday night there's no better time than now to kick it off.

Carmelo Anthony (ankle) is not expected to play against the Rockets. He is, however, expected t play on Friday night. Keep your fingers crossed. In his absence Joey Graham is likely to get the start. I'm no fan of Graham, especially since he's a terrible rebounder for his size -- 1.8 per game on the season. Aaron Afflalo might be worth another look without Melo in the lineup. He went off for 24 points on Tuesday night as the main beneficiary of Melo's available touches. In other Nuggets news, Chris Andersen is supposed to play even as he's working through a sore ankle.

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The Kings of Confusion

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-27T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

It's a tough read from a fantasy perspective in Sacramento right now. Kevin Martin, the team's leading scorer, has scored just five points in each of the last three games, including a 1-of-9 shooting performance on Tuesday night against the Warriors. And it's not as if the team's top talent, Tyreke Evans, led the team in scoring. It was Beno Udrih, who came off the bench to score 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting in 31 minutes, who took the crown as the team's top scorer. Go figure.

Then you have the frontcourt situation, which is another story in itself. Spencer Hawes played his most effective game on Tuesday since the first of the new year -- 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 13 rebounds, one 3-pointer and three blocks in 31 minutes. Starting power forward Jason Thompson played just 14 minutes and was able to post only four points and six rebounds thanks mostly to the four quick fouls he picked up. Sean May, playing for the first time since Dec. 12, saw just 14 minutes but posted seven points and 11 rebounds. And I can't even get into Omri Casspi who had one point on 0-of-4 shooting in 12 minutes. All I know right now is that Evans is the only King you should be starting on a nightly basis. The rest of the team you need to assess the matchup and see what other options you might have before slotting them in. I told you it was confusing.

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Home Delivery: Wade vs. James

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-26T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

It's not often we get to see two of the best players in the league go head-to-head and, essentially, cancel each other out. For LeBron James and Dwyane Wade owners who were up against each other this week, that's what you got -- canceled out. King James and the Cavs went into Miami on Monday night and came out with a one-point victory after D-Wade cooled down in the second-half. Wade scored just two of his 32 points after halftime and finished 10-of-21 from the floor and 9-of-16 from the line with three treys, 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block in 38 minutes.

As I mentioned, James nearly matched Wade stat-for-stat: 32 points on 9-of-23 shooting, 12-of-17 from the line, two 3-pointers, nine rebounds, four assists, and a less appealing defensive line with just one steal. With Delonte West out for the second straight game, Daniel Gibson started and actually provide some ceiling value -- 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, four 3-pointers and as you'd expect nothing else but a rebound and an assist. "Boobie" is a decent deep-league add for 3-pointers, but standard leagues need to get in on the Anderson Varejao action -- 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 3-of-3 from the line, 10 rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes. A highly underrated big man.

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No Kidd and No Damps, Mavs Still Top Knicks by 50

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-25T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Last Night, Fantasy Basketball

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

What happens when you take Jason Kidd and Erick Dampier out of the Mavs' lineup and replace them with J.J. Barea and Drew Gooden? You get yourself a good old fashioned beat-down. A shellacking to the tune of 50 points. Led by Drew Gooden and his 15 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes, Dallas kicked it into gear early on against the Knicks and never let up. They defeated New York 128-78, holding them to 33.7 percent shooting. You know things are bad for the Knicks when Jared Jeffries, who is averaging just 4.4 points on the season, leads the team in scoring with 14 points. David Lee -- 11 points and 14 rebounds -- was the only other Knick to hit double-figures.

Seven Mavs posted double-digit scoring lines, with Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry both touching 20 points. As I noted earlier, Kidd missed the game due to personal issues. Dampier sat out with a left knee injury and is listed as day-to-day. For the Knicks, Nate Robinson was out with a sore hamstring as the rest of the team was out...to lunch? It was an ugly game to say the least.

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Who's Got Next: You in There, Lopez?

Tom Lorenzo — 2010-01-23T15:30:00+00:00

Filed under: NBA Waiver Wire, Fantasy Basketball, NBA Lineup Planner

Who's Got Next is a weekly look at some of the top players widely available on the waiver wires.

The hottest name in fantasy basketball right now is Robin Lopez. And I suppose it's rightfully so. It's not often we see a 7-footer average nearly three blocks, six rebounds and 14 points on 70 percent shooting get thrown into the conversation this late into the season. Obviously, with those numbers Lopez has been flying off the waiver wires and slotted into lineups without reservation. At least that was until Friday night.

Against the Bulls Lopez managed just nine points, three rebounds, one block and one steal in 22 minutes. Credit Joakim Noah's tough defensive presence and the fact that the Suns were just trying to keep pace with the Bulls on the offensive side of the ball, which made Channing Frye much more valuable. Frye hit 4-of-7 3-point attempts and, believe it or not, pulled down eight rebounds and blocked a shot in 25 minutes. Now we're in a timeshare? I still think the minutes will lean in Lopez's favor, but I also believe that more 20-point, 7-rebound performances won't be the norm. In the right matchup, sure. But expect more 12-point, 6-rebound, 2-block performances. And right now, that's about as good as you'll get on the waiver wires.

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