ESPN Fantasy Basketball Blog

Posted by Seth Landman, Special to ESPN.com

Yes, the New Jersey Nets have had their problems in the early going, especially with the injury to their starting point guard and best player, Devin Harris. That said, no one expected much of the Nets this year anyway, and there certainly have been some bright spots on the wing positions. Chris Douglas-Roberts and rookie swingman Terrence Williams both look like keepers, and both also appear to have some fantasy value this season, too.

Douglas-Roberts has had three straight productive games for the Nets and seems to have the starting small-forward spot on lockdown. He's good for points and rebounds, and has been doing his share in steals and blocks of late, too. He's doing a great job of getting to the line and converting free throws, and has a wide enough variety of shots that he should be able to handle it when defenses start adjusting to him. Over his past three games, he's averaging over 21 points and 5 rebounds per game, and those numbers could continue for the next week or so until Devin Harris returns. Even after that, CDR should produce enough to be worth owning. He's only owned in 9 percent of leagues at the moment, but should probably be owned in all of them.

Williams isn't getting the same amount of playing time as Douglas-Roberts, but has been productive nonetheless. Right now he's not quite worth playing, but he's got potential in the defensive categories and as a rebounder from the wing.

The Nets may have gotten blown out at home by the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, but the trend of their young players improving seems to be happily continuing.

Looking Back

After playing only sparingly the first three games of the season, Quentin Richardson is finally seeing some productive playing time for the Miami Heat of late. In particular, he's averaging 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds over his past two games, making nine 3-pointers over that stretch, too. If the Heat are going to play Jermaine O'Neal and Michael Beasley at the big man spots, Richardson's ability to rebound will be key going forward, and he's probably worth owning in most leagues until he gets hurt. … Charlie Villanueva owners can take heart in the fact that he had a pretty good game against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday by racking up 16 points, seven rebounds, a block, a steal and two 3s. He's the best scoring big man the Detroit Pistons have, and once he gets settled, he should start putting up those numbers on a regular basis. … Andrea Bargnani had his first double-digit rebounding game of the season, which is a good sign for those of you looking to get the occasional rebound out of your starting center. … Nuggets rookie Ty Lawson has been a bit up and down, but had a great game in the blowout win over the Nets, finishing with 23 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the floor. Obviously, those are not the sort of numbers you can expect every night, but he should be in your lineup any time the Nuggets face some weak competition. … For those of you who have yet to jump on the Roy Hibbert bandwagon, the Indiana Pacers center has had two straight double-doubles and is averaging 2.3 blocks per game for the season. He should be in your lineup most nights, especially against any team with a sub-par defense. … Minnesota Timberwolves center Oleksiy Pecherov had the best game of his short career against great Boston Celtics frontline, which seems like it should be a good sign for things to come; I wouldn't pick him up quite yet, but if he follows this game up with another good one, he might be worth an add until Kevin Love returns from injury. … The Houston Rockets' Chuck Hayes is not a flashy player, but he's averaging 13 points and 11.5 rebounds over his past two games, while contributing 2.4 steals per game for the season. A lot of nights he won't score much, but at least you know he won't hurt your field goal percentage. If you need steals, he's a great place to turn. … Jamal Crawford is on a major hot streak for the Atlanta Hawks at the moment, and considering how thin their bench is, he may be worth an add if you need scoring and 3s over the next few weeks.

Looking Ahead

Only two games on the docket for Thursday night, so there's not much to look forward to, but it may be a good night to play your marginal San Antonio Spurs players against the Utah Jazz, as the Jazz have been among the worst defensive teams in the league through the first week of the season. In particular, DeJuan Blair and George Hill might be in line for big games. … The Cleveland Cavaliers, on the other hand, are back to playing some pretty stingy defense since their two-game skid to start the season. It could be a long night for the Chicago Bulls' Luol Deng, who will have to deal with LeBron James on defense. Deng is playing well enough that he should be in your lineup anyway, but if you have lots of better options, don't hesitate to use them.