The DC Duo

What do you get when you combine a breakdown of the Washington Wizards' ticking time bomb of a back-court with bad puns? This week's Late Night Sleeper blog post!

Agent Hero?

Gilbert won me the week with his 16 assist outburst on Sunday, but let’s keep in mind that he’s putting up these numbers in the absence of John Wall, who is undoubtedly THE man on the team. When Wall comes back Gilbert’s numbers will decline, but I don’t expect them to plummet. The Wizards would love to trade Gilbert, but the dude has about as much trade value as a zip-lock bag full of celery sticks in a middle school cafeteria. That leaves the Wizards in a tough spot, they have no choice but to play him in a showcase role in hopes that another team will take the bait. Gilb is finally healthy and if we have learned anything over the past four years it is that he will feel entitled to demand shots and playing time whether he deserves it or not. There is literally not one thing to like about Gilbert’s game in terms of wins/losses for an NBA team, but for your fantasy team he can help in a big way, and he comes at a cheap price. If you drafted him late like I did, there’s not much downside.

Is John “About to Hit the Rookie” Wall?

I guess if we are talking about Gilbert we should also discuss what this means for John Wall. Wall is currently averaging 18, 4, 10 with over three steals a game, those numbers qualify him under Beast status in my book, but can he keep it up? I personally tend to avoid rookies in fantasy basketball because I have a hard time seeing Wall make it through the entire season at this pace. There’s a big difference between a college schedule and the grueling 82 game NBA marathon season. Can you remember who the hot rookie to own was a year ago today? It was Brandon Jennings, who got off to a blazing start last year, averaging 22 ppg with 6 dimes in the first month of the season. For the next four months Jennings steadily declined while absolutely murdering his fantasy owners’ field goal percentage, dropping as low as .311 from the field last February. I wouldn’t expect that dramatic of a fall for Wall because he’s simply better than Jennings is and ever will be, but Wall is also currently sporting a walking boot because of a bum ankle. If I owned him I’d undoubtedly be selling high and going after a big name player with less risk.