Plumlee’s Having a Fantasy Impact

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Everyone in America is at the disposal of ESPN when it comes to watching college basketball and Duke. Duke is no question Dick Vitale’s favorite team to hype up year in and year out. Jay Bilas one of ESPN’s best commentators is a Duke graduate. To Bilas’s credit he tends to keep his opinions of Duke involved in the grand scheme of college basketball for that season.

Nonetheless by watching Duke over the last four to five years they’ve continued to have a common name on the back of their jerseys. Plumlee. The youngest Plumlee is currently at Duke and the other two have found their way into the NBA.

Call it what you want but both the Plumlee’s have seen minutes on the floor because of their athleticism and work ethic. There have been plenty of big man draft busts over the years. Hasheem Thabett, Daniel Orton, Fab Melo, and the list goes on. To get minutes on an NBA floor you have to show hustle and be impactful.

Both Mason and Miles are doing that with their current respective teams. To be honest I didn’t believe Mason had a shot at an NBA career. Mason showed up more in games for both halves especially during his senior season at Duke. Miles on the other hand often faded against stiffer competition and didn’t show the skills of an NBA big man.

The Phoenix Suns open attack style on the offensive end has been the perfect niche for Miles. To start the season he was mainly an offensive rebound put back type of center. Now the Suns actually feed him the ball and allow him to attack the basket. His has a quickness advantage and leaping advantage over a large majority of centers. Indiana somehow let him walk away instead of continuing to build him through their development team or in practices.

You couldn’t ask for more of a steal for fantasy basketball participants than picking up Miles after fantasy drafts. He is averaging near a double double every game with two blocks a game. He is still available in over 37% of Yahoo fantasy basketball leagues.

Mason is going to be a reserve for the Brooklyn Nets with all the veterans above him on the depth chart. The likes of Andray Blatche, Kevin Garnett, Andrei Kirilinko, Brook Lopez, and Reggie Evans all sit in the power forward/center positions. Mason’s minutes currently are coming because of injury woes atop the Nets depth chart.

Still you have to love what you’re seeing from Plumlee besides his free throw shooting. In Saturday’s loss to the Clippers he provided a season high 19 points in 27 minutes. When he is on the court he has been an impactful player. The rookie should continue to get minutes here and there even if the veteran players out currently on the Nets return soon. Jason Kidd and the Nets coaching staff will surely rest their veterans and decrease their minutes as the season stretches on.

If you’re in need of a big men double check your fantasy basketball waiver wires to see if Miles Plumlee is available. Keep Mason on your radar watch list for now.