All seemed lost after New Orleans Hornets star Peja Stojakovic missed most of last season to injury. The recent over-inflated contract they'd given him had many worried that the Hornets had committed themselves to spending big dollars on an old player who wouldn't be able to play at a high level anymore.
Yet, in the early stages of the 2007-2008 NBA season, Peja appears to have put all that worry behind him and is resembling the player he was two-three seasons ago.
In four games, Stojakovic has averaged 19.5 ppg and a whopping 4.8 treys per game, giving fantasy owners something to smile about. He should continue to get better as he shakes off more and more rust.
Against the Lakers on November 6, 2007, Peja set a franchise record by hitting 10 threes in the game (he missed only three of them). His offensive punch should also help Chris Paul have a good season. In the same game, Paul set a franchise record with 21 dishes. Many of those were due to Peja's hot hand.
Keep an eye on other players on the Hornets' roster. If there are injuries, as long as Paul's healthy (to distribute the ball) and Peja's healthy (to spread the court on offense) the doors could be wide open for other players, especially under-the-radar players like Rasual Butler, Hilton Armstrong and Jannero Pargo, to take advantage.
Good value for roto
Let's be optimistic and say Peja's able to average 3 per game due to the combo of Chris Paul's stellar passing and New Orleans' decent inside presence.
Even if he only plays 50 games, he would have 150 threes for the season. Only 15 guys in the entire NBA had 150 threes last year. (See the list below.)
Since total stats are all that matter in roto, with a 10th round pick, you might as well hang on to Peja and keep that 4th or 5th round production.
Gilbert Arenas
Mike Miller
Raja Bell
Leandro Barbosa
Rafer Alston
Luther Head
Mike Bibby
Ray Allen (55 games)
Jason Terry
Steve Nash
Shane Battier
Ben Gordon
Vince Carter
J.R. Smith (63 games)
Rashard Lewis (60 games)
re: grover
Yes he is much more valuable in roto. I base most of my analysis on H2H. BTW, the guy never averaged 3 threes a game in his prime with Bibby in his prime at point guard(one year he did come close). He isn't going to do it on the downside of his career. I think the 3 threes a game estimate is unrealistic.
Three a game might be high...
...but how often does that happen anyway? Two plus per game is very likely. It really depends on what you need, I think. But, you're right. He's an injury risk. Those who drafted him should have known what they were getting themselves into.
RE
Yeah, you may be right about him getting hurt later. But, for now, he's looking good. Still, would it be so bad to get 40-50 games out of him, assuming they're quality games? A 10th round pick seems worth that to me. But, you're right, surely if you can upgrade your team long term you should look to trade him. He may be more of a shorter term fix. If you own him in H2H leagues, I'd be more pressed to trading him than in roto leagues.
My Thoughts on Peja
The guy is going to get hurt. Its inevitable, its not a question of if its a question of when. If I had Peja on my roster I would keep him for another week or two then unload him before he gets injured(If he lasts that long). If you try to trade him now you might have trouble getting a lot for him.
I find that this early in the season people look at the place someone was drafted to establish value. In my draft Peja went in the 10th round. If you were to trade Peja right now, you might be able to get a player that went in the 8th round in return. But, if you hold out another 10 days, people will stop looking at the draft results to establish value and you might be able to steal a 4th or 5th rounder for him.