Etan Thomas, who's rarely fantasy worthy (except for last year, when he could have won me the championship if I'd followed an instinct to add him on the last day), has had season-ending heart surgery.

Haywood no longer has him to restrict his minutes, and could be fantasy relevant this year... need to evaluate.

Brandon Haywod is on the verege of making true fantasy impact. At least 10-10 and a block per game, which makes him one of the best sleepers of the season.


I really hope Etan will get back soon.

The Etan news came out of nowhere. I'm glad he's getting it taken care of instead of risking himself with a heart issue while playing.

Info on Haywood please.

Thanks.

Here you go: He's a 7 foot center, 263 pounds.
On the 14 games he played more than 29 minutes (30 or more, that is), he has avraged:
11 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assists, 0.9 steal, 1.4 blocks and 1 turnover, while shooting 63% from the floor and 59% from the line.

I guess he will play between 30 and 35 minutes, so his numbers should look about the same. Terrific sleeper.

28 year old 7 footer.....Him and Thomas were like Tom and Jerry - this should no doubt make Haywood a better option to own now. But Im not crazy about his game - plus the youngster Andray Blatche should see a spike in production yr 3.....the Wizards envision big things of him (Blatche) in the future. Based on his skills, i still see Haywood as just a backup center for fantasy purposes.....Remember, you still have 2 all star forwards crashing the boards each night....

I see something like 8 and 8 per night from him.....

I watched a lot of Wizards games last year, and Haywood seemed to always get into quick foul trouble. For that reason, i cant see him getting 35 minutes.......I could see something like 27-28mpg - i think Blatche starts getting around 20mpg as well.....

I'm sorry, but his numbers say differently. And it's not like he stacked up stats while Butler and Arenas were injured.
Wizards coach didn't let him play more than 30 minutes even once in the last weeks of the season, and he won't have any choice this time. I don't see Blatche getting more than 15 minues per game, which would leave enough time for Haywood to get the stats I mentioned above.

csquared is definitely correct in identifying Blatche as the key detractor from Haywood's stats. Blatche is physically gifted and several teams expressed interest in him already. The Wiz are high on him, and hope to develop him as a future big for them (thinking Jamison is gone).

Blatche is ALSO a sleeper that should see a stock uptick with the Etan news.

I was very impressed the few times i watched him - can be a freak on the glass....

I recall reading about Blatche on several occasions last year though Ive never seen him play. All things Ive ever read point to him being a wicked good player if given the chance. Lets see how this all works itself out I guess.

The number of inappropriate jokes we could use here is staggering. I'll refrain.

Yes, Blatch is a nice sleeper. As someone who had a man crush on Haywood a couple of years ago, I can tell you, he isn't that good.

I'd say Blatch is probably a better waiver pick up than draft pick, but I'd keep my eye one him.

Odd I cant even think of one. Feel free to PM me urs though. I dunno maybe Im just missing somethin here.

blatche is a SF with a PF/C's length. he's not the banger or physical presence that the wiz need down low. blatche is soft.
their draft pick from last yr, oleksiy pecherov, is a very interesting player. i actually like his game more than blatche's, but he's soft too.
only winner and rosterable player is haywood.

as for etan, hope he makes a full recovery. in fact i know he will, thats one strong individual.