Stars Of The Stream: Assists

We've all been there. Scraping the bottom of the barrel for those last few stats, praying your stopgap doesn't hurt your tenuous lead in another category. It's the life of a fantasy streamer, and it's really never a good sign for your long-term prospects in a fantasy season. But sometimes needs dictate action, and when you're short on a cat with just a day or two to go, I know you don't need lectures on efficient team building- you need results. With this in mind, I offer a few decent options for fill-in stats in daily lineup leagues.

Assists:

Beno Udrih- He's only owned in an average of 41% of ESPN leagues, so there's probably a good shot that he's available in yours right now. After a preseason of hype for the Kings' pressumed starter, the Solvenian has been terribly uneven this year. Where he has been generally useful is in his ability to distribute, tallying 5 or more assists seemingly every other game. On the surface, he's trending the wrong way (fewer dimes in each of the successive months of the season), but at any given 5 game period, he'll managed better than "okay" assists (6 per in 3 of his last 5 games, for example.)

Kyle Lowry- I'd argue that Lowry should have a place in most deep leagues, but Lowry is probably going to be sitting on the wire in too many leagues based on his poor recent showings against the Jazz and Pistons. Never mind that the Grizz as a whole have looked terrible of late, Lowry has emerged as the closest thing to a legit PG on Memphis' roster. When he's playing well, he also contributes in treys and steals.

Louis Williams- He goes through stretches in and out of favor in the Sixers lineup, but a general rule of thumb with Lou has been "If he's not scoring, he's dishing." Before going for 15 and 25 in his last two games, respectively, he averaged 4.8 assists over his previous 10 games (including a run of three consecutive 6 assist games.)

Rasho Nesterovic- He flirted with fantasy respectability earlier this season before dissappearing, and I'm not offering the most ringing of endorsements here, but when you've got a C slot open and need a couple of extra dimes, Rasho might well be looking you square in the eye from free agency. He's capable on any given night of playing minutes in the high teens, and when he does, he's one of the most efficient sources of assists from a non-guard slot.

Steve Blake/Sergio Rodriguez- It surprises me how low their ownership numbers have been (less than 1% for Rodriguez and just 10% for Blake.) When he's been healthy, Blake has been a legit pickup in basically any format for steals and treys, but when he gets the run S-Rod has been able to chalk up more than his fair share. Basically, whomever is distributing for the Blazers on a given night is a good bet for fill-in stats.

Mardy Collins- I know. I know. It's... Mardy Collins. But he's all the Clippers have and he's averaged better than 8 (EIGHT!) assists per game as a starter. I said it wouldn't be pretty.

Anthony Carter- Impossibly, somehow, Carter took his demotion after the Chauncey Billups trade in stride, and has worked his way back into serious rotation minutes at the 2 for the Nuggets. He's a better-than-average rebounder for a point, and should get you 4.5 assists on any night he clears 20 minutes. Carter might be one of the safer bets on this list.