It ain’t over until the last game of the season is over! This time of year neccessitates making tough decisions. Are you in a playoff? Are you short in games played? It might not be worth holding onto Gasol or Kaman, depending on what stats you need and your situation. There’s always something good on the waiver wire, depending on how much you’re willing to lower your standards.

Steve Blake, PG, Blazers — With Roy out and possibly for the rest of the season, Blake becomes the main playmaker on that team. As a starter, he’s averaging 5 ast 0.7 stl and 1.6 3ptr per game. If you can handle the low FG%, then he’s one of the few waiver pickups that can contribute in multiple categories.

DeShawn Stevenson, G, Wizards — With Antonio Daniels dinged up, Stevenson will get to handle the ball more. He’s actually averaging 3 ast/g this season. But that’s not why you want him. He’s averaging over 2 3ptr/g since December. Wow. Just be careful — when Arenas returns, he’ll hog alot of shots from Stevenson.

Jermaine O’neal, F/C, Pacers — He returned for about 20 min in the last game. I think he stays at 20 min/g and gets ramped to 30 min/g. However, that ramp could become faster if the Pacers can close in on that final playoff spot. He has the potential to give you pts, reb and blocks, but he may not block as much as before in order to take it easy on his knee.

Tyrus Thomas, F, Bulls — How many times have we seen his name on this list this season? He’s a potential reb, stl, blk machine, but he never gets enough PT. Now Drew Gooden is dinged up. Lets see if Tyrus can take hold of the job and get 25-30 min/g.

Josh Powell, C, Clippers — Kaman got hurt again; this time his ankle. If you need REB, he might be worth a flyer. However, I’d rather have Vareajo, Perkins or someone like that first.

Chris Quinn, G, Heat — Introducing your new PG for the Miami Heat, Mr. Quinn. As a starter, 10 pts, 1.6 stl, 4 ast and 1.2 3ptr per game. Tell me you can’t use that around this time of year. Just beware the low FG%.

Sasha Vujacic, G, Lakers — If you need 3s and only 3s, he’s your man. Fisher is playing through a foot injury, so the Lakers might not play him the usual minutes, opening up some PT. I wish it meant more PT for Farmar, but that doesn’t look like the case unless Fisher goes down.

Marko Jaric, G, T-Wolves — Doesn’t seem like Telfair is coming back soon. He might even get shut down for the season. If you need 1 3ptr, 4 ast and 1.5 stl per game, Jaric can give you that, albeit with wildly inconsistent stat lines from game to game.

Beno Udrih is still out, but I’m not a big fan of Anthony Johnson so I don’t really recommend him unless you are in a deep league. Also, keep an eye out on Brand and Arenas. Probably time to grab them if you have a free bench slot you don’t need. I don’t think Bynum will be of value this regular season. I’d rather hold onto a Gasol or Matrix than take a chance on Bynum. In playoff leagues, you might be able to grab something really good since owners have to play to win that week and can’t afford to miss games. I recently grabbed Dirk Nowitzki and this is an active 10-team league.

sportsnut