Jumping the Waiver Wire examines some guards with newfound value this week.

This edition of Jumping features six guards with six different stories but one common theme: newfound fantasy value. Every one of these picks deserves consideration for a roster spot on your team because there is something about each of them that shows they are undervalued and suggests there will be more success to come.

Many smart managers, including myself, have wasted little time this season before streaming in hot players in an effort to reach their league’s playoffs. The guys below can help you out in the short-term and long-term, so before you consider a catch and release, take a look at their situations for a better idea of what’s what.

D.J. Augustin (Owned in 23 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) Seven 3 pointers against the Hawks last week showed in one fell swoop what Augustin is capable of when given the opportunity. He received his opportunity because of a knee injury to starting off guard Jason Richardson. Even though Richardson was first injured the day I was writing the article, I’m still kicking myself for not promoting Augustin to you guys last week. But like few before him, he slipped through the cracks. Get him in your lineup while you can because J-Rich is due back soon, but keep in mind Richardson has a long history of injuries to both knees, so there may be more big minutes for Augustin on the horizon. Regardless of whether it’s Richardson or Raymond Felton yielding minutes, more court time is due to Augustin, who has been the Bobcats’ best fantasy player in the five games J-Rich has missed, putting up: 47 FG%, 92 FT%, 1.6 3PG, 14.6 PPG and 4.2 APG.

Eric Gordon (Owned in 8 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) The trade of Cuttino Mobley to New York creates a void of 33 minutes at the Clippers’ off guard position. Smart money to fill most of them would be on Gordon, the sharp shooting 6^th overall pick in this year’s draft. The rookie hasn’t exactly impressed this season but he has shown improvement of late as his minutes have been bumped to 25 a game, nearly double his season average. Gordon should split court time with Ricky Davis, but seeing as how he has more upside and is the team’s bigger investment, he should see more minutes and production as the season wears on. As I said in my preseason picks, expect good points and threes but a poor field goal percentage along with the risk of inconsistency.

Steve Blake (Owned in 37 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) Pressure on Blake to hold on to the starting PG job in Portland was lifted this offseason when Jarret Jack was traded to the Pacers. Now that he can relax with the post for once in his career, he is truly showing what he can do. Blake is currently ranked 66^th overall in the Yahoo! game and is only owned in 37 percent of all leagues. Something is off here because with it being a month into the season, the value of this ranking is nothing to sneeze at. This season Blake is seeing nearly 29 minutes per game, making 2.1 three pointers with a 44.6 FG percentage, a valuable combination from the PG spot worth ownership consideration in any standard league.

Daequan Cook (Owned in 15 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) Cook is without a doubt slumping right now, but this doesn’t deter me from adding his name to this list. Miami’s three-point specialist was 4 of 17 from beyond the arc in his previous two games before Saturday’s contest in which he didn’t attempt a single three and finished with just two points. It was the first game this season in which he failed to make a three. With that said, even after Saturday’s game, Cook is still jacking up 6.2 threes per game, good for seventh most in the league. He is and will remain Miami’s three-point specialist and will also likely maintain the team’s sixth man role because Miami has become a three point shooting team this year under Coach Spoelestra, averaging the third most attempts in the NBA. Their new fast-paced style has helped them become one of the league’s most improved teams this season so look for them to keep it up. 

Mike Conley (Owned in 31 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) It was only a matter of time before the former Buckeye started to turn around his season because he is just too damn talented to struggle like this. It may be a bit premature but I’m guessing that that time has come. After nearly losing the starting PG job to Kyle Lowry (depending on who you ask), Conley has started to turn around his shot and his fortunes for leading the team. Over the past two games he has shot 12 for 21 from the field and scored 14 points in each of them. His assists have been erratic all season and will likely continue to be as Memphis has a bad case of isolationitis. Right now they are a bunch of one-on-one players, who average a league worst 16.1 assists per game. But as far as Conley goes, if he can continue to convert his jump shot, leading him to play with a higher intensity, he should start to distance himself from backup minutes-stealer Kyle Lowry and once again attain fantasy value.

Chris Duhon (Owned in 68 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) All right, lets do a little elementary math here, the only kind I can perform without getting a headache. Since the day the Knicks killed their season by trading away their two top scorers, they have played two games short handed. In those games Duhon, averaged over 44 minutes, 2 threes, 15 points, 3.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 0.5 steals—numbers worth a start in most leagues. However, in the two games prior, with the Knicks at full strength, he averaged, over 43 minutes, 2.5 threes, 15.5 points, 7.5 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 steal. This is a relatively small sample size but nevertheless meaningful and ironic numbers. What I conclude from them is Duhon was on a bit of a roll before the trades were made and things should theoretically only get better for him as the Knicks received worse than what they got, including a Crawford for Mobley exchange in the backcourt. This should lead to more minutes and more points at the cost of slightly less assists, his most notable quality.