Anthony Randolph to Return Thursday; Baron Davis Could Miss a Week

It looks like we will finally get to see Anthony Randolph in action on Thursday night when the Knicks take on the Chicago Bulls. It's funny how the anticipation for a seventh-round pick continues to build. Randolph will be making his Knick debut, but I expect his minutes to be limited. I don't think that Mike D'Antoni is going to rush him back. If you're in a daily league you have to start him, though, given that there are only two games on Thursday night.

In other injury news, we learned on Thursday that Baron Davis may not play at all next week. He has a cyst behind his left knee which is causing swelling. While this is terrible news for Davis, it looks like you can continue to ride out Eric Bledsoe's hot hand for the next 4-5 games. Bledsoe went for 17 points, eight assists, four rebounds, two 3-pointers, and two blocks against the Thunder. He's a nice short-term option with the possibility to turn into a permanent one.
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In other news...

Ben Gordon, Pistons - He is back. It's as simple as that. The problem is, you need to remember what "back" means. He can score 20 points per game, but what else does he give you? A nice FT%, sure. Some threes, maybe. This season he's only hit four 3-pointers over the first five games. His 3-point shooting will likely improve, but you also have to be prepared for his 59.8 FG% to go way down. I would move him now while his value is high.

D.J. Augustin, Bobcats - Augustin's performance on Wednesday night was ugly -- five points on 1-of-7 shooting. Still, he's providing close to six assists, nearly four rebounds, 2.3 3-pointers, a perfect showing from the free-throw line, and coughing up only 1.5 turnovers per game. Continue to put him out there, despite his poor shooting night against the Nets.

Elton Brand, 76ers - Brand is off to an incredible start -- 18.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 1.8 blocks, 56.8 FG% and 88.9 FT%. I guess Doug Collins really meant it when he said he was going to get Brand more involved in the offense. Well, I may be alone here, but I'm trying to move Brand where I can. His value is just too high right now. I'm not giving him away for pennies, but maybe I can get someone to bite and upgrade over Brand.

Marco Belinelli, Hornets - Those who shipped Marcus Thronton early on are starting to feel better about their decision. Belinelli followed up a poor showing against the Spurs with an 18-point performance against the Rockets on Wednesday. I always get owners asking about picking up Belinelli, but the problem is that he's a low impact player outside of points and threes. If those are your needs, you can grab him. But if you want defense and other peripherals you might want to look elsewhere.

Sonny Weems, Raptors - Weems is doing it to us again. At the end of the 2009-10 season he turned into a scoring machine and really flew of the waiver wires. Wednesday night he had another semi-explosive outing with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor and 9-of-10 makes from the free-throw line. He too is a points-only fantasy impact player. He doesn't make threes, doesn't steal many balls, can't rebound, doesn't dish and won't give you blocks. Keep that in mind.

Gary Forbes, Nuggets - With Nene injured (groin), Forbes got the start at power forward for the Nuggets on Wednesday night. He scored 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting with three rebounds, a block and a steal in 24 minutes. With Nene likely to miss another game or two if you're in a 14- or 16-team league you should definitely look to stream Forbes in there.

Derrick Favors, Nets - Troy Murphy made his Nets debut on Wednesday night, with limited action in the starting lineup. Favors came off the bench and looked pretty good with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and eight rebounds. Favors remains a guy worth holding onto in 12-team leagues, especially given Murphy's penchant for finding himself injured. But I wouldn't look to start him in weekly leagues with Murph likely to get more than the 18 minutes he logged on Wednesday
on Wednesday.