I am not much of a gambler. I may occasionally buy a lottery ticket if it is a large jackpot. I do not even participate in the weekly office football pool. I even bring an umbrella to work even though the forecast predicts only a 20% chance of rain. I just do not like leaving things to chance.

However, I will bet that Gerald Wallace will miss some games this year?! With a nickname like “Crash”, you are bound to miss some games. Looking back at his four years with Charlotte, he has missed 69 games. That translates into an average of 17 games per season.

Gerald Wallace is a high risk/high reward player whose name might be staring at you in the early rounds of your fantasy draft. Have a peep and see why you should invest an early pick on Gerald Wallace despite his well-documented injury woes.

Round 4, Pick 11 – Gerald Wallace SF/PF Charlotte Bobcats

Check out new head coach Larry Brown’s quote from ESPN.com in regards to Gerald Wallace. “My whole career, guys like him have been the backbone of every team I’ve coached”. Further along in the article Coach Brown comments, “I’m really impressed with him. He’s got the athletic ability, the quickness and grit to be a phenomenal defender. He should be as good a rebounding small forward as there is in the league. I think by accident he’ll just score running on the break, going to the board. He’s much better passer that I ever imagined.”

If we dissect Coach Brown’s comments from a fantasy perspective, I decipher that Wallace will be one of the better rebounding small forwards. Last year, LeBron James led small forwards with 7.9 rebounds per game and Carmelo Anthony was second with 7.4 boards a game. Wallace could certainly average seven rebounds a game. Using the same comparison with assists amongst small forwards, the best again is LeBron with seven assists and second is Carmelo again with 3 assists per game so Wallace should average close to 3 dimes if he brings his game to compare with the best.  Wallace will still average 2 steals/game and the blocks will return to his fantasy arsenal to an average of about a block a game.

Jason Richardson will still be the first option for the Charlotte offense. Gerald will be the second option which is fine because he will still get his 18 ppg. Fast break points and buckets close to the rim will help equate to a solid FG% in the range of 48+%. The occasional three wouldl be a bonusl for fantasy owners but don’t expect the 1.2 threes/game he averaged last year. However you can expect the improvements in FT% to continue and +70 FT% are reasonable expectations. 

Cha ching, we have struck fantasy gold. 

Coach Brown will keep Wallace at the four and plans to harness him to be a more controlled defender. That will mean Gerald Wallace will be less “Crash” –like and participate in 70+ games, which will make him worthy of a fourth-round gamble!

Let’s take inventory with the rest of this fantasy team….rebounding, blocks and solid FG%…check with Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. Assists and steals…check with Chris Paul and Gasol is a decent passer for a big man. This team is solid with scoring but should be on the lookout for some 3-point help in the next few rounds.