Buy Low- Gilbert 'Hibachi' Arenas, Sell High - Nene Hilario

It's week one of the playoffs for football here in fantasy sports land and the Thief had been glued to the TV all day. No matter, I've still got time to drop a quick buy low and sell high on you balla's. After all, If there's one thing I learned from my high school coach, it's this:

The Only Way To Win, Is To Work Harder Than Everybody Else.

Nuff Said, let's move on to the picks of the day.

Buy Low - Gilbert Arenas - G - Washington Wizards
Gilbert started the season on fire, opening the season with a 29 point 9 assist performance, followed two nights later with a 32 point performance. Things went pretty downhill from there, fairly quickly. There was talk of a an injury, talk that he was just done, and most importantly for us his FG% was rock bottom. I tend to ignore rumors like that, and focus on the numbers. The Thief saw a guy who hadn't played in awhile, and was still getting his body used to the rigors of the game.

I waited for the Buy signal on Gilbert, and last night we got it. 22 points, 11 boards, 10 assists...yeah that's what we were waiting for. Gilbert is still showing numbers well below his career averages, and there's a chance the owner of him in your league either missed the performance last night, or will use it to sell him off. Time to strike! Let's take a look at the numbers:

GILBERT ARENAS
CAT   2009   career
PTS   20.7   22.7
REB   4.0    4.2
AST   6.8    5.6
3's   1.7    2.1
STL   1.0    1.7
BLK   0.2    0.2
TO    3.6    3.3
FG%   40.3   42.6
FT%   70.5   80.5

The extra dimes have been nice this year. I'm going to say that while they might not last, it's important to note that Flip Saunders has asked Gilbert to work on distribution over scoring. We know Gilberts last healthy season was a near MVP performace. I think he's still that guy, and there's a small window here where a non Top Three Tiered player (say like Tony Parker) could land you Agent Zero. Oh, and as for the 70% from the charity stripe. What do I mean when I say MEAN REVERSION?

"It's really frustrating," Arenas said. "I'm shooting them (free throws) all day. I mean, I don't even know why I'm sitting here talking about some free throws. I never fathomed that I'd be missing free throws again. Maybe it's just mental, because I'm making them in practice."  

That FT% will be turning around real soon. Arenas currently ranks about 130 overall in standard roto formats. This is top 50 talent in a terrible season, top 15 most likely. Get on the block and work that trade!

Sell High - Nene Hilario - C - Denver Nuggets
I wasn't a believer last year, and I'm less of a believer this year. Whatever, Nene the Brazilian Monster has put up some great numbers and the time to cash in is now. This is a great guy to move in a deal for Amar'e or in a package to land a Tier 1 player. Let's check the numbers:

NENE HILARIO
CAT   2009   Career
PTS   13.3   11.6
REB   8.8    6.8
AST   2.5    1.7
BLK   1.0    0.9
3's   0      0
STL   1.5    1.3
TO    1.5    2.0
FG%   58.3   54.8
FT%   73.4   66.8

Not too shabby there, he's ahead in almost every category. This isn't some sophmore player we're talking about here, this is Nene who's in his 8th season! If nothing else the assists should drop and the TO's should rise. Nene currently ranks around 11 overall in a standard Roto league. He might be good, be he isn't 11 good. Cash this puppy in for a true 11, like Brandon Roy or Jason Kidd or Dwight Howard.

Alright, that's all for tonight. Back to football, where I'll hopefully be moving on to the second round of the playoffs by the end of the night. As usual feel free to drop any trade questions in the comments.