D.J. Augustin (PG, HOU) - Week 14 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14-Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 1% of leagues

ANALYSIS: D.J. Augustin is in his 13th NBA season, and for a little perspective: he was taken 9th overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. The longtime backup point guard was dealt from the title contending-Bucks to the absolutely miserable Houston Rockets at this year's deadline, becoming the tenth organization of his professional career. The good news: the Rockets are so bad and so determined to shoot threes in mass (albeit, poorly on average) that Augustin has both a much clearer path to PT and the opportunity to orchestrate the offense and distribute the ball in signature fashion. When you have Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday, why let Augustin anywhere near the ball? That's not a problem in Houston, who as of the deadline have parted with Victor Oladipo, and the team is now left with John Wall, Kevin Porter Jr., and Augustin as primary ball-handlers while guys like Eric Gordon remained sidelined by injury and the rest of the field is either a shoot-first-shoot-last combo wing or a member of the frontcourt.

Augustin played 19.3 minutes per game with Milwaukee this season, and now already five games in with the Rockets, is playing 21.2 minutes a night, racking up 68 total minutes over the last three games. He has looked very comfortable with his new team over those last three contests, averaging 12.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists. He has also hit all nine of his free throws since moving to Texas and has converted on five out of 14 three-pointers (35.7%) since March 24th. His steal rate has always hovered somewhere between 1.1-1.9%, but his assist-efficiency is his hallmark, with his rate of 30.8% ranking third on the team behind only Wall and Porter. His turnovers are up a bit, but he's succeeded in keeping that rate in the mid-teens for the last five (plus) years, and so that figure is likely to subside once he's adjusted to his new bottom-dweller.

He'll play behind Wall (when Wall is healthy) and to some extent Porter, but Porter will also be utilized as a shooting guard, so there isn't much in terms of PT-obstruction. Now that he's finding success on perimeter shots and finally receiving ample minutes in the correct role required for statistical accumulation, D.J. Augustin is a super-sleepy option in deep leagues for threes, points, assists (plus), and the occasional 1-2 steal night.

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