Josh

Childress

“He’s playing spotty minutes,” Woodson said. “We’re not giving him big-time minutes. I’m probably going to have to stick with him a little longer, just to get a better feel of what he can actually do.” Uh, yeah! Childress has started four games since taking over for Boris Diaw at shooting guard. He was 0-for-5 from the floor Friday night, but this is just typical of Atlanta that there is even talk of giving up on the No. 6 pick in the draft 13 games into another rebuilding year.

“I’m not here to teach effort,” Woodson said. “My job is to teach X’s and O’s. Everybody gets paid well in this league. They should want to come out and give effort. So the guys that don’t give effort, I’m not going to play them. I’m going to make changes.” The only two players who appear completely safe are Antoine Walker and Al Harrington. Tony Delk and Josh Childress, as well as Royal Ivey once healthy, should see more playing time.

Rubio slipped on a wet spot and was visibly angry as he walked gingerly off the court. We haven’t heard details about the injury yet, but he was walking with a slight limp in the locker room. It doesn’t sound too serious, fortunately, but owners should prepare for potential DNPs for the oft-injured veteran. If he does miss time, guys like Tyler Johnson and Elie Okobo should benefit.

Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said that “more than likely we’ll start Shannon [Brown]” and mentioned additional minutes to come for Josh Childress and Ronnie Price. Brown will be the player to own for the next few weeks. Hill is expected to be out until the last few games of the season, at the earliest.

Childress was barely part of the Suns’ rotation this season, averaging 2.9 points per game in his 34 appearances. He has three years and $21 million left on his contract. If the Suns are going to appease and retain free agent Steve Nash, they’ll have to free some money up and acquire better talent.

It’s possible that the Suns decide to start Josh Childress in order to keep their bench rotation intact, but the fantasy add here is Shannon Brown. Brown isn’t the most versatile player, but he’ll score and hit threes and is worth owning in 12-team formats. From there, Markieff Morris could be in line for a bigger role and offers a more versatile game. Childress is only worth a look in deep formats, and comes with plenty of question marks.

“I’m sure he’s going to be highly coveted by a lot of teams so Phoenix will have to make him a great offer and put him in a position where he can’t say no to coming back,” said Nash. That’s the rub, though, as Hill isn’t the best fit for a team that should be focused on rebuilding. Should Hill depart, Jared Dudley will be a shoo-in for big minutes, with Mickael Pietrus and Josh Childress climbing up the depth chart.

“I told him, at that position, Grant gets a couple layups a game just because of the effort he runs with. He’s just got to crank it up.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement from Gentry, and the coach also added that he needs to defend better, so clearly the swingman has something to prove.

Childress is behind Grant Hill, Jared Dudley, Shannon Brown and Hakim Warrick on the wing. “He’s got every right to be upset,” Gentry said. “I just don’t know how I can get him into games. He comes to practice real professional and works his butt off.” Childress hasn’t had a real NBA role since the 2007-08 season while with the Hawks.

I’m more relaxed mentally. Obviously, I’m going to be intense. The more calm you are, you’re able to play off instinct instead of feeling like you’re running around with your head cut off.” Childress also added that he plans to be more assertive, and it sounds like the team might have a real idea as to how to use him this season. Regardless, he’s not on the fantasy radar currently.