Last week’s hunt brought us a pair of shot-blocking rookies, and this week brings us a pair of guys that could be looking at some extra playing time in the near future. While they are polar opposites on the floor, both have the potential to give a short-term boost to your fantasy roster. Enjoy.

Shawne Williams, SF/PF, Indiana Pacers

Wait, didn’t I talk about Williams last week? Yes, the kid in New Jersey with the crazy hops and shot-blocking ability, right? Wrong. That one spells his name S-E-A-N. While I still think that the kid out of Boston College has an absolute ton of upside, this Williams is getting some playing time in Indy as of late, and is doing plenty with it.

Likely know more for his off-court issues, Williams came into this season as a talented player that would need playing time to flourish. Playing behind the likes of Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy at the small forward spot as well as Jermaine O’Neal, Ike Diogu and Troy Murphy at the power forward, things were not looking good. Well, as Williams’ luck would have it, a few injuries have occurred and the former 17th overall selection has mustered some PT. Through 12 games this season at about 20 minutes per, Williams is averaging 10.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 three-pointers and 0.8 steals a game.

On the road against the Nuggets, the Pacers switched things up a bit and decided to start Williams over Troy Murphy, likely hoping to match up a bit better in the offset. He wound up playing 32 minutes and scored 21 points while adding 11 rebounds, two threes, and a blocked shot. Not bad, eh? What is even better is that the Pacers won the game by two. Taking the “if it ain’t broke” mentality, there is a decent shot that Williams gets another start. If not, he should be due for some solid minutes as he is playing very well even in limited time.

For what it is worth, I still love Sean Williams over the long-term, but there is too much potential in Shawne Williams to just let him sit on waiver wires – especially now that he’s getting the playing time to produce.

Dan Dickau, PG, Los Angeles Clippers

Each year, we have a team that is simply just a job hazard for NBA players. Last season, you could not put on a Milwaukee Bucks jersey without stubbing a toe. Michael Redd, Bobby Simmons and Andrew Bogut all missed significant time for the Bucks, making for quite a long season – and an early, yet not early enough, draft selection. Well, this season I think that that award goes to the Los Angeles Clippers. It may have even started late last season with Shaun Livingston’s devastating knee injury.

Since then, Elton Brand has a ruptured Achilles, Corey Maggette has missed time with a hamstring issue and Brevin Knight is, well…Brevin Knight. What this does is open up plenty of time for guys like Tim Thomas and a little-known third string point guard by the name of Dan Dickau.

Sam Cassell suffered an injury to his leg in the last Clippers game and while it is not thought to be serious, it may keep him out for a couple of games. If this is the case, Dickau is really the only point guard on the roster without a nagging injury of some sort, and should see plenty of playing time. The Clippers obviously feel comfortable with Dickau in the game, as can be seen by at least 20 minutes in three of the last four nights.

In select games last season that provided Dickau with minutes, he was able to muster several nights of solid points, assists and steals. While he will always be known more for putting Gonzaga on the NCAA map, he could be providing the city of Los Angeles with some short-term point guard relief – which will translate to some end-of-the-bench point guard production for your fantasy team. If you are an owner of an underperforming guard like Kirk Hinrich or an injured guard like Mike Bibby, Dickau should at least be able to provide a bit of guard-like relief while you wait out the rough spells. Monitor his use in the next game and jump all over him if the injury to Cassell is worse than originally assumed.