It might take a little while, but Scott says take a flier anyway on Acie Law IV.

This week’s hunt brings us a couple of guys that were a lock to play each other in this year’s rookie-sophomore game during the All-Star break. A few months ago, if you would have asked which one of the players below would not be in the game, you would’ve likely received the first “huntees” name. As of now, I’m not quite sure that’s the case as we are seeing quite a sophomore season out of a certain forward in Minnesota. The freshman that follows him up will get his shot, but thinking here is that both of these players deserve some consideration over the near term.

Craig Smith, SF/PF/C, Minnesota Timberwolves

If you read (or heard) any of my pieces from this past summer, I took a bit of a different stance than most people on the Kevin Garnett trade. Now, if this comes off as some horn tooting, please do not think that. But while many thought that the move of Garnett would be beneficial for Ricky Davis, Corey Brewer, etc, they were right. To a point. Davis was set up to be a huge benefactor of the trade – until he was also traded himself. Corey Brewer may ultimately win out with this move as he becomes a bit more seasoned, but the main guy that I thought would flourish is forward Craig Smith.

Smith is a little known banger from Boston College, who (as a little fun fact) is named the “Cookie Monster.” A quick peruse of his stats during last year’s rookie season, his seven points and five rebounds do not stand out too much. However, after Garnett sustained an injury and Smith started logging starts, he was able to take that average to 12 points and 10 boards over the final five games. While this showed a ton of potential, it may have went unnoticed as, lets face it, who’s watching Minnesota come May and June? Apparently, league officials were as Smith was named to the All-Rookie Second Team.

Smith took things one step further by putting up a huge 21 points per contest in this past summer league, making him an even more intriguing prospect. Well, all it took were injuries to Theo Ratliff and Antoine Walker for Smith to get the nod. And all it took was that “nod” for Smith to put up some serious numbers as he has started the past two games and averaged 24 points and nine rebounds over the past three.

While the steals and the blocks aren’t exactly there, the fact that Smith has only missed one free throw (out of his past 13) in the same stretch means that much more. Oh, and similar to Jason Maxiell last week, Smith is eligible at both center positions as well as center. So, if you missed out on the Pistons’ third-year big man, Smith gives you a second chance to get some solid flexibility to go with a truckload of upside.

Acie Law IV, PG/SG, Atlanta Hawks

It seems that each week in this piece, I present you with one player that’s more of a “add now” type, while the other is a bit of a deep-league flier. Well, folks, Law is more of the latter. With the season that Al Horford is having, there is little doubting that the Hawks made the right move by taking him third overall and then settling for Law instead of Mike Conley when their 11th overall selection came around. However, with the way that Law has been playing, it’s tough to justify even that pick at this point.

Thinking here is that this is bound to change. Before his injury, the rookie point guard put up three straight games of at least five assists and a steal – it’s just that his shooting has been awful. In the two games before injury, Law as 1-for-6. Since returning, he has only converted on nine of 32 shots from the floor with back-to-back 1-for-5 evenings. Terrible, I know.

While I agree that Anthony Johnson has done well in his pass-first role (as the offense obviously runs through Joe Johnson and Josh Smith), the Hawks are not the Grizzlies and they did not draft a point guard in the first round so that he can just sit the bench for a full season. Law will never be a huge scoring option for ATL, but when he finally gets the shot, those of you that take a filer on him now will get to benefit from assists and steals o’plenty. Think of him as a poor-man’s Rajon Rondo. In fact, you can think of him as Rajon Rondo but just in a Hawks jersey as both players have struggled with their shot this season.

The big difference is that Rondo has never really been a solid shooter, while Law has. It wasn’t long ago that the former Aggie was hitting buzzer-beaters was scoring 18 points per game. It may take some patience, but his time will come.