You’re looking over the free agent lists trying to pick up some guys that have a chance of helping you and you start coming across some players who have suddenly started to have good to great stats over the last week or so.

Should you pick them up, or is this just a blip on an otherwise subpar year?

Let’s take a look at a few of them.

1. Jamario Moon – As long as Moon continues to get starters minutes, he should give you fairly consistent numbers. That means, of course, some pretty good rebounds and blocks numbers. And since he is likely to continue to get a lot of minutes with Jorge Garbajosa going under the knife, Moon is likely a fairly good prospect, especially if your bench is rather weak. He has season highs of 15 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 6 blocks, and while he isn’t likely to get you those kind of numbers consistently (nor all in one game), it does show that he fills up the stats sheet fairly well across the board.

2. Jose Calderon – He has been doing rather nicely without starters minutes, especially in assists. With T.J. Ford ailing, he has made the most of his extra time. It’s not known how long Ford will be out (the injury isn’t considered serious), but he will continue to be a good player when Ford is in and an exceptional talent (stat-wise) when Ford is out. If you are lacking in assists, look for him to improve those in a hurry.

3. Antonio Daniels – Antonio Daniels has always been a solid numbers guy whenever he has gotten starter’s minutes in the past, no matter which team he has been on. With Gilbert Arenas sidelined for months, you have plenty of time to take advantage of Daniels numbers. As a starter, he has averaged 12.3 points, 7.5 assists, and 5.5 rebounds and shooting 45.5 % from the field. Those are typical numbers for him when he is a starter. Don’t shy away from riding his numbers while you can.

4. Marko Jaric – His last 3 games have been stellar, but I wouldn’t bank on this trend continuing. If anything has been consistent about Jaric’s game over the last few years, it is that he will have small stretches where he looks like he knows what he is doing followed by longer stretches of rather mediocre numbers. You can try him out if you like, but there are some much stronger candidates for trying out than Jaric.

5. Antoine Walker – I remember the days when Antoine Walker was one of the guys that was guaranteed to go fairly early in the draft. He has since dropped way off the radar. This latest trend has many people scratching their head and wondering if his latest numbers are for real. He isn’t a starter, but if he continues to get a consistent 25 to 32 minutes a night (a trend which has lasted for the last 7 games), he might be worth a look. After all, we know two things about Antoine — 1. He can score, and 2. He isn’t shy about launching threes. If your three point shots are lacking, he’s certainly worth a try.

6. Ben Udrih – He has started 6 of the last 7 games and so far his numbers have been all over the place. He appears to be guaranteed to give you 4 rebounds and 5 assists per game and make his free throws. In that same span he has scored anywhere from 8 points to 27 points. Is he worth a look? Probably depends on how well off you are doing. Inconsistently good is certainly much better than consistently mediocre, but you are likely to find much better players available in free agency right now. But keep watching him.

7. Shaquille O’Neal – It’s funny seeing Shaq on this list, but most people never picked him up. Somebody likely has picked him up, but if he does happen to be available you should know several things. 1. His free throw percentage will kill you — they didn’t dream up “Hack-a-Shaq” for nothing. 2. All of his stats have been consistently good for most of the year, and you can ride the rest of his stats to good results in every category except free throws — he really looks like he is playing his heart out again. 3. He will go out with an injury eventually — you won’t be able to count on him consistently for the whole year, his body is getting old.

8. Juan Carlos Navarro – As long as he is a starter, he appears to be a pretty good find. When Navarro was inserted into the starting lineup and Stromile Swift removed, Navarro’s stats skyrocketed. They won the last two games (against Washington and New Jersey), so this trend might possibly continue. If he doesn’t continue to start, he will have occasional good games, but they won’t be worth all of the worthless games he gives you, so you’ll have to watch this very carefully if you choose to add him to your lineup.

9. Andray Blatche – I admit that I got sucked in by his 12 points, 13 rebound, 5 block performance and the fact that he started that game (and I hoped the trend might continue). It looks like he is likely to be very inconsistent while he is not starting (which he is not currently), but it also looks like it is likely that he will get you at least 1 block per game. As long as Brendan Haywood is the starter at center, don’t look for Blatche to get you consistent numbers in anything but blocks. That, of course, means that you are likely to find a better player in free agency.

10. Rafer Alston – Maddeningly inconsistent, every year Rafer Alston is the best player nobody wants to take a shot at. If he can keep his field goal percentage up, Alston is a solid pick. Unfortunately, his field goal percentage has been consistently low so far this year. I think he has been picked up in my league a couple of times this year (and subsequently dropped). If you have a spot on your bench that you aren’t worried about playing, Alston is a guy worth picking up and holding on to in case he starts playing well consistently. It’s really tough to pick him when you have guys who aren’t necessarily as explosive but are much more consistent. I think I’d rather take a chance at Antoine Walker rather than Rafer Alston, if I had a choice between two inconsistent players. Plus, it’s really hard to say if he will really keep the starting spot away from Steve Francis for much longer.