“Dude, you can’t make a title caps to make the pun work, or else it’s a stupid lazy joke!” Well, ya know I’m pretty effin’ rusty out here catching back up with Summer Ball and this final batch of free agency moves! I’m as old and as rusty as Deron Williams, who completed his buyout with the Nets, turned it into piles of gold he buried in his backyard, and will be eating Mulligan’s steak with Mark Cuban. The rich stay rich, just with the richer! Wait, did that make any sense? While D-Will has just as much risk as an active Claymore mine sitting on your desk (and giving it a fourth grade girl), I think I might actually buy in a bit. He’s in a steady decline, but when looking at his numbers last year, it’s easy to forget he came off the bench for a bit – and his bench numbers were horrific. As a starter he was 14.3/3.6/7.1 with a steal per and only 2.4 TO. And interestingly enough – nearly 33 minutes a game while staying [mostly] healthy! Must be the new bacon and eggs diet. He shot pretty horrible – sub 40% as a starter – but it was 39.6% vs. 32.3% as a sub. Couldn’t figure out how to get it done off the pine! Sounds like a merit badge the Pawnee Rangers would give out. Moving to Dallas, he’s surrounded by SO MUCH better talent that he should have no problem falling into comparable numbers as his starting days in Brooklyn, maybe even with a few more dimes, a few less TO, and playing as the starter all year (if he stays glued together). This is likely D-Will’s final chance to be on a winner, and after a very sub-par 14-15 I think he could be a draft day value. Either that or he’ll be a hot spinning cone of meat! Here’s what else has gone on in the past week of fantasy basketball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Author: JB Gilpin
Chief Editor for Razzball Fantasy Basketball. Fantasy Sports Writer for Razzball Football and Razzball Baseball. Co-Host of the Razzball Fantasy Football Podcast. Go Crew, Panthers, Blue, & Heels! Follow me on Twitter @jbgilpin
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We’re back with the free agency edition of the Razzball Hoops Pod, where we chat up all of the big moves since the window has opened with DeAndre Jordan‘s decision, Greg Monroe‘s value in Milwaukee, and some sleeper candidates with an open window like C.J. McCollum. Now with extra phlegm in his name! We also talk some other upside guards like where D’Angelo Russell will rank and the possibility of Pierre Jackson starting for the Sixers.
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Please, blog, may I have some more?The NBA really is Jordan Belfort. The Wolf of Fantasy Sports! It’s tantric and never slows down, from the Finals ending less than two weeks before the draft, free agency hitting a week later and we’re already starting summer ball. And the NBA will soon revel in the excess that is the 16-17 salary cap boost with a TV deal that put Seinfeld reruns to shame. I need my ludes to get me through!
Even the Spurs couldn’t avoid the world of excess and massive free agency signings, bringing in LaMarcus Aldridge for a cool $80 million. Loosening up the purse strings! My first thought was, “dammit, Kawhi is never gonna be the guy!” Then again, he got over $90 mil with his extension, so there’s that! But Kawhi Leonard sometimes struggles with the mid-range and long-distance shooting, so L.A. should help Kawhi by opening up some lanes and keeping him in his game. This is going to be a crazy offense, with Tim Duncan moving to center and likely being his solid old self. Which leaves us with what to expect from Aldridge… And, me no likey for fantasy. After being really durable early in his career, he’s had a few bumps and bruises (I know, I know, playing through a torn thumb tendon gets mad props) and the Spurs – as we all know – love to limit the minutes. I also don’t think he quite gets to 20 shots a game like we’ve seen the past few years. I had him 20 in my way too early rankings, but the move drops him a few spots at the least. L.A. in S.A. is not OK! Here’s what else has gone on through the first few days of free agency and rookie ball:
Please, blog, may I have some more? 06/30/2015 – Slim & JB Review The NBA Draft
June 30, 2015 | Razzball Basketball Podcast | 7 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Slim & JB recap the NBA Draft including a horrific pick by the Hornets, a head-scratcher by the Celtics, and an unvetted prospect taken by the Lakers. No one thought to look at Larry Nance Jr.‘s twitter profile!? We talk redraft and dynasty terms with the big-impact players, and catch up on some potential NBA moves with free agency hitting tomorrow. Everyone is opting out! Except for me, who will no longer be a free agent next month. Sorry, Mark Cuban!
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Please, blog, may I have some more?The draft is here! I’m so excited that I pushed through a hectic day to have a live post throughout the night, something I told Slim I probably wouldn’t be able to get to. He’s all like, “5,000 ranty words on Interstellar, and you can’t do a live draft post?!” And I’m like, “MUUURRRPPPHHHHH!!!!!”
Let me start with this question to loyal Razzball Nation readers – is the NBA draft the best of the professional sports drafts? My vote is hell yea! Better trades, it flows faster, rooks impact right away… Ugh, I wish the MLB draft got a little more interesting at the top. And the NFL draft, well, 2/3 of the players who get picked don’t impact fantasy so I care a lot less…
So here we go folks! I’ll be updating the post live with every pick – so constantly hit dat refresh – along with some immediate fantasy thoughts and a gut-call grade as we go. Here’s how the 2015 NBA Draft went down (which you can compare to Slim and I’s mock draft early this month):
Please, blog, may I have some more?Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Christopher Nolan fan. I remember in early middle school, Memento blew me away; a year or two later I made my mom take me to see Insomnia and she probably thought I was nuts… And again I was blown away by tour-de-force acting and a great character study.
Then of course came all the Batmans which were great, even though the third one had, well, a few issues that the Honest Trailer people figured out. And I even really liked Inception even though it also had some problems.
And then we get Interstellar. Nolan doing sci-fi. Check. About space. Check. About the future. Check. And man was I mad! It’s like no one read the script except Nolan, who is apparently going nuts! Really the only thing about the movie that isn’t flawed is the amazing score by Hans Zimmer, who is the man. It’s also shot really well…
So I decided to go back and watch Interstellar and find 50 plot holes (sure, some may be more “issues” than “plot holes”) and connect them using metaphors – like how the movie uses the metaphor for human love to explain everything – to fantasy basketball. The plot holes that really grinded my gears are in italics.
FULL DISCLOSURE! I’m not going to watch the Honest Trailer for Interstellar until I’m done!
If this isn’t your viewing companion next time you watch Interstellar, then I don’t know what is… Here we go:
(note – if I really need to say “spoiler alert” for a post like this if you haven’t seen it, then that might be your issue…)
Please, blog, may I have some more? 06/18/2015 – It’s Officially The Offseason!
June 18, 2015 | Razzball Basketball Podcast | 11 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Props to the Golden State Currys! With the Warriors crowned the 14-15 NBA champs, it’s now “officially” the offseason, and Slim and I are pumped for the moves ahead! We chat impacts on the upcoming season from the Finals including Kyrie Irving‘s injury, go over a few early NBA trades and coaching changes, take one last look at the NBA draft with some risers and fallers, then wrap up the show with what we’ve been watching at the movies and on TV.
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Please, blog, may I have some more?Offseason podcasts – commence! We’re back with our first offseason episode for the upcoming 2015-16 season to talk the fantasy impact of what’s gone on so far in the NBA Playoffs, recap injuries with guys recovering from surgery, take a quick look at our way too early top 50 ranks, preview the upcoming NBA Draft with our thoughts on the top prospects, then wrap up with what we’ve been watching on the small and big screen.
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Please, blog, may I have some more?The nitty gritty! Oh man, ranking an early Top 50 before the draft and free agency is a bigger fool’s errand than hiring the Clippers a FT coach. Especially since DeAndre Jordan might go to the Mavs! Cuban will use some sort of Shark Tank invention to help him out at the stripe. Flubber 2!
We’ve gone through the Top 10 and Top 20 for our early 2015-16 ranks, but 21-50 certainly gets interesting. My biggest takeaway is the sheer depth at PG. Almost every team will have a fantasy-viable PG (cough, not the Bucks, cough) so it’s a position to fill up on in the mid rounds. Sure I’d like to start with one of the top 10 overall elite guys, but I’m likely filling up on a wing and a big, then it’s time to go with the sides. Mmmmm, this is sounding like a great KFC order… Here’s my Way Too Early Top 50 for the 2015-16 Fantasy Basketball Season:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Yikes, after the top 10 things become a hodgepodge of nitpickery! I think I made that word up, but I’m not going to let my creativity wane during the offseason!
After putting out my Way Too Early Top 10 last week, I fought some procrastination and internal debates to get 11-20 down. Fought some ranker’s block! It’s like writer’s block, except I’m a lot less cool than Hank Moody in Californication. Ranker’s block doesn’t score me the Hollywood A-listers! But with a bottle of booze and in a plain black T, I truck forward thanks to the insistence of Runkle. Here’s my Way Too Early Top 20 for the 2015-16 Fantasy Basketball Season:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Congratulations again to the Akron Lebrons, our 2014-15 RCL Champion! As part of the winning bounty, Akron enforced an eating challenge of spicy wings as my video punishment for being unable to topple the field… I blame Kevin Durant! Hey, I might have looked ridiculous in the 2013-14 RCL Champion video, but at least that one wasn’t painful! I finally know what it’s like to be the pilot at the end of Airplane! and covered in sweat… Winter didn’t come fast enough! Here’s the eating challenge video in honor of the 14-15 RCL Champ, Akron Lebrons:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Who’s ready for the 2015-16 Fantasy Basketball season?! Pssshhh, who cares about the playoffs?! Not like anything good or interesting has happened…
So it’s time to start gearing up for 2015-16! Man am I pumped… Mostly because I know Michael Carter-Williams won’t burn me. In my never again pile! MCW is like that sexy crazy chick that you know you’ll regret hooking up with again… Sexy assets, but makes you wanna blow your brains out! Kinda a shocker MCW isn’t a redhead, as all firecrotches are nuts. Sorry Scottish readers, but it’s true! Even on Game of Thrones the tall Stark one had to dye her hair…
As tradition, we’ll be ranking the Top 50 in our Way Too Early Rankings to get an idea of where we stand heading into the upcoming season. We’ve got a lot of great stuff planned through the Summer with Draft analysis, Team Previews, and a whole hell-of-a-lot of rankings extravaganzas. Here’s the Way Too Early Top 10 for the 2015-16 Fantasy Basketball Season:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
