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We’re back from break and podding in the new year! After spending a week in a basketball deprivation tank, Joel and Son kick off 2024 by surveying their fantasy teams and discussing what’s gone right (Alperen Sengun for Son, Grayson Allen for Joel) and what’s gone wrong (Cade Cunningham and Devin Booker for both.) The […]

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Ah, the Tuesday game report.  Love the relaxing feeling of watching the scores in a slow night with… Wait. Eleven games!  What in the play in tournament is going on here!  Got me feeling like this: Or this: WTF IS HAPPENING IN THE LEAGUE TONIGHT ?!?!😂😂 this in season tournament got mugs acting different pic.twitter.com/m9qAdMw4cU […]

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Seemed like low-hanging fruit, no? And before we switch out the fruit to something a bit more attuned to my diet (saturated fats?), we obviously have to start with some of the interesting storylines in the NBA, now just in it’s third week of play. First up, mostly because of the title (now with less fruit and more Funyuns) let us talk not just about Tyrese Maxey, but also the so far near-dominant 76ers team. Joel Embiid is doing Joel Embiid “non-playoff” type things, which is still a bummer we have to qualify, but lucky for us, fantasy ain’t played in May, ya know? I’ll talk a bit more about it later for the Clippers, but Harden while not being on the team has created an interesting aggregate feedback loop with a touch of confirmation bias mixed in on some of these wild storylines, but the tangible effect, i.e. giving minutes for Tyrese Maxey to flourish cannot be argued with. My concerns with Maxey during the preseason was based on his ability to run the 5, play-call, ball-handle and continuing to develop his offense while doing all that.

So far? All of these things have been done well, but the best part is that it hasn’t come at the cost of his stats. With a career-high 50 points against a very good Pacers team, he also had 7 rebounds with 5 assists, 3 blocks on 20-32 shooting (7-11 from 3-point). At just 23-years-old, it’s pretty likely he’ll be shedding off the Tyler Herro and Jordan Poole comps at some point this season. But can he get to the All-Star game and perhaps even an All-NBA selection this year? Excited to find out…

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The end of each year is now deemed “Silly Season,” when resting vets on contenders and breakout youngsters on tanking teams play havoc with lineup decisions.  Three weeks into the season, I now declare this time of the year “Wacky Season,” with Wednesday night a perfect example. There are players who started injured coming back, […]

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Hello Razzball Nation! I am the self-proclaimed BBall Oracle (results may vary) here to provide you with my picks and insights for NBA DFS this season. We’re kicking off this year with a massive post-election day 14 game slate. On a slate this large there are so many viable plays that you don’t need to intentionally get different with ownership. Play the guys you think will score the most points even if you think that guy might be chalky.

My number one piece of advice for NBA DFS in general, but especially on a slate this large, is to be on top of injury updates. Contests are won and lost on backups becoming starters and starters getting increased usage from injuries. In the NBA random injuries happen every night, players get rested for no reason despite the NBA’s best efforts to deter it, and tank-itis is a horrible disease that will luckily not rear its ugly head for another few months. You need to be on top of your lineups up until lock and to give yourself the best chance to win even after lock to monitor late scratches and lingering questionable designations. There will be injury plays that open up with news tomorrow that we just don’t know yet.

That being said, with our current knowledge of injury news (Tuesday night) let’s get down to it. Pricing is always (Fanduel/DraftKings). I play tournaments and my picks will always bias towards volatility and upside.

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The Bergens are coming, AHHH. The Bergens are coming, AHHH. The Bergens are coming, AHHH. The Bergens are coming, AHHH. 

For those without kids, that’s Branch in “Trolls” overreacting because he’s scared of success (and friendship), just like so many fantasy basketball players will overreact to the first couple games, when regular bench rotations guys will be proclaimed breakouts of the season, and busts will be said to abound as the rust gets knocked off the boots. 

However, while we definitely don’t want to overreact, let’s remember: Branch ended up being right. You don’t want to be caught with that average penny stock and telling yourself, “any day now, it’s gunna go crazy!” [Checks portfolio, sighs with depression, gets back to basketball.] Keep an eye on minutes, rotations and usage more than the general stat lines in these early going. 

And with that piece of nonsensical advice, let’s get on with the show! Here’s what caught my eye in the 12 games of the unofficial official opening night in The Association.

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Yesterday, we had card metaphors to tie into the great SEO river of aggregate content. So many buzz words so little time! But, what was alluded then is now true, the NBA Season is finally here with two great match-ups tonight with the Lakers vs. the Champion Nuggets (I just call em Chicken Nuggets, but to each their own…) and the retooled Suns vs. the nearly old but probably not busted Warriors. But until we get there in just a short amount of time, we’re wrapping up our quick hits on the 2023-24 season with yesterday’s Easter Conference notes and today’s Western Conference overview. And there was a bit of method with the order, only because of the two, the East is probably the easier to be prescient about. Afterall, there are some very clear teams that will try and tank, there are a few teams we all know are not ready to take the next step, but are getting there… and then there’s a mix of above average teams that do different things in different ways with the Bucks and Celtics as clear favorites. In the West? Well, it’s quite murky. And that’s not to sleep on Denver, they certainly are considered the favorites by myself and many others in the industry, but after that, it gets kinda crowded. So let’s get to it and see how the teams look, along with the Vegas spreads and my takes on the O/U…

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Welcome to the 2023-24 Fantasy Rankings! We’ll continue this wonderful (is it? Yes!) journey with other positions and formats, including all positional rankings for both Roto and Points leagues, and then of course wrapping it all up with our Dynasty Rankings. What will be released is just the pure rankings; analysis and other amazing draft preparational content (ooooh, sounds so official) will be released after our aforementioned rankings “journey”. Remember, it’s not about the destination, but the friends we made along the way! Especially if it ends in a Fantasy Championship, in which case, it is sorta-kinda about the destination, which is also fine. Because who cares about friends when you can hoist a trophy in their general direction? I mean, I’m talking both literally and figuratively here folks. Just as long as you hoist, it counts. As they say, it’s all about the hoisting… (I think.)

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