2016-17 REL Dynasty League Update: Week 17

Pretty much what you’d expect from my build at this point – great FT%, tough to catch in 3s/points, and staying competitive everywhere else.  Slim made a nice push in steals on Sunday, and likely had a down week in blocks, but thankfully I was able to nab those D stats.  Tough to have 138 dimes come up short, but Rubio gave Slim 43 and he owns a nice bunch of PG.  Man, Russell Westbrook and James Johnson combined for 38 TO in only 7 combined games!!!  Not that I’m complaining, JJ has been a revelation and obviously Westbrook is a big reason I’m here…  But just cut the turnovers in half, and I could be a 9-cat competitor!

I don’t have any drops, so all quiet on the wire, and my vets are eagerly looking forward to this much-needed ASB.  After surviving virtually all injury issues except Dirk being old early on and Kawhi with that hand thing, stuff is starting to crop up in my old guys.  Kevin Love has been already ruled out for tomorrow with a knee issue and hopefully the MRI didn’t reveal anything.  Tyson Chandler picked up a kankle – I’d bet he’s out until after the break.  Jae Crowder has a family issue – obviously I hope he takes all the time he needs…  And of course Evan Turner broke his hand earlier last week.  As long as Love is OK and can return post-ASB, I think I’ll be OK.  Thankfully the ASB week is a 2-week matchup, or else I might really struggle for this week.  But spread over 2 weeks, I think my depth can hang in there and I hopefully get healthy by week 2 to keep the good times rolling.  Still haven’t lost a week this year!

Good luck on the rest of the season everyone!

P.S. I want to express my deep appreciation to T.J. McConnell, for bringing me this far! Dapper Dan for lyfe!

So, I took a look at the top 8 teams, and checked out the roto score for the year if this were a roto league- obviously not the most accurate indicator (it ignores recency, injury concerns and H2H strategy), but its an indicator none-the-less. I found four teams in the top tier, with JB possibly in his own tier at this point (JB (48), Slim (45), Hard N Tha Paint (44), Yappers (43). Then Scurry at 39, and the three teams competing for the sixth seed at the bottom, with yours truly, High as Greg Kite, in last place at 33. The standings hold pretty true as an indicator of overall strength (no super-fluky win/loss records) and I’m significantly worse than the top-tier teams.

That being said, I’m still optimistic my team can be better than they are playing if a couple of things play out right:
– Jahlil Okafor: Waste of space on my team right now, but I have to think pretty much any trade gives him in big boost in value. I stand by my statement that he’s one of the most talented post players in the NBA (coaching would be nice for utilize and refine those skills), and anyone that puts up 17/7 in their age 19 season has ability to turn into a low-20s scorer. While the defense is real-life horrible, his blocks have improved on a per-36 basis. His FT% has regressed, but a 10/11 night last week from the stripe is encouraging. Maybe my Karl Malone comparisons were a bit premature, but only time will tell. I think the guy’s too talented on the offensive end to sit. Get him the right coach and situation, and he’s capable of top 50 value (which was where he was arguably trending toward at the beginning of this season).

– Jarrett Jack: You’re killing me, Smalls. First I keep him ($1) only to find out he’s been cut during the REL draft. He was IR eligible, so he sat there for a couple of months. Then for some reason, Yahoo decided he was healthy and he’s taken up a valuable active roster spot since that time. In the beginning of January, he indicated he was holding a tryout for teams. What happened to that tryout? Did no one show up? Waahhhhhhhhhh nobody showed up to my tryout! LeBron has been openly pining for a PG, and now Jack is rumored to possibly go to Houston as well. If he lands somewhere, I think he gives me a shot at 3-5 assists/game (which could get me to compete in the category a little better). If he doesn’t land anywhere, then I really played my hand wrong.

– Brandon Jennings: In his last 8 games, has four games of 10+ assists, and 4 games of 5 or less assists. He played a couple of 40+ minute games a few weeks back, and in those games he went 18/3/11/1/0 w/4 threes, 6/3/10/5/0 and 23/5/10/2/0 w/ 6 threes. On one hand, the Knicks are completely self-destructing and as a C’s fan I’m sitting back with a smug look on my face. So Derrick Rose flies off his rocker one more time and Jennings is at 40+ minutes the rest of the year. On the other hand, I can see this playing out with Jennings running his mouth at the wrong time and being the guy he was in the beginning of the year (ie a not very good one getting spotty minutes off the bench).

Even if these things go right, I’m still just a lower-tier playoff team. The super-teams that have been built via an active trade market I’m not very active in makes it difficult to compete. One of those reasons I don’t compete is that I’m not very good with the email thing, and don’t put the time in to trade, but another reason is I over-value my keepers and can’t get any traction going back and forth with trade offers.

So, here’s where I’m at. I’m willing to trade Whiteside ($1) if I can get the right package back for him to compete this year.

I’m also willing to trade Curry ($70) to a contender for the right package back which makes me better in future years.