It must be tough to be mentally ready and steady for the whole duration of the 48 minutes of an NBA game. That’s why we see numerous occasions of players having mental lapses, easy turnovers, inexplicable decisions. But I have to admit I can’t remember one so bad-looking as this one from James Harden.
I think even Saddiq Bey was surprised that Harden made no effort to go for the ball and stop the fast break opportunity with the backcourt violation call. A definite contender for Shaqtin’ A Fool of the year award and I would pay good money to have an audio transcription of Steve Nash’s thought at that moment.
Bonus crazy stat that I just came across. Robert Covington had not attempted a free throw this season, after 10 games, until yesterday. Now, after 11 games, he is sitting at a whopping 1/1 from the free-throw line. I am not a stats historian, but I don’t think that is very common for a player averaging 29.5 minutes per game and I haven’t watched enough Blazers games to have a clear explanation for this.
Regarding last week’s suggestions, Patrick Beverley continues to start even with D’Angelo Russell returning and looks like a solid pickup for the rest of the season. Damian Lillard had some encouraging signs in his last games so the buy-low window might be closing, Furkan Korkmaz was and will remain a great streamer for as long as the 76ers are not at full strength, while Derrick Jones Jr didn’t bring the defensive stats we were hoping but remains a specialist streamer. On the sell front, all of Kelly Oubre, Joe Harris, Duncan Robinson did nothing to improve their status, while the sell high window for Kyle Kuzma is shrinking with Rui Hachimura reportedly nearing a return in the coming weeks.
Buy
Jrue Holiday: His return from injury has not been pretty, as he has struggled with his shot and he turns the ball more often than usual. However, Jrue Holiday is a steady fantasy player who has ranked inside the top 40 in each of his last four seasons, so I am very confident that he will be just fine. He is currently ranked outside the top 150 so it’s a great time to try and buy him low.
Daniel Theis: He is not a flashy option, but with three more games this week he has streamer value for those in need of big man stats. I am not particularly optimistic about his long-term value, as Alperen Sengun could take a lot of his minutes once he is adjusted to the speed of the NBA, but for now, he can be added for those three games and see how things shake out (22% owned).
Frank Kaminski – JaVale McGee: What a duo to suggest on this fine Wednesday. I could easily imagine them co-star in a detective series where they solve crimes and have that “Lethal Weapon” chemistry. I think McGee would be the Mel Gibson type while Frank would be Danny Glover, as he has that “I’m too old for this shit” expression at times. Or at all times…
I need to rewatch at least the first two parts of these movies, they are classics.
Oh right, we were talking about fantasy basketball… I blame Deandre Ayton for those rumblings, as his injury has elevated both of them to fantasy streaming relevance. If you need more classic big man stats go for McGee, while if you need more points with some triples go for Kaminski. Just be wary that especially Kaminski’s value disappears when Ayton is active (both 10% owned)
Sell
Cole Anthony: There are not many people that expected this kind of breakout season from Cole Anthony and I was certainly not one of them. Despite my good friend Craig Bozic (@Storytelling41) telling me since the offseason that this will be his year, I think even he could admit that he wasn’t expecting Anthony to be ranked 24th in per-game value at this point of the season. A small regression is bound to happen but he is not in the sell column because I believe that he will have a major drop off in production when Markelle Fultz returns. Sure he will lose some minutes, but the reason I would consider moving him now during this hot streak is that you could get a proven top 20 player in return and I always go with the historically reliable option in redraft leagues.
Chris Boucher: I know it is a hard pill to swallow if you drafted him, but the reality is that Boucher is nowhere near a viable fantasy option at this point. He wasn’t even getting rotational minutes with Pascal Siakam sidelined and it is looking like a lost year for him. I moved on in all the leagues I had him and I encourage you to do the same (55% owned).
De’Andre Hunter: After a breakout season last year that was unfortunately derailed by a knee injury, Hunter is not looking like the same player this year. The depth of Atlanta is a factor as well, but his counting stats have declined across the board and he is not providing enough value to warrant a spot in standard rosters, as it would take more than an injury to force him into more usage and fantasy relevance (50% owned).
