Fantasy Basketball Preseason News Roundup, 9/28

Preseason is started, and there should be more and more news coming from the NBA. It’s going to be an insanely fun season. It always is, but now with 50% less tanking!

KON KNUEPPEL TO MISS TRAINING CAMP

Well, that’s a bummer! The sharpshooter was poised to take a larger role in the offense this season, but he’s going to miss the entirety of training camp with a hamstring injury. To make it worse, he got the dreaded reevaluation tag for week 1. So we have no timetable, and it’s a hamstring, and anyone who owned Jalen Williams or Aaron Gordon knows how tricky those things are.

I will not be drafting Kon this year, like, anywhere. There’s no need to chase injuries; they end up catching you anyway. And hamstrings, man, they used to be like what calf injuries are now. Maybe he’ll come back and be fine, but that won’t be on my team.

Grayson Allen, you are officially fantasy relevant! Until he gets hurt as well. The Hornets look like one of those fast-paced three point chucking teams, which is fun to watch but they always get calf strains, hamstring tears, and quad issues. Kon is the first domino; keep an eye out for Coby White’s recurring calf issues and Brandon Miller’s shoulder in the preseason as well.

JALEN DUREN SKIPPING MEDIA DAY

In case you have only followed the NFL and MLB and missed the 1,023 news reports about this, the Pistons and stud center Jalen Duren are at odds. For some reason, Duren is upset about a reported 4o million per year offer (apparently it’s a weight clause in it, I can relate. If my job gave me a weight clause, I’d just bring a giant cake and donuts to meetings) and not reporting to camp on time. This is officially worrisome, and Duren has to be dinged in drafts.

Here’s my strategy for Duren:

• If he’s traded: Buckle up, he’s gonna try for that max deal. Great year incoming.
• If he stays in Detroit: Buckle up, he’s gonna try for that max deal. Good numbers incoming
• If he skips training camp: Buckle up, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
• If you do get Duren, make sure you snatch up Paul Reed as depth. He averaged about 16-8 as a starter last season and can replicate what Duren does in the offense. Big riser is Mr. Reed. Big faller is Mr. Duren.

DERECK LIVELY NOT READY FOR CAMP

This isn’t a surprise, but it is fantasy relevant if you thought he was going to be a cheap source of boards and blocks. He’s a very very good player sidelined for multiple years with a very very big foot issue. Lively will likely play a limited amount later in the season, but the Mavs signing Dwight Powell again is not a good sign for the availability of the 22-year-old. Daniel Gafford is the starter, and Morez Johnson, Jr. is a good flier with his college coach calling the shots. This is not the year to target Lively, however. Just leave him out there and if he comes back I’ll keep you posted.

DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH TO THE HAWKS, HIELD TO CHICAGO

In a small deal, DFS (the player, not daily fantasy sports) moves to Atlanta’s crowded wing room. He’s likely a deep league player given the fact that the Hawks have a lot of wings and he averaged 3.3 points last year. An ankle surgery a couple of years ago seems to have derailed the 33 year-old player’s time in playing rotations. Monitor if he gets minutes; he can at least hit a three sometimes. Nothing major here, though.

Buddy Hield is in Chicago now. This is a thing that just happened. He’s an aging three-point specialist with league-average shooting accuracy who is now on a bad team. React accordingly. Appropriately. Ignore it.

We shall see what comes up as teams have their media days this week!