Sometimes, the player just doesn’t fit the team, the goals of the players, or the organization.
Take, for example, Norm Powell on Chicago. Read the leaves of tea:
First, a local article about trading Powell ASAP. This reflects his scoring dropping to 19 PPG from 21 last year, the shooting dipping to 39%, and his lowest fantasy rating since becoming a rotation regular in 2021. Powell also has seen his usage rate dip as well as his true shooting % dropping below 60 for the first time since COVID. This has not been a great start to Powell’s Chicago tenure.
Then, he sits Sunday with “shoulder inflammation.” Not a structural problem, not a soft tissue injury, it’s a nebulous soreness type thing. You know, the kind of thing you would say if you needed a mental health day.
Bulls then lose, but play much better, especially Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis.
I’m not saying, just saying, ya know?
To make a short story long, Powell is a huge Role Reducer this week. The team isn’t going to prioritize him in the offense at all, Powell doesn’t seem happy in Chicago and Chicago doesn’t seem happy with him. December 15 is when he’s trade eligible; you might want to make him available for trades if you thought he was going to score you 20 PPG.
Role Riser: Morez Johnson
Hmm, a guy gets drafted by his college coach and is going to get minutes? Shocking! Johnson burst on the scene this weekend with a 17-rebound game vs. Utah, and followed it up with 9 boards against the Nets. The minutes will be key for sustaining this (peaked at 24, 17-19 for the last six games) but I think they’ll increase. Morez is still ramping up from a calf issue in the summer, after all.
Per-36, Johnson is already at double figures in boards at 10.3 and current rebounding rate stats show he gets 25% of available caroms. He’s not blocking shots at the moment, but did block over 1 per game in his college years. As long as Johnson can maintain production while the minutes scale up, we have a valuable big man on our hands here.
I predicted this as the All-Rookie First Team before the season: Johnson, Cam Boozer, Yaxel Lendeborg, Caleb Wilson, AJ Dybantsa and man do I wish I had put this all over the place not just in a random Discord chat! I grabbed Johnson and let Karlo Matkovic go. If you need classic big man stats (think Antonio Davis from 20 years ago) this is the guy.
Role Reducer: Any King whose name does not rhyme with “stuff.”
Darius Acuff is the Sacramento Kings. Look at these shot attempts: 24-26-23-20-26-25-21-24-20-21. His usage is 8th in the league, and he’s leading the league in shot attempts. Factor in his 7.4 AST and 3.6 TO (10 possessions when you add them together. I did that in my head too. Screw them newfangled calculators!) and the rookie is directly responsible for 35 possessions or so. This doesn’t give Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, or any other guard really any room for their own offense. I’m not trying to rip on Acuff; you do need to adapt expectations for those who are in his orbit. LaVine especially is a sell-high candidate.
Role Riser: Brayden Burries
Please, please, PLEASE don’t watch the Milwaukee Bucks. There are 29 other teams out there to watch, and failing that there’s multiple streaming services that can satisfy your entertainment cravings.
If you insist, just fix your eyes on prize rookie Brayden Burries. The Arizona product is averaging 28 MPG since November started, slashing 13/8/3.5 as a starter. That’s Josh Hart’s music! If you’re like me and doing a big-man-heavy build, this is the exact type of guard you need. Guards with PF rebounding numbers (and just 1.5 TO) fit well if you’re punting 3s.
Burries is likely gone in most hyper-competitive leagues, but is 23% owned overall. In my home league I let Tre Jones go for him. Painful, just painful, but it’s not about me, it’s about Burries. Just don’t watch his team play.
