Bradley Beal is learning how tough it is to be a Wizard. Now he understands why Harry was always so stressed out. Expelliarmus! Last night Beal scored 22 points night adding 4 rebounds and dishing out 2 assists. The rookie had his best game of the young season and clearly wasn’t even at his best (0-4 on 3 point attempts, but he did go 8-8 from the free throw line). Beal left after 34 minutes after getting ejected for a flagrant foul (the kid’s got passion!). After a slow start out of the gate, his ownership has seen a significant drop and he’s still available in just over half of Yahoo leagues, might be time to give B-Rad another shot if he’s out there. Not convinced? Check out my Bradley Beal fantasy. He’s already one of the best pure shooters in the league and the dude just got here. Washington is going to need someone to score for them, and like it or not the Wiz believe Beal is their answer. Like any youngster, Beal could be wildly inconsistent his first go through the league but the upside is huge and he could be worth the gamble.
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy basketball Friday night:
Larry Sanders – 13 pts, 9 rbds. The Sand Man is now averaging 12.3 ppg with 8.3 rpg. Not exactly putting you to sleep? Still owned in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues don’t sleep on Sanders.
A.J. Price – 12 pts, 6 rebs 9 asts. After a slow start to the season Price has tallied over 10 points, 7 asts and 5 rbds in his past two games. At just under 10% owned, the Price is right for A.J. at least until John Wall returns.
Mike Dunleavy – 13 pts, 9 rebs, 3 asts, 2 3pm. He does it all, folks. I know, the Dunleavs is not the most thrilling of options, but he’s averaging 15.3 pts, 6.7 rbs, 3.3 asts a game and should be owned everywhere right now because he is absolutely en fuego. That means on fire.
E-Twaun Moore – 18 pts, 4 rebs, 5 asts in 40 min. The Magi got blown out by the Nets but Moore continued to log major minutes with Jameer Nelson sidelined. He is averaging 13.8 pts, 3.8 asts and 4.5 rbds in the first five games of the season and is owned is less than a third of leagues. What Moore could you want?
Jerry Stackhouse – 11 pts, 2 rebs in 10 min. Only worth mentioning because I had no idea he hadn’t retired yet. You keep on doing your thing, Stack.
Lebron James – 21 pts, 11 rebs, 9 asts. Almost had the triple-dub but left the game for a short period of time after banging knees with Josh Smith, otherwise he probably would have had it. So if you’re upset and are in some weird league that count triple doubles: blame Josh Smith’s knee. He calls him Lefty.
Jeff Teague – 20 pts, 3 rebs and 11 asts in his best game of the season (7-8 FG). Teague scored 20 points for the first time this year. He’s got all the right players surrounding him to succeed, he’d just gotta make it happen. Make it happen, Jeff.
Jrue Holiday – 21 pts, 4 rebs, 14 asts. Jrue was saving this nice little performance for Monday’s Veteran’s Day game, but I guess he couldn’t wait. The Holiday came early.
Evan Turner – 25 points, 11 rebs in 40 minutes. The villain wreaked his havoc on the Celtics last night and was scary good scoring a season high 25 points. I doubted Turner’s ability to step up in Andre Iguodala‘s absence but he has been the man big time to date and seems to be getting better every game, the 8.5 rbds and 3.0 asts per game is definitely a bonus.
Rajon Rondo – 14 pts, 20 asts. 20 Assists! Sweet Lady Lions! That’sa lotta passes! Yes, but he also shot just 6-17 with 4 TOs. Oh, Rondo. One of these days you’ll put it all together…
Kevin Garnett – 19 pts, 10 rebs, 2 asts. Averaging 13.8 pts and 9 rbs a game, KG has been the brightest spot of Boston’s line up so far, and for a 36 year old power forward in this league, that’s mighty impressive. The Big Ticket!
Carmelo Anthony – 34 points and 7 rebounds as the New York Knicks move to 4-0. Don’t look so shocked.
Ronnie Brewer – 13 pts, 8 rbds, 2 asts. Those in deeper league might want to give Brewer a look considering he played 37 minutes last night. Otherwise, yaaaawn.
O.J. Mayo – 23 points, 7 rebs, 3 asts. Heyo! Mayo has been a top 20 player so far this season and looks better by the game. He hit 5 three’s last night and took ten. That’s my kind of player. Sure his stats will take a hit when Dirkish returns but OJ should remain a top guard option regardless.
Chandler Parsons – 19 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl. You may be thinking to yourself, “Self, Houston sure is a fun team to follow, but not much scoring help outside of Jeremy Lin and James Harden.” Enter Chandler Parsons. How’s a little 8-13 FG with 3 three-pointers made strike you? Will that make you happy, Monica? I’m still skeptical but he’s getting the minutes, so I’d keep an eye on Chandler.
Marc Gasol – 6 pts, 4 rebs. More like Bark Gasol. Amirite? Woof.
Zach Randolph – 15 pts, 14 rebs, 3 blks. Randolph stole all of Gasol’s stats and continues to outplay, well, everyone he’s up against. He’s also starting the new internet craze, Z-bo-ing, aka getting more rebounds than Marc Gasol. It’s fun and real easy, you can do it from home! Send us your photos! #zboing
Brandon Roy – 6 pts in 15 min. Left the game after re injuring his famously oft-injured knee. Chase Budinger saw a minutes bump in his absence and took advantage with 18 pts, 4 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl and 1 blk. Roy should play in the next game but as sad as it is to say, B-Roy is a devastating injury waiting to happen. Chase Budinger can do this, which at least in my opinion is a lot more exciting than Roy’s old man knees.Either way, Brandon Roy owners will want to monitor closely (also trade him if you can).
George Hill – 29 points, 7 asts, 5 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk. Now that’s more like it. His best game of the season and now he’s 4th straight game scoring double-digits. As the old NBA Jam mantra goes, “He’s heating up!”
Andre Drummond – 22 pts, 8 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk in just 21 minutes. Well hello there, what is your name? Less than 20% owned?! Any interest in playing for my fantasy team? A rookie you say? The ninth pick, you say? A 7-footer, hmmmm? I say, Drummond is pretty raw and just 19 years old but the Pistons are really bad (like, really bad) and if they have any sense they’ll give Drummond every chance to play and succeed.
Rodney Stuckey – 15 pts, 6 asts, 2 rebs, 2 3pm. He didn’t shoot particularly well, (5-14 with 2 3PM), but such is life as a Piston. Stuckey is also known as the point guard no one wants to own, but at under 40% ownership rate he probably should be. Ugh, I know. But yeah, he should be owned, or at least traded.
Serge Ibaka – 25 points, 7 rebs, 3 blks. Serge is making the ‘perts who drafted him so high look like geniuses. They said he was a one category beast, but who knew he could score so well? Now has double digits points in 4 straight games. And well, we all know he can block averaging 2.6 a game. If these trends continue, Serge could be a top 3 center by seasons end.
Ben Gordon – 34 points, 6 rebs, 4 asts, 3 3pm in 35 minutes off the bench. If your fantasy team needs points or 3’s (the Charlotte Bobcats team certainly needs them) Gordon could be worth a look.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – 12 pts, 6 rebs, 2 stls, 3 blks. MKG hasn’t exactly lit the NBA on far just yet, but he’s been fairly decent from a defensive standpoint (6.7 rpg, 1.6 spg) and he shot 5-9 last night with a 3pm. The B-Cats won’t have Gordon scoring 30+ every night but they will need points and I think Kidd-Gilchrist will find his legs. I’m all in on MKG.
Al-Farouq Aminu – 14 pts, 6 rebs, 3 asts, 2 stls, 1 blk. The TSA’s least favorite NBA player, Al -Farouq has been solid across the board to date and ranks in the top 75 overall through the first 5 games. He’s just over 50% owned so if now your last chance to get a piece.
Dion Waiters – 23 pts, 1 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl, 1 blk, 3 3pm. Don’t look now but the Cleveland Cavs might actually have a quasi-semi-partially-occasionally exciting basketball team on their hands. The rookie has now scored in double digits in five of the six games this year with two 20+ point games. He’s still out there in a quarter of Yahoo leagues and if you Waiters any longer he’ll be gone.
Tim Duncan – 23 pts, 12 rbds, 4 asts, 3 stls, 4 blks. Old reliable.
Jason Thompson – 17 pts, 6 rebs, 2 stls, 1 blk. If you’re desperate, Thompson is getting enough minutes to consider to put up fantasy points he’s just not very good at basketball.
Kenneth Faried – 18 pts, 11 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blk. A fantasy favorite on draft day K-Far is starting to show us why with double-doubles in back to back games. This guy is for real, legit. Watch out NBA.
Derrick Favors – 10 pts, 11 rbds, 5 blks in 25 minutes off the bench. The Jazz certainly aren’t doing him any favors as he continues to come off the bench, but I can see him overtaking Marvin Williams eventually. Do yourself a favor and pick him up!
Kobe Bryant – 27 points, 9 rebs, 4 asts, 3 stls, 4 blks. Mamba was in attack mode last night in order to justify the Mike Brown firing that took place Friday morning, and there’ really no one better in attack mode than the Kobester. Now undefeated (1-0) in the post-Mike Brown era. Are we afraid yet?
Dwight Howard – 6 pts, 8 rbds. Lol!
Metta World Peace – 10 pts, 7 rbds, 2 ast, 2 stl. We joke a lot about Artest, err–World Peace because he’s kind of what some might call “a wild card“. But he’s playing well enough all around (10.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.8 spg) to warrant a spot on your fantasy squad. Owning him is so metta right now anyway.
As always, questions asked answered in the comments.Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap, as fantasy basketball continues next week, all week long!
