Pretty much anyone involved in the big Rudy Gay trade has gotten nothing but positive return except Greivis Vasquez. Poor Vasquez… And easily the biggest winner right now is Isaiah Thomas just going off with the backcourt to himself, going 29/6/2 on Friday night and 19/2/8 last night. With both PGs there in Shaq-ramento to start the year, it was like the first Terminator, then IT2 got flipped into the main good guy and it’s movie magic in the sequel. Coach Mike Malone even came out and said Thomas is gonna lead the NBA in minutes. Iron man! Well I guess it would be hyperalloy combat chassis covered by living human tissue man… I wish Vasquez had never gone to Sacramento, because as I mentioned last week, I aggressively ranked Thomas early in the summer. I love this kid. He’s going to be extremely tough to go out and trade for right now, and I certainly would not be selling. He’s got both Gay and DeMarcus Cousins to dish to, plus he’s a fantastic scorer. I have all sorts of IT2 regret now since he’s not on any of my teams… Womp womp… Here’s what else went down over the weekend:
Jon Leuer – Continues to be awesome. 15/9 last night. Think he’s the 3rd big to own in Memphis, passing Kosta Koufos and Ed Davis, but that’s a pretty clear assessment with Kosta getting 16 minutes and Davis only 7 last night, to Leuer’s 30. I wore down Slim to get Leuer on my team in a trade by throwing in a razor and a boomerang. Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Glen Davis – Dislocated his shoulder last night. He hurt the shoulder last year and sounds like this one wasn’t as bad as he’s hoping to get right back out there. Tobias Harris played a decent 23 minutes off the bench, and would be huge to own again should Big Baby miss much time. But as I’ve said numerous times, I’m avoiding the Magic Fs like a plague in standard leagues. Harris is the guy to own, but not even a must-own by any means to me unless Davis is traded or out an extended time.
Tyreke Evans – I was shocked his bad ankle sprain two Friday’s ago didn’t cause him to miss any games, but he re-tweaked it a week later this Friday and will be missing time. Deron Williams and Tyreke have the worst ankles ever for NBA players… Get these guys some high tops! Austin Rivers put up 17 last night in 22 minutes, but he’s not that good. Nothing to see there.
Kirk Hinrich – His back tightened up and had to miss Saturday’s game, depleting already the league-worst PG depth. Marquis Teague got the start, and proved me not too stupid for my huge FAAB buy on him in REL. Baby brother Teague went near-Rainbow 7/1/3/2/3 in 28 minutes, hitting a three and shooting 3-6. He’s really, really raw and only on the radar for the deepest of leagues, but I think he can rack up a few dimes and steals for the 20-teamers if he can keep holding off D.J. Augustin while Hinrich is out.
Brandon Jennings – Neared a trip-dub in the OT loss for 15/8/10. At 7.7 Asts a game this year, he’s blowing up his former career-best Ast rate. Gotta love having some talent around you!
Josh Smith – A big part of that aforementioned talent. 31/7/4/1/1 in another great line. Been a little hit-or-miss, but despite his scoring and boarding down, his slash of 14.4/6.6/3.5/1.5/1.4 is still killer.
Andre Drummond – A big reason why J Smoove’s boarding is down, going 13/14/0/3/3 last night for another double-double and great steals/blocks #s. I was so wrong on Drummond. Drummond lovers unite!
Mike Conley – Left late last night with a thigh bruise. Not sounding like anything serious, but if he does miss a game, an improving Jerryd Bayless could be worth a deep-league stream if given a start.
Corey Brewer – 9/12/2 with three steals last night. I just traded him too, nice going-away game! The 12 boards doubled his previous season-high of 6. #IHeartOutliers!
Brandan Wright – Huge 2013-14 debut, playing 19 minutes and going 9-10 19/6/1 while destroying the BBB (backup Bucks bigs) not to be confused with the Better Business Bureau. Larry Drew’s BBB rating is an F-.
James Harden – Keeps hurting his feet. Needs some tough actin’ Tinactin. Rolled his ankle last night but played through it, making him very questionable for Wednesday’s game. Luckily it’s a pretty long break until humpday.
Michael Carter-Williams – Just can’t get back on the court from this knee infection. It came out over the weekend that Tony Wroten could see time with MCW when both are healthy, so whenever MCW finally does get back on the court, I think you hold onto Wroten. Love his game right now, think he can keep up the boards and ancillary stats when MCW is back.
Giannis Antetokounmpo – I spelled his name right without looking! Finally got it down. 35 minutes on Saturday night for 13/9/4 with a block. Ersan Ilyasova looks atrocious out there, so I could see decent run for Giannis, but not locking it down for any consistency. I hate Larry Drew. He hates fantasy.
Alec Burks – As soon as your think he’s turned the page while hot, he just bombs again. 3-9 on Friday then 4-16 9/2/0/0/0 on Saturday. Why I haven’t picked him much as waiver wire adds in the comments. Avoidable in most leagues as a long-term option, streamable when hot. Which would be my Bon Jovi cover band CD title.
*Guess Kobe Bryant’s Stat Line* – The winner on Friday was Slim! Kobe going 4/1/13/2/0, I picked the highest Asts, but Slim had the closest overall. All commenters welcome to guess his line for a contest we’ll do every weekday Lakers game. My guess for tonight – 17/4/9/1/0. Good luck!
Terrence Ross – Another big winner in the Gay trade, went a huge 24/5/0/1/1 on Friday night then 9/6/4/1/1 on Saturday. I’m with ya Slim! Must own in 12-teamers. Ross will end up being one of your best Friends.
Jonas Valanciunas – It’s all coming together for the Luminescent Lithuanian! Double doubles in two straight, going 15/11 with 4 blocks against the terrible Bulls on Saturday. Long live LL! LLLL!
Andrea Bargnani – Well poop. As soon as I said Il Diva was a drop in most leagues, went out for 22/7/4 on Friday night then 23/6 on Saturday. Tyson Chandler should be back soon, but Bargs is still worth owning until then while Kenyon Martin also deals with some injuries.
Lou Williams – Broke out with a huge game like we saw last year before tearing the ACL, going 27/2/3/1/1 in 29 minutes hitting 6 threes. You’re my boy, Lou! Worth a look in 12-teamers as a ThrAGNOF/scoring add.
Rajon Rondo – Cleared for practice over the weekend. Jordan Crawford owners cringe… Rondo should be a few weeks out though, but trading Crawford ASAP would be a great sell.
I hope everyone had a great weekend, and we’ll be back to the in-depth recaps of every game through the week! Happy week 8!
