Duh duh duh duh. Clap clap. Duh duh duh duh. Clap clap. Duh duh duh duh. Duh duh duh duh. Duh duh duh duh. Clap clap.
He’s bearly and he’s brawny. Supposedly good looking. He’s not proficient shooting. His name is Steven Adams.
He plays for the Memphis Grizzlies. When people come to see him. They all end up screaming. His name is Steven Adams.
Duh duh duh duh. Clap clap. Duh duh duh duh. Clap clap. Duh duh duh duh. Duh duh duh duh. Duh duh duh duh. Clap clap.
Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane get all the shine for the Memphis Grizzlies but it’s players like Adams who give them that grit so that they can grind towards the top of the NBA landscape. He’s a mountain of a man at 6-foot-11 and 265 pounds. He’s known as one of the strongest and toughest guys in the league, and is an excellent screener, which frees up space for Morant and Bane. Last night:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 11 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5/12 | 1/2 |
Over the last three games, Adams has grabbed 23, 21 and 17 boards, and has now gone seven straight games with at least 10. On the season, he’s at 10.9 boards per game and is providing 0.8 steals and 1.2 blocks. The 2.3 dimes is also nice. Now for the bad. He’s shooting a laughable 32% from the free throw line and only scores 8 points per game. He’s a true specialist, and is better for real-life hoops than in fantasy. That said, he does provide utility in the right build. I mean, who can’t use 20 boards a game? Since blurbing about hoops, I’ve never once considered writing up Adams for the lede. I’ve turned over a new leaf for 2023!
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Ja Morant
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 35 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1/8 | 13/23 | 8/10 |
Is Morant good? Niet
Is Morant great? Niet
Is Morant amazing?
Tyus Jones
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 18 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5/7 | 5/10 | 3/4 |
Jones is one of the best backup point guards in the league and, when Morant is out, he’s an auto stream for fantasy. He still provides utility in a reserve role, especially in the dimes department.
Domantas Sabonis
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 18 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/2 | 8/14 | 2/2 |
The lack of defensive stats always gave Sabonis a bad rap for fantasy. That said, the contributions in points, boards, and dimes have more than made up for that deficiency. He’s a top 25 player despite averaging only 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks. He’s shooting a robust 62% from the field this season, as the Kings are one of the better offensive teams in the league with more shooters to space things out and De’Aaron Fox running the show. The impressive thing is that Sabonis only has a 20.2% usage rate, yet is averaging 18.6 points and 6.6 dimes. He is tied with Nikola Jokic for the most dub-dubs in the league.
Nikola Jokic
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 30 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2/2 | 10/13 | 8/8 |
Jokic almost provided us with the Immaculate Game. Holy F’ing Shit Balls. Normal human beings realize that striving for perfection is a goal, but not something that is attainable. Jokic is no normal human being. He may not be human at all.
Aaron Gordon
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 18 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1/2 | 6/13 | 5/6 |
Gordon has finally found his fit and is the perfect player for the Nuggets. For fantasy, Denver has unlocked him, as he’s shooting fewer treys and dunking the ball more. It’s led to a career-high 60% field goal percentage. The 65% free throw shooting is a bummer but he’s 0.2 blocks light of being a 1/1/1 player and is dishing out his fair share of dimes. Top 70 player for fantasy.
Bruce Brown
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 21 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4/6 | 8/14 | 1/1 |
Got the start for Jamal Murray, who was resting on the front leg of a back-to-back. Brown has been a really solid piece for the Nuggets, due to his defensive ability and versatility. For fantasy, he won’t knock your socks off in any particular area, but he contributes a little something something everywhere. He’s a borderline top 100 player.
The Celtics were led by their Jynamic Juo:
Jayson Tatum
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 25 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0/4 | 7/16 | 11/14 |
Jaylen Brown
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 30 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4/5 | 2/20 | 2/2 |
Tatum is a top 10 player for fantasy. He is .1 blocks shy of being a 1/1/1 player. He literally does it all, with good percentages and doesn’t turn the ball over often, especially when factoring the 33% usage rate. He’s the kind of guy you bring home to your fantasy parents and ask to tie the sneakers in holy matrimony.
Brown is converting 49% of his shot attempts and shooting 80% from the line. It was only a handful of years when that number was sub-70%. Massive props for the improved efficiency. While the freebies are cheapies, he’s making some difficult shots from the perimeter. Brown is a professional getter of buckets. The final frontier is to increase the 0.4 blocks.
Kyle Kuzma
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 10 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0/2 | 5/16 | 0/1 |
The efficiency wasn’t good but Kuzma messed around for the third time in his career. No D makes both the ladies and fantasy nerds unhappy.
Daniel Gafford
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 17 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8/11 | 1/2 |
In 28 minutes as a starter. Gafford has now started the last six games and averaged 23.1 minutes, 10.7 points, 6 boards, and 1.8 blocks. He’s been playing alongside Kristaps Porzingis, so this may be the NWO, especially since Washington has only lost one game since he entered the starting lineup.
Rui Hachimura
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 26 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3/5 | 11/18 | 1/3 |
In 32 minutes off the bench. Since returning from a 16-game absence, Hachimura has averaged 25.7 minutes per game, 11.2 field goal attempts, 17.6 points, and 5 rebounds. He doesn’t provide many dimes or defensive stats.
Deni Avdija
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 11 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0/3 | 5/12 | 1/2 |
In 29 minutes off the bench. The usage rate is low at 15%, so the points will rarely be voluminous. That said, Avdija provides boards and a sprinkling of treys and defensive stats. The shooting efficiency can be an issue at times, but he’s converted over 50% of his attempts over the last five games.
The Bucks played without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton. They lost 118-95 to the Wizards. No blurbs for them!!! Bobby Portis led the way with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. He’s an auto stream when Giannis is out. Grayson Allen shot 3-of-9 from downtown, didn’t trip or push anyone, and dished out eight dimes.
Happy New Year to everyone! May it be filled with many blessings!
