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Yikes.  After an injury-plagued 14-15 season where virtually every starter missed a good chunk of time, the injury bug hath reared it’s ugly head yet again for the Pelicans.  I need comfort!  Time to shame eat 50 beignets!

After Jrue Holiday‘s slow recovery from another stress reaction in his leg, the Pelicans plan to limit him to 15 minutes a game until January and sit him on back-to-backs.  Then Norris Cole suffered a high-ankle sprain a little over a week ago, and given an “up to 6 weeks” timetable.  And right when the Tyreke Evans buzz couldn’t get louder, we get hit with news on The Blindside (starring Sandra Bullock) that he had arthroscopic knee surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks.  The Pelicans need a new conditioning staff!  Hopefully this gets all the injuries out of the team’s system and we see 82 games of Brow…  Anyway, the Pelicans signed Nate Robinson late last week, and all the sudden he’s looking at starting minutes to open the season – starting when Jrue sits and playing a ton off the bench after Jrue’s 15 allotted minutes.  Lord help me, but I actually drafted him in the JB vs. Slim RCL last night…  All he needs to do is put it within 15 feet of Brow and he could fall into 5 assists with the upside for a few 3s and some points with low TO (18 Pts last night, but 0 AST and 4 TO – had 9 dimes previous 2 games with only 3 TO, TO isn’t usually an issue).  It’s like Jose Calderon, but with a few more minutes.  Ugh, I just threw up in my mouth a little with that comp though…  Here’s what else has gone down over the past few days in preseason action:

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We’re back with the Razzball Hoops Pod, and on today’s show we talk news from the preseason including who could start for Derrick Rose on opening night if he sits, and the Knicks backcourt situation.  Then we spend the rest of the show reviewing commenters teams with our thoughts on roster construction and possible trades to make.

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rcl-basketball-logo

[Re-posting to the top!  Last time, I promise!  We still have spots open, and would love a few final leagues to come to the RCL battlefield.  Hop on in and start up a league today!  100% free, 1,000% fun, I’m going to eat 10,000% too much!]

Chug some Pepto-Bismol, down some glasses of milk, and be sure there’s a lot of toilet paper because we’re back with the Razzball Commenter Leagues!  That’s right, after embarrassingly not coming close to the RCL title last year, I burned out my insides beating a hot wings challenge for reigning champion Akron Lebrons.  At least it was only a day of pain, not a month-long shaming of having High as Greg Kite shaved in my head.  Well, now that I’m married, that latter one is definitely out…

And now it’s your turn to beat the best fantasy basketball community around in the RCL leagues, and immortalize your 2015-16 season with a spot in the RCL Hall of Fame!  Not only does your banner fly forever, but 1st place will win a $50 Amazon gift card, along with the JB YouTube shaming video.  I think the eating challenge went really well last year – after, well – the head shaving wasn’t too legible…  So this time I’ll do a volume eating challenge of the winner’s choice somewhere in the NC area, but nothing disgusting!  I’m not chugging a jar of mayonnaise, aight!  I’m thinking 5-pound burrito, 72-oz steak, 30 happy meals… whatever you’d like!  2nd place gets a prize this year as well, with a $20 Amazon gift card.

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Mmmmmmm, is there anything saucier in fantasy basketball than a rookie fresh from a great Summer League tearing up preseason?!  Obviously Ricky Rubio‘s haircut is the only thing saucier to me!

After Stanley Johnson posted some crazy stats in Vegas (16.2 PTS 1.8 STL 1.0 BLK), StanVan has given his prodigal son StanJo a ton of run in preseason and the rook has taken off with multi-3PTM games in his first 3, a rainbow line last Thursday against BKN (12/7/2/2/2) and frequently getting to the stripe.  Unfortunately he’s cooled off a tad the past two games with a little bit of a dud last night, and he’s in a pretty robust rotation of SG and SF, mainly with the much more boring Marcus Morris playing solid this preseason as well.  But even at likely a bench role to start the year, Johnson can play anywhere from the 1-to-4, as he’s already played some out-of-position PG this preseason.  In the last update to my Top 200 ranks, I moved StanJo to 94th for the rainbow line upside.  I’m not going too crazy for the rookie nookie, but he’s certainly worth a look around 100 in the 9th round.  If only he had a twin like Morris – but also named Stanley – then we could have dueling StanJos in the NBA!  Here’s what else has gone on through the past week of preseason:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

We’re back with an all new Razzball Hoops Pod, and on today’s show we talk changed in the top 200 ranks from spots 1-100 including Karl-Anthony Towns and C.J. McCollum, then review commenters teams from the past week with thoughts on their rosters.  We also discover Slim’s Robin Lopez of the NBA!

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I pounded the coffee, we live-podcasted the draft, and my hopes at the 15-16 REL title now dance in my dreams like sugarplums and Ricky Rubio’s face!  My favorite basketball league, I brought my limited chips to the table then went all-in on a rookie I have to stash…  Wahhhhh!  Hopefully other teams like their backend roster more than I do, and with an added IL spot this year, we have some early FAAB money getting spent on the wire.  Here’s how the draft and first round of FAAB went down in the REL:

RAZZBALL ELITE LEAGUE

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The Razzball Elite League is back!  In season 3’s draft, we bring the Podcast to the mayhem for Slim and I’s favorite league…  Slim has a championship and I don’t!  It makes me about as angry as Slim bidding me up for Kelly Oubre!  In this special edition, we chronicle the first hour-and-a-half of the draft, with look-ins from Peter Kap and his Wizard fandom guiding his Bradley Beal buy, Adam and his value rookie buy followed by Kevin Love, and Slim’s brother Tim (Slim & Tim!) with his Al Jefferson purchase.  Tim is our medical expert soon to appear with injury analysis on the Pod; let’s hope our contract negotiations prove fruitful!  Here’s our special edition Podcast recapping the REL draft:

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REL Draft Results

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Slim and I are back with a brand new edition of the Razzball Hoops Pod, and on today’s show we talk preseason action including a season-ending injury, Slim’s RCL draft, and review commenters’ drafted teams.  Remember if you’d like your team reviewed on the Pod, comment below!  Then we wrap up with what we’ve been watching at the movies.

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Wooo, preseason is here!  We finally get to see players on the court, thennnn, pretty much immediately we have season-ending injuries…  Just let athletes take steroids again, eesh!  Tired of this nonsense!

In literally the second game of the preseason, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist slipped on just a routine perimeter dribble and dislocated his shoulder.  It looked like he might’ve slipped on some sweat, those are some slacking Magic ball boys!  Then after an MRI yesterday, it revealed a torn labrum (true story, it had a red underline underneath “labrum” which had me being sure I spelled it right, and the suggested fix was labium) and he’ll likely need season-ending surgery.  Yikes.  Tough shakes for the Hornets who just invested $52 mil over 4 years in the guy (THAT’S MORE THAN MONTA ELLIS!), and have nothing great to fill-in SF minutes.  Well, I guess technically SG minutes, as Nicolas Batum should slot back to SF as the Hornets hodgepodge their SG.  Jeremy Lin had a nice 17/2/7 debut in that first game on Saturday, but followed it up with 10/3/1 and 4 TO on Sunday.  Jeremy Lamb scored 16 in the debut and got the start Sunday, only to shoot 2-11 in 25 yawnstipating minutes.  P.J. Hairston also got a start Sunday as Batum got that game off, and shot 1-7 missing all 5 treys.  Then there’s also Marvin Williams, who has reportedly lost weight and was rumored to get SF minutes back in July, but he figures to be more of a Batum backup or a small stretch-4 like last year.  I really don’t like any of these guys, and none of them vault into the draftable range for me in 12ers.  I guess in deepers I’d grab Lin first, but meh.  The only actionable impact for me is MKG’s 15-16 death.  “This guy here is dead!”  “Well cross him off then!”  Here’s what else has happened through the first few nights of preseason as we prepare for the 2015-16 Fantasy Basketball season:

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Razzball Hoops’ ultimate draft day tool is here!  Well, actually whoever sniped Myles Turner before I could get him in my first RCL draft is the ultimate draft day tool!  Slim’s projections in a sortable spreadsheet is back, and a huge thanks to Slim for all of his statistical Nostradamus-ing and Rudy for all of the… um… Excel-lent sort-ing…  See what I did there?!  These guys should’ve been the stars of CBS’s Numb3rs!  I actually have no clue what that show was about, but if it was about fantasy basketball I’ll sure feel dumb…  Rudy helped us get all of Slim’s projections in the Official Top 200 back into interactive mode, and he’s probably ready for a month off from math with baseball wrapping up.  I can’t wait to see his charcoal drawings from his month away in Amish country!  Anyway, here’s Slim’s 15-16 projections to utilize on draft day, and be sure to put them to test in the 2015-16 Razzball Basketball Commenter Leagues.  Plenty of leagues open with October drafts, so sign up today!

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Auction drafts are chess, snake drafts are checkers!  Pretty sure Denzel in Training Day agrees!

Nothing beats a good auction draft.  Yes, they can be long, hard, and full of Kaman, but they also ensure you can get players you like as long as you’re willing to pony up the dough.  Luckily this year has more parity across the first round, and you can spread your bets accordingly.  Pre-Kevin Durant injury last year, it was back-to-back seasons of paying a ridiculous premium for the Slim Reaper since he was safe (ugh, I guess not really!) and so much better than the field.  Now there’s a case to be made for any of the big 3 as #1 overall, I’ve heard KD even enter the discussion that high, some like DeMarcus Cousins over some of the PG, some don’t like John Wall as a first-rounder, etc. etc. etc.  So while I do like the stars-and-scrubs philosophy, I don’t think I have to overpay too much unlike the past two seasons where I had KD in the high-$90s.  However, I will note there’s a steep dropoff for me outside the top-10.  And you’ll notice a bevy of guys at $1-$2.  I’ll go in hoping to get two elites, a few mids, and a lot of dollar guys where I see value.

A big luxury of auction drafts is it’s much easier to maintain a team strategy.  I don’t love punting in snakes, as guys that fit your build can be picked before you.  But in an auction, you can build more efficiently and accurately.  You can also punt positions – I would be all for getting two elite PG and having 3-4 $1-$2 high-upside bigs and hope I hit on one or two to flank some mid-range guys.

And one obligatory final note – I know I am high on Andrew Wiggins this year, so obviously if he hits $23 with only one team left bidding, don’t suddenly climb it with one bid from $23 to $39 willy-nilly!  These suggested auction values are a framework for my ranks, and the price I’d go if drafting with 11 other mes.  Ugh, horrifying, it’d be like having an auction draft in the “Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich!” scene!

Values are based on Yahoo standard line-ups (PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, C, UTIL, UTIL, BN, BN, BN) and 12-team leagues (RCL size – and we need more leagues!  Commish one now!) with a $200 budget:

Please, blog, may I have some more?