No, no not THAT The Used, though we could certainly chat about them a bit if you’re into it. No? Not here for that? Fine.
Well, I wanted to talk about “the used” in the NBA, as in the guys who have seen their usage climb in the past two weeks compared to the first two weeks of the season, and whether or not that’s sustainable for them. Cool with you, bro? Sweet, let’s begin.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
by: Keith
We are exactly two and a half weeks into this young NBA season, which means it’s officially PANIC SEASON!!!!! Some players get off to slow starts and then they turn it around and start to perform closer to their ceilings later in the season.
What does that mean in fantasy? It means we can take advantage of that panic and get us some goodies at discounted prices. So take this list and run with it. Go find someone in a league you’re in that owns one of these guys and shoot them a realistic offer.
DON’T LOWBALL. That’s a surefire way to make sure that no one in your league takes you seriously, and a surefire way to kill discussions before they even begin. Float a reasonable offer, then go from there. I managed to snag Kelly Oubre Jr., Robert Covington, and Russell Westbrook last year when they were playing like poop.
The ranks we’ll be looking at here on the current season and previous season will be PER-GAME rankings. We’re simply too early in the season to look at totals just yet.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Keith
Poor Patrick Williams can’t catch a break. He had a bad preseason ankle injury and then was dealing with a shoulder strain before this happened.
It wasn’t pretty and ultimately the news came out that P Dubs will likely miss the remainder of the season with a perilunate dislocation. There’s a small chance he can make it back for the playoffs, but I would wager that even if he could play at that point the Bulls won’t want to muck around with the rotation.
So it’s a huge bummer for the Bulls and even more for Patrick Williams who was looking to make some strides this season and help the Bulls overcome the mediocre hump on their way to being a solid playoff team. The Paw wasn’t playing particularly well to start the season, but he’s just 20 years old. Missing out on a whole season of development sucks for him on an individual level.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The NBA is BACK, baby! There have already been some highs and some lows for each and every NBA team, but at the end of the day, we have fantasy leagues to win. That’s what really matters, isn’t it?
We are NOT including any results from Sunday’s games, just so I can get this out to you guys quickly. It’s also important to note the small sample size here, so this stuff can change wildly. However, I’ll try to break it down for you all with my best takes.
So let’s dig in and see who is turning out to be an early usage monster and what that could mean for your NBA fantasy team.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Keith
Let’s be honest, the Detroit Pistons are currently a bit of a dumpster fire. But even dumpster fires can be beautiful. Ask anyone involved with the production of “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.” Side note: That only came out a year ago. I know, it feels like five years ago. We’ll never survive this, but I digress.
There’s actually plenty to like if you’re a Pistons fan for the long term with newcomer Cade Cunningham along with returning players Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey, and Isaiah Stewart. They are going to have their growing pains no doubt, but they should be competitive in most games. They’ve been relatively competitive ever since Dwayne Casey was named head coach in 2018 and the front office has done a decent job giving the roster some sort of direction.
But how long will it take this young core to gel? Will they be interested in winning all season or turn on the tank in the end? And where the hell does Trey Lyles fit into all this?!?!
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Keith
Fun fact: There are only three players returning from last season for the Chicago Bulls. That would be Zach LaVine, Coby White, and Patrick Williams. The entire rest of the roster has been turned over and the Windy City faithful are prepping Grant Park as we speak. There are a lot of varying opinions about where the Bulls will end up in the standings, a lot of them that have me like:
Me: “Hey Son, can we play ‘Bulls on Parade’ on repeat on my Chicago Bulls preview?”
Son: “No…. No, I don’t think so.”
Sorry guys.
Regardless of where they wind up in the standings, it won’t really affect their fantasy stock all that much. The Bulls are all in on this lineup in their attempt to earn the city a legitimate playoff berth for the first time in the last six seasons. That means the big dogs are here to play and they should get significant minutes throughout the season.
The Bulls put a competitive group on the floor around all-star Zach LaVine and didn’t even mortgage the future, so it’s safe to say that Arturas Karnisovas has a place at my table any time. Still, there are questions about their defense and their “fit” since they won’t be playing a traditional power forward (as if that were necessary in the modern NBA).
With so many mouths to feed on offense, will that hurt the value of guys like perennial all-star Nikola Vucevic? Will DeMar DeRozan still have a prominent role? Let’s break it down by position.
Please, blog, may I have some more?I’m the big, fat loser this year in our 9-cat league’s championship game. Am I happy I made it this far in a totally insane season? Yep. Am I upset I lost? It always stings, but one week can make or break you and I don’t feel bad losing to a team I lost to the only time I faced them in the regular season. It feels like the right team won.
All that said, this season was completely wackadoodle and probably the most benefit you’ll get from reading these words is this introduction where I’m going to attempt to break down my thinking on the season and how we all got here.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Now that it’s looking like I’ll likely lose in my championship matchup this week (boooooooooooo!), I guess it’s time to turn to helping you all out in your championship runs this week. By the way, please move your playoffs up to avoid all the silliness. It happened earlier this year, but I’m a strong proponent of just absolutely skipping the last month of the season as teams randomly sit people and rest up for their playoff pushes.
Anyways, do yourself a favor and take a look at the opponent you are up against. Identify the categories where you guys are close (so if you are both bad at winning a category or if you both are middling at a category or both good at winning a category) and stock up on guys to win those categories. Most leagues are nine category leagues, so remember you only need to win five of them.
That said, here are the guys coming up with a boatload of games, all under 50% owned on Yahoo! that can help you win specific categories.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Keith
The ridiculous and predictably bad “condensed” NBA schedule has finally reared its ugly head. The injuries are rolling in faster than me when they say there’s free cake in the break room, and fantasy teams everywhere are hurting. Hopefully you have multiple IL spots. I have two in the league I run usually, but we upped it to three midseason.
If your commissioner didn’t have such foresight, RIP. But there’s good news: You don’t have to hurt anymore.
When players go out, that means other players step up to fill the void. So who should we be grabbing for the week? Who is going to win us our fantasy playoff matches?
Please, blog, may I have some more?If your league has been around a while, you have likely started the fantasy playoffs already. If not, you’re likely starting them very soon. There’s always a shift that happens after the all-star break as teams decide they need a drastic shift or they choose to tank.
As a result, players often slip into fantasy relevance that were once forgotten, or borderline, plays. All rankings in this article were taken from Basketball Monster and are the 9-category player rankings for the last two weeks of the season in PER GAME value, not total value.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Keith
Hey everybody, it’s me Keith! Sorry, I’ve been watching a lot of Blue’s Clues and every episode starts like that… Anyways, let’s get down to business.
It’s officially NBA silly season with the trade deadline already in distant memory, and plenty of teams are not super interested in winning basketball games right now. If a team can finish 10th and get into the play-in, they may be more interested in resting their guys and getting a better draft pick.
So which teams are doing that? And, more importantly, which players benefit the most from this shift?
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Keith
It was tough to write this one until I was absolutely sure we could beat a Nets team without Kevin Durant or James Harden. The Bulls beat the Nets on Sunday 115-107, where they controlled the game from tip to the buzzer. I’m happy to report that I don’t have to commit fandom seppuku, and the Bulls still are very much relevant in the NBA playoff race this season.
Please, blog, may I have some more?