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During this past week when I was researching for players to put in the Buy column, I had Tim Frazier as a potential candidate, but in no way was thinking of having him as the highlight of the article. And then he goes and does this (2.17-2.35 in the video)

Tim Frazier is one of us. Tim Frazier cares about us. Instead of getting a turnover in the final possession as the clock runs out, he passes the ball to Wesley Johnson so that the turnover is registered to him. And I doubt Johnson is on any fantasy teams right now… More on Frazier below.

Taking a look at last week’s suggestions, Marvin Williams was bad and eventually got injured so you can safely drop him again. Injury also struck Taurean Prince, but he is a hold as it is not a serious one. The final Buy suggestion was Allen Crabbe who has seen the minutes rise during the last week, and I still like him for the triples and points contributions.

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Taking a different approach than my norm, I would like to dedicate the usual introduction of the article to the Washington Wizards. Boy, has it been an interesting season in the nation’s capital. After an atrocious start to the season, John Wall and Bradley Beal called out their teammates (heavily implying Otto Porter Jr.) for caring only about the number of shot attempts. Meanwhile, their combined shots attempted from the field this season were 34.6. Hmmmmm.

Furthermore, Scott Brooks continues to frustrate with his rotations, Dwight Howard is usually on the sidelines, Beal called out management, and Wall dropped the F bomb on his coach in last week’s practice. So, what is the next logical step? But of course, to come from 20 points behind in last night’s game for a win against the Clippers in LA. I have a feeling that one of Wall, Beal, or Porter is going to be traded away sooner than later. It’s going to be a very interesting season in Washington.

Taking a look at last week’s suggestions, both Mike Muscala and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are starting to see more opportunities and Jeff Teague had one awful and two good games, but his value will increase with Jimmy Butler in Philadelphia. As for the sell suggestions, both Taj Gibson and Tyreke Evans have done nothing to warrant ownership in standard leagues and Evans particularly was uninspiring with Oladipo missing two games due to injury.

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The whole NBA world held their breath when Caris LeVert suffered a gruesome injury against the Timberwolves on Monday. It looked bad, like the season-ending injuries Gordon Hayward and Jeremy Lin endured. Thankfully, the best-case scenario prevailed and he only suffered a dislocation, meaning he can be back on the court in approximately three months. That’s a long time away, which makes LeVert a luxury stash only.

Taking a look at last week’s suggestions, Eric Bledsoe had a great week and, as I specifically mentioned last week, the steals improved to 2.0 per game (3 games). Pascal Siakam is on fire, averaging 22 points since I mentioned him. He looks like the real deal and has the ability to be a steady fantasy contributor all season long. The rest of the suggested players to Buy were Derrick White, who had a good and an average game as he gets back up to speed from his injury and Mitchell Robinson, who had a 9 block game and potentially carried many H2H teams to victory last week.

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Welcome back Otto, we greatly missed you. After a painfully slow start to the season, and a missed game due to a toe injury, Otto Porter Jr. finally broke out yesterday with a 19/5/6/4/2/2/0 roto gem against the Mavericks. He was featured in the Buy column last week, so I hope you capitalized on the buy-low opportunity and got him at a discount. I have valid hope that he can continue improving due to the attention the P&R between Howard and Wall demands. As for the other suggested players, LaMarcus Aldridge predictably started making more shots and improved his value, Rodney Hood hasn’t really done anything great with his opportunity in Cleveland yet, and Josh Okogie has been OK, but I expect greater things from him with Butler set to miss more games. Finally, regarding the sell candidates, DeAndre Jordan continues making his free throws but I think that will eventually stop, and Wesley Matthews seems determined to prove me wrong because he continues scoring even with Harrison Barnes back. I still believe he is a sell high candidate because Barnes will eventually get back up to speed.

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Perplexed by the title of the article? Wondering what the hell is this guy talking about? Perfect. Continue reading to find out how it is all connected to this week’s player. I shall call this “Titlebait” and it shall be the poor man’s “Clickbait”.

I have made lots of Buy/Sell calls in this column throughout the years. Some good (Butler last year), some bad, and some atrocious (ahem…Jahlil…ahem…Okafor). But no player has ever provided a quicker profit than Klay Thompson, who went completely bonkers on the Bulls with 52 points and a NBA record 14 triples in just 26 minutes, and is someone I just happened to highlight in last week’s Buy/Sell column.

We can safely assume that the buy-low window is shut. Just continue admiring the beauty of the GSW system and how they have perfected the art of off-ball screens and cutting without the basketball.

The other Warrior mentioned in my previous article was Draymond Green, who increased his scoring but still has room for improvement. Danny Green and Bryn Forbes have also helped fantasy owners this past week, with Green having an opportunity to hold his value for the rest of the season. As for the Sell candidates, Blake Griffin predictably slowed down a bit, but can still get you a great player in a potential trade (which I advise you to pursue). Danilo Gallinari has been awesome, but it’s all about health with him. Jordan Bell and Jakob Poeltl have done nothing to warrant ownership, even in deeper formats. I blame Obama and the preseason hype for these two.

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The long wait is finally over. The meaningless preseason games are already behind us and you have drafted your teams that will guide you to fantasy glory. And we here at Razzball are your personal compass to help you get to that glorious destination. Every Wednesday, this article is dedicated to the players that you should consider buying, either straight from the waiver wire or from a frustrated owner, or selling for a profit or outright dropping them for a hot free agent. The first week of the season always provides many players that fit the afforementioned criteria so let’s dive straight in…

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My Top 155 Roto projections are back!!! For last year’s results, click HERE. Just a quick reminder, the player value represents the per-game value so, although DeMarcus Cousins is ranked 38th, I wouldn’t recommend drafting him that high because he is expected to miss a significant chunk of the season. Finally, if you want to understand the process behind the calculations of the player value, check last years projections article. Enough talking, let’s get to the numbers!!

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After a long hiatus, the preseason is finally upon us. Now come the discussion, speculation and, most importantly, the projections. Our very own SON has released his Top 100 H2H Rankings with more on the way. I am preparing the Top 155 Roto Projections just like last year, which should be ready to go by next week. In order to conquer the fantasy basketball maze, we must continue to learn, especially from our mistakes. That will be the focus of this article, as I highlight the players that greatly under or overperformed their preseason projections and focus on which statistical category had the most impact.

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This is it. This is the week you have been waiting for all season. The final fantasy week for the majority of leagues has begun and I hope you are fighting for the championship. I’m rooting for you owners, the ones who adapted when DeMarcus Cousins went down, streamed like madmen and secured a playoff spot. For you that were ready to give up when your star-studded backcourt of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry got injured and you lost your matchup to a 3pt-punt team due to triples, but still scratched and clawed your way to the finals. One more week of hustle and the trophy is yours.

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Just three weeks left in the NBA regular season. Man, how quickly time flies. Seems like just yesterday when preseason rankings were all the hype and Anthony Davis was viewed as more of a top 8 than top 5 player.

Boy, were we wrong. The Brow’s averages during this month are 31.2/0.8/12.7/1.9/1.8/3.4/2.5 on 52.5%/87.2% shooting and he has already played 64 games on the season. Utterly ridiculous performances all around and we might be witnessing one of the strongest fantasy months of all time. Many fantasy teams that will win it all this year will have him on their roster and it will be hard to take him anywhere below no 1 in next year’s drafts. Thoughts and prayers to all the owners that have to face him in the fantasy playoffs.

As per usual, starting with a quick recap of last week’s suggestions, Terry Rozier is currently getting all the minutes he can handle in Boston and will continue to produce even when Kyrie Irving returns, so congrats if you added him for the stretch run. I was also very impressed with Corey Brewer, who continues to defy expectations with a great week in which he averaged 3.7 steals and 14.3 points and was the 13th best player in fantasy during this span. Kyle O’Quinn’s contribution in the blocks department was also steady with 1.7 and he even helped in other categories with 9.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals. Finally, Allen Crabbe missed all but one game this week and, although, he was very efficient, he is just too inconsistent for my taste while Ish Smith’s minimal appeal is officially nonexistent with Reggie Jackson returning to the Pistons starting lineup.

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If you are wondering about the title, just look at the postscript at the end of the article. It’s not basketball related but some things are far greater.

The playoffs have started for most fantasy leagues and I hope your teams are competing in them. May the basketball gods bless you with no injuries to your key players (ahem Stephen Curry) and good percentages to lead you to the championship. If you are instead in a Roto league, like I prefer for the most part, these injuries affect you less but it’s still a good time to focus on the categories that can give you the most points in the standings and shape your team accordingly.

On a completely different subject, as soon as I saw Josh Richardson and James Johnson celebrating after a made triple, I knew I had to include it in the article.

Master Yoda, you sure look taller…..The phrase “teamwork elevates you” gets a new meaning with these guys.

As per usual, let’s check the performance from last week’s suggested players, but before that, an extra shout out to my man Nemanja Bjelica, who I mentioned 2 weeks ago and is straight carrying my teams for the past weeks (ranked 18th during this period). Larry Nance Jr. has taken full advantage of the starting role in Cleveland, with three double-doubles in his last 5 games and will maintain this production for as long as Tristan Thompson is sidelined. On the other hand, Jakob Poeltl’s impressive defensive numbers faded this week as he averaged only 1.0 block after going for 2.7 per game during the previous two weeks. Finally, Skal Labissiere had two solid games before going down with a minor injury, while Marcin Gortat and Al-Farouq Aminu proved good drop calls as they had at best forgettable performances.

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