I usually lurk Reddit to see the latest news in the Association or laugh on some of the memes there but this week, I stumbled upon a masterpiece and that is none other than the infamous post about Jaren Jackson and his defensive stats.
To make a long story short, the author of the article claims that JJJ’s defensive stats are greatly elevated at home games, when nothing similar was observed in previous years. The author also claims that steals that involve JJJ are always credited to him, either if he gets the ball, is the one that tips the ball or makes any contact whatsoever. It is worth a read to formulate an opinion of your own for that matter, as the author provides some interesting examples and many follow ups have happened but it just goes to show how crazy things can get in the information era we live in nowadays.
Bonus clip before we start with the fantasy stuff the blooper of the week, as Patrick Beverley took the camera out of a photographer to persuade the refs that they made a wrong non call on Lebron James’ layup attempt and was subsequently rewarded with a technical for his troubles…
Regarding last week’s suggestions, Jalen Duren had an OK, if uninspiring week, while both Brandon Clarke and Xavier Tilman were serviceable and will continue to be with Steven Adams sidelined. The highlight of the suggestions though has to be Deni Avdija, who took advantage of the increased opportunity in the last four games, despite not starting, and produced a top 35 week. Kristaps Porzingis is back and Daniel Gafford will not be sidelined for long but I would hold onto Avdija to see where his usage is headed.
Buy
Precious Achiuwa: O.G. Anunoby has missed the last three games for the Raptors and it has been Achiuwa that stepped up in his place with 34.5 minutes on average. You know what you are getting with him and that is rebounding, fg% and defensive stats and he is worth a long look as long as Anunoby is sidelined (61% owned).
Alec Burks: Detroit is once again heading for the lottery so what is more logical than benching 22 year-old Killian Hayes for 32 year-old Alec Burks…
Despite making no sense from a developmental standpoint, this starting lineup change makes Burks a usable streamer for triples, points and a bit of ft%, until the Pistons return to their senses and start Killian Hayes again, who was consistently their best player on the court. And as I typed the previous sentence, I started understanding more their decision to stop starting him….
Nevertheless, with Detroit having three more games this week, I would still hold onto Hayes but with them trying their best to lose all three, Burks can be useful for the upcoming stretch (35% owned).
Donte DiVincenzo: The Warriors are rarely completely healthy this season and Donte has taken advantage of the opportunity to fill in wherever he is needed, posting top 100 numbers during the last month. With Golden State having three more games this week and with two of those being back to back I think DiVincenzo is a great streamer for backcourt stats and steals that is probably available in your league (29% owned).
Sell
Dillon Brooks: I wouldn’t include him in the “Sell” portion as I thought that most people have already given up on him, but I saw that he is still owned in more than half of Yahoo leagues (57% owned). We are talking about a guy that is ranked 229th in per game value for the season, 295th in the last month while shooting with 34.8% from the field and having no positive contribution in any statistical category in that span. And the disturbing thing is that he is getting 31 minutes per game for a good Western Conference team. I am not sure you can get anything for him in return, but I would drop him in a hurry as he is actively making your team worse and can single-handedly lose you the fg% category on any given week.
