Excuse my terrible pun in the title, I couldn’t help myself but I’m proud I managed to find one for 2 of the players included as suggestions this week. Be thankful that I didn’t try to fit Hawkins in there with some kind of extension to the pun including the “Hawks” in his surname.
I know the hot name around the NBA circles is Victor Wembanyama and the seemingly impossible things he can do on the court and rightfully so but I wanted to showcase another player’s extraordinary start to the season. Ok fine, we will talk about Wemby but just a little, I’m sure we will have plenty of opportunities during his career. You can point out his amazing dribbling and scoring skills for a guy of his size, his basketball IQ, etc but I am in awe with the sheer ground he can cover on defense, especially in the weak side and in close outs. Look at this block on O.G. Anunoby for example.
https://youtu.be/mqWDiYutsAs?si=z_taQ62yqMPYFG1n
Anunoby never expected Wemby to be able to contest it, let alone block the shot. Amazing stuff.
But even that pales in comparison to the way the one and only Steph Curry has started the season. He is averaging 30.9 points, 5.9 triples (yes, it is not a typo), on 53% shooting from the field while only playing 31.8 minutes. His advanced stats are even more impressive, with a 57.8% in catch-shoot triples, 38.5% in pull-up triples and a record-breaking true shooting percentage of 73%. This is the best TS% for an 8 game span to start the season, with the previous record holder being Curry himself, with 72.6% to start the 2018-19 season. Ohh and before I forget, he is close to 36 years old. Unbelievable.
Regarding last week’s suggestions, Julius Randle got back on track with a great performance against the Clippers, so the buy-low window seems like is closing, while Jalen Suggs has been serviceable as a stream with 15 assists and 6 steals in 3 games. On the other hand, I expected more from Davion Mitchel who was mediocre while filling in for De’Aaron Fox, as the Kings where blown out in both games at Houston. Finally, Eric Gordon was a good suggestion as a streamer, especially with his latest 21 points, 8 assists game, and he will continue to be an option as long as Devin Booker and Bradley Beal remain sidelined.
Buy
Trae Young: Much like the Julius Randle suggestion last week, Trae Young will simply not continue to shoot with 33.6% from the field and make only 1.7 triples per game. The remaining stats are very encouraging, as he is averaging 10.4 assists and 1.4 steals and the Hawks have actually been very competitive to start the season so I expect their star PG to further aid them by improving his shooting. It is the perfect time to throw a buy low offer to his owner in your league, as his value will only increase as the season progresses.
Jordan Hawkins: C.J. McCollum was very unfortunate and suffered a hopefully small collapsed lung and while there is no timetable decided as of the time of this writing, he will definitely miss some time. The next man up is apparently Jordan Hawkins, the no 14 pick of this year’s draft, who is profiled as a very good shooter and has been given a fair share of playing time to start the season. His last game was very impressive, with 31 points, 7 triples on 52.6% shooting and while we can not expect that high level of production moving forward, he is a clear add in standard leagues for the duration McCollum remains sidelined (41% owned).
Killian Hayes: Pistons are missing 7 players so there are minutes available for Hayes and he has taken advantage, averaging 14.6 points, 2 triples and 7 assists in those 3 games. Hayes having standard league value was also the case to end the season last year with a similar scenario and while all of Jaden Ivey, Monte Morris and Alec Burks remain injured, he is a great guard to stream for assists and steals particularly (33% owned).
Domantas Sabonis: The Kings offense looks completely lost without De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis’ production has suffered in the games Fox has missed. He started the season strong but followed that up with 4 pretty mediocre games, especially for a player that cost his owner a 2nd round pick in the draft. However, both the return of Fox and improved play from him will certainly increase his assists and points and thus his fantasy value so its a good time to trade for the Lithuanian.
Sell
Malcolm Brogdon: It has been the perfect storm to start the season for Brogdon’s fantasy value in Portland and that is why he is the perfect sell high candidate. Anfernee Simons played only 1 game before going down with a right thumb injury that required surgery and Scoot Henderson has missed the last 2 games and will continue to be sidelined with a right ankle sprain of unknown severity so it has been Brogdon that has been running the Portland show with a career high 27.8 usage. Even the return of only Scoot will hurt and I would much rather have a player on a non tanking team for the fantasy playoffs so I would be aggressively exploring trade scenarios for him.
