Despite the very modest reception the idea of the In Season Tournament got when it was first introduced last year, it has proven a very entertaining addition to the NBA calendar and more importantly has increased the level of intensity and competition during the regular season.
Even during the group phase, the fact that the IST employs a points tiebreaker system is a great incentive to keep the intensity level of the games high and that has only increased as we got to the knockout games, where we saw 4 great matchups to get to the quarter finals.
The IST does have an impact in fantasy, as the schedule for this week is unique, with 2 ultra-high volume game days (Wednesday and Friday) and no counting games for Saturday and Sunday, as the IST final does not count for fantasy purposes in most platforms. That makes players that compete in the semi finals on Thursday extra valuable for streaming purposes and we are going to focus on some of those in the “Buy” section.
Before getting to the recap of last week’s article, I have to include an awesome story on Mitchell Robinson, because I did him a bit dirty with the hand washing thing last week.
"[Mitch Robinson] said come to New York with me, and enjoy yourself and get your mind back straight."
– Butch Stockton, Robinson’s high school coach, on staying with Mitch in New York after the passing of his wife. pic.twitter.com/qtY3hfnGLk
— NBA (@NBA) December 1, 2023
Apparently, he invited his high school coach to move in with him in New York after coach’s wife died and they have been supporting each other mentally along the way. The coach was the reason Mitchell played basketball as he actively recruited him when he had no connection to basketball and the respect is evident from Robinson’s side. What an awesome and heartwarming story, as loneliness can be brutal, especially for older people.
Regarding last week’s suggestions, both Omer Yurtseven and Simone Fontecchio took advantage of Utah’s absences and proved decent streamers, but I fear their relevance will not hold in the high volume days Utah plays. The same cannot be said for Nicolas Batum, as he hurt his finger and missed both games since mentioned in the column and Isaiah Jackson, who miraculously played less minutes with Jalen Smith sidelined.
Buy
Obi Toppin: As mentioned in the introduction, schedule is a major factor for suggestions this week and so Toppin can provide valuable scoring and triples on Thursday’s IST semifinals day. He is also not faring badly for the season, as he is ranked inside the top100 but the 0.8 turnovers definitely help his ranking in standard 9-cat. Still he is available in 50% of yahoo leagues and is a priority add for this week’s whacky schedule.
Aaron Nesmith: Another schedule-based suggestion that is more available than Toppin is Aaron Nesmith, who also plays for the Pacers on Thursday and can contribute across the board. He is on a hot shooting streak that he will look to extend over the Bucks and I believe coach Carlisle will take advantage of his versatility and give him enough minutes to matter as a streamer (15% owned).
Tobias Harris: Rounding out the suggestions with a buy-low trade candidate, it has not been a very productive couple of weeks for Tobias Harris and the absence of Joel Embiid in some of those games makes his performances even more puzzling. He is shooting 38.7% from the field, scoring 13 points and turning the ball over uncharacteristically 2.8 times in that span and with his rank at 274th in this period, there is no better time to throw an offer for him and get a top75 player for a reduced price, as Harris is too good to struggle like that for an extended period of time.
Sell
Herb Jones: It has been a very productive season for Herb Jones, who has taken advantage of Trey Murphy’s injury and is currently ranked 30th in per game value. The main reason for this absurd evaluation is his 1.8 steals, 1.3 blocks and excellent shooting (51.9% from the field and 88.1% from the line). All those stats are by far career highs for him and he is enjoying a great scoring week so this is the perfect time to try and get a great return in a trade. Don’t move him for peanuts, but I believe his minutes will scale down a bit with Trey Murphy back and so will the defensive numbers, so I would be happy to get a proven top60 guy for him in return.
