The sport of basketball has many rules that are utilized everyday in most of the games. Some are reserved for some rarer occasions and even fewer are enforced only a handful of times during each season. But in all the years I’ve been watching basketball, I have never seen the following.
Let me break it down for you. Andrew Nembhard of the Pacers got hard fouled by Rudy Gobert and in the immediate aftermath he whipped the basketball at the Timberwolves player, thus receiving a technical foul. It was his second technical, so Nembhard was ejected. The problem that the rules now have to face is who is going to shoot the free throws from the technical assessed to Rudy Gobert
The rulebook says that the other team gets to pick the shooter off the bench when the player can’t shoot their free throws due to injury or ejection, so the Timberwolves did the most/least sensible thing and picked the rookie Enrique Freeman to shoot the free throws, hoping the rookie feels the pressure and misses. It must have felt good for him to make those 2 and he was subsequently brought out of the game.
Regarding last week’s suggestions, both Miles McBride and Tre Jones have been great in their playmaking duties, while on the contrary Lonnie Walker got injured and missed the entirety of the week. The Toronto low owned trio of Orlando Robinson, Jamal Shead and A.J. Lawson all had their moments and can provide low end value, if the schedule allows them to.
Buy
DaQuan Jeffries: Silly season can produce unexcpected fantasy contributors and DaQuan Jeffries is exactly that. He was barely a part of the Charlotte rotation int eh beginning of the year, but is starting for them and averaging close to 30 minutes for a team that lacks any kind of offensive punch, especially with LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges getting random rest and maintenance days. Bonus points for Charlotte having 3 more games this week in low volume days (5% owned).
Jared Butler: If you need those rare assists from the waiver wire, look no further than Jared Butler, who has taken over the starting PG position in the dumpster fire that is called Philadelphia 76ers and is averaging 5.7 of those dimes along with 1.9 triples and 1 steal. Not breathtaking, but in some matchups he can give you that much needed boost and his minute are safe as one of hte last remaining healthy players in Philly (12% owned).
Sell
Kyle Kuzma: Most, if not all, of fantasy leagues are in the playoffs, so there is no room to carry around dead fantasy weight, in the hopes of a future improvement. Unfortunately Kyle Kuzma has become after his trade the equivelant of fantasy dead weight, averaging 12/1.5/4.6/0.9/0.5/0.1/2.1 on 42%/71% shooting during the last 2 weeks. It is incredible that he is a negative contributor in all 9 of standard categories so there is zero reason to still have him on your team, despite his high ownership % of 78%.
Jonathan Kuminga: A very similar story with Kuzma, Jonathan Kuminga is averaging 12.8/0/3.3/3/0.5/0.3/1.5 on 41%/73% shooting since returning from his injury and you guessed it correctly, he is also a negative contributor in all 9 of standard categories. Move on and stream his spot for players with immediate value in the fantasy playoffs (79% owned).
