I was giddy when I watched Bam Adebayo during the Summer League. I knew he could rebound and block, but the Eurostepping and skill shown in the open court had me salivating like a submariner pulling into port after a six month deployment. I didn’t expect much from him this year, as he was buried on the depth chart, but then Miami turned into MASH and Hassan Whiteside missed 18 games due to injury. As a result, Bam played in 30 games and started 10. While the stats haven’t been great, he managed to compile two double-dubs. Not bad, but last night Bam went HAM and made me feel all tingly again.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 16 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0/1 | 8/14 | 0 |
He played 33 minutes and definitely benefitted from the ejection of James Johnson. When JJ returns, Bam will probably slide back to the bench, but…but…but….Did I stutter mother f**cker? Actually I did. My bad. Anyways, he’s not a must pick up. Just keep him in mind if any of the bigs in Miami go down, as he’s shown more than capable of going HAM.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
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Derrick Jones:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/1 | 2/5 | 4/4 |
Got the start at small forward and played 28 minutes. Jones is 6′ 7″ 200 pounds and has the hops of a flea. He received a ton of minutes because Tyler Johnson was out. He probably won’t be fantasy relevent when TJ returns.
Hassan Whiteside:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 13 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6/16 | 1/1 |
Mt. Whiteside is a fantasy beast. Will board, block, and shoot a decent FT%. With that said, he’s been benched in crunch time lately and Spoelstra was not happy with the lack of defensive effort on a few plays. Something to keep in mind going forward. Bam! Who said that? Bam Bam! Who’s there? Bam Bam go Ham Ham!
Goran Dragic:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 24 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/3 | 10/21 | 3/5 |
Played 39 minutes and led the Heat to a 90-89 victory over the Raptors. I love Dragic for real life basketball. He’s tough and doesn’t take shit from anyone. For fantasy, he’s not sexy and will rarely make you feel like you popped a couple of Viagra, but will produce. Stocktonator loved him last night. No, I did not feed it Viagra.
Wayne Ellington:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3/12 | 6/17 | 0 |
Need 3s? Wayne’s World. Wayne’s World. Party time. Excellent! The Stocktonator was all about Wayne’s World last night.
Delon Wright:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 13 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 5/9 | 2/2 |
Got the start for the injured Kyle Lowry and played 29 minutes. He was probably picked up last week, but if he wasn’t, you get your ass to the waiver wire right now. Even when Lowry returns, Wright has some value as he had been getting more run off the bench.
Jonathon Simmons:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/2 | 1/7 | 1/1 |
Only played 20 minutes. He will probably be eased back into action after experiencing some back pain.
Mario Hezonja:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 14 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2/4 | 5/9 | 2/2 |
Got the start at power forward because Aaron Gordon violated team rules and played 27 minutes. The fifth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Crazy.
Marreese Speights:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 13 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2/5 | 5/8 | 1/2 |
Mo Buckets, Mo Buckets, Mo Buckets! Everytime I see Speights getting buckets in an NBA game, I feel like I’m watching an episode of In Living Color.
DJ Augustine:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 18 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4/5 | 5/8 | 4/4 |
Has played 23 and 25 minutes the past two games. It’s probably nothing but it’s always good to keep tabs on the DJ.
Maximillian Kleber played five minutes, while Dwight Powell played 23 minutes. The Kleber story was cute for a bit, but Ka-Powell! No mas.
Dirk Nowitzki:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/3 | 6/13 | 7/7 |
I’m Asian. Was always taught to respect my elders.
Yogi Ferrell:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2/3 | 6/9 | 1/1 |
Played 33 minutes. Yabba Dabba Doo!
JJ Barea:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 8 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/2 | 4/8 | 0 |
I’ve often said in the past that I have more confidence in JJ than I have in myself. I should print out a picture of JJ and tape it to all my mirrors.
Shabazz Napier:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 21 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2/3 | 5/10 | 9/10 |
Damian Lillard was out again, so Napier got the start and played 34 minutes. EZ PZ! Shabazz is gonna get paid in a few years.
Pat Connaughton:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2/4 | 4/7 | 0 |
Played 30 minutes. That’s half the battle. Yo Joe!!
CJ McCollum:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 27 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1/5 | 11/19 | 4/4 |
Speaking of EZ PZ….Dame off the court, CJ has a 33.1% usage rate, an increase of 5.7%.
Bogdan Bogdanovic:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 19 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0/3 | 7/13 | 5/6 |
Led the Kings in points and minutes played (32). Cut to Vlade sitting on the couch in Vivek’s office. “Vivek, seems you have backed the wrong horse!” “Goddamnit, Vlade! I put a goddamn ashtray right next to you. Use it!”
De’Aaron Fox:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3/5 | 6/16 | 0/1 |
Fox has now played 32, 30, 35, and 33 minutes the past four games. He’s also scored in double figures in each. Is it happening? Knowing the Kings, probably not. Keep in mind that George Hill has missed the last three games due to having a child. Not George. That’d be weird, but his wife.
Julius Randle:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 22 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1/1 | 8/13 | 5/6 |
Got the start at power forward and played 30 minutes. That’s what he do. Randle is a nightly triple-dub threat from the frontcourt. Hopefully, Luke continues to utilize Randle in the lineup.
Brook Lopez:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5/8 | 6/9 | 1/2 |
Will probably get around 20 minutes of run a game. He shoots 3s, which is nice, but makes business decisions when it comes to grabbing rebounds. Lopez has had stretches of getting his swat on, but it looks like he’d rather play HORSE on the court.
Brandon Ingram:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2/3 | 6/9 | 1/2 |
Needs to work on his handle and limiting the turnovers, but the J is coming along nicely. I wonder how many he rolls a day.
Lonzo Ball:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 5 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1/7 | 2/10 | 0 |
Ball has some of the funkiest stat lines ever. Even the Lithuanians are like, “Damn, that’s funky.” I really hope he learns how to shoot. How did Lavar forget to teach his sons how to shoot? That’d be like always skipping leg day.
Jordan Clarkson:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0/3 | 2/5 | 0 |
Played 14 minutes. JC has had stretches where he’s played less than 15 minutes, but the five shot attempts were a season-low. If he’s not hoisting up shots, he has no value, as he’s super dependent on scoring.
