It’s only six games. People say this everywhere. Small Sample Size should be trademarked. But there are real trends, beloved readers. If you wait, you’ll miss out on them. Here’s some early trends that savvy readers like yourselves can capitalize on…
Cooper Flagg is being misused and will struggle this year. I watched 30 Duke games last year. Cooper Flagg is a great prospect, should be a perennial all-star and all league candidate. But not at point guard. Jason Kidd, you are a buffoon. He’s taking his elite off ball player and turning him into a confused floor general.
I was high on Flagg for everything except point guard skills. The only thing he didn’t excel at was off the bounce creation against stout defenders. Just look at the end of their games they lost against Kansas, Kentucky, Clemson, and in the Final Four. He’s not a point guard and this will not be a good season for Flagg. Horribly mismanaged by the Mavericks.
Josh Giddey on the other hand is looking like a first round payout from wherever you drafted him. The Bulls are running a cutting motion based offense, suiting Giddey’s game perfectly. How has he performed? 22 points, 9 boards, and 8 assists good enough? I know he’s not a pretty watch (except for that hair which somehow never moves). You don’t have to watch him though. If someone who has him doesn’t buy in, go ahead and get him. He’s going to be a first round value, especially averaging a three and steal, unless you can’t stomach the 3.3 turnovers. The Bulls have a perfectly tailored offense for Giddey to continue to put up huge numbers.
Chet Holmgren has great per game numbers, but is missing time with a back injury. I like Holmgren. He’s a statistical unicorn. However, the knock on him coming out was the health risk. He’s missed one full season with a foot ailment already since being drafted, then only played 32 last year with a hip injury. Now, this year, it’s a back? And Oklahoma City won’t rush anyone back all year in their quest to be healthy in the playoffs. I’m touting the numbers and shopping him for someone who’ll have higher volume of numbers. He’s really, really good at basketball; his health concerns are extreme and likely he’ll be capped at 28 minutes going forward.
Mikal Bridges is underrated in nine category leagues. Not that he’s a star, even though Hashtag basketball ranks him top 20 and we here at Razzball have him in the top 50. Now, don’t look for him in points leagues. Do the categories, where he chips in everywhere and doesn’t turn the ball over. If you took him as a stabilizer in the middle rounds, good job. If not, see if the owner who has him underrates his numbers and capitalize on his all around contributions.
So, there’s two positive ones and two negative ones here. That’s what they call a healthy balance, right? I’ll hit back with rotations later in the week.
You know what’s really real, by the way? The Yahoo competition. Ya boy is in sixth place, competing but not really contending. Sixth place, smack dab in the middle. Here’s who was added and dropped in this league in the past week:
Add Trends: Guys are cycling through wings looking for three and stocks production. Most of these guys added are streamers; the one I’m most interested in is Jake LaRavia, who like a complete dope I cut before he had some breakout games. Some other drops and adds are minutes related; Kyle Filipowski for example is one to watch for if he gets more minutes.
Trendon Watford, Jake LaRavia, Luke Kennard, Derrick Jones, Jr., Jerome Tyson, Jamal Shead, Jalen Smith.
Drops: Jordan Clark, Peyton Watson, Brook Lopez, Dalton Knecht, Kyle Filipowski, Bryce Sensabaugh, Jayden Walker, Javon Small.
Do with this what you will, these are who the industry guys are adding and dropping in a 12-team category league.
Thanks for reading and have a good one! I’ll be back later with some more rotation chaos.
