Malik Beasley has been outstanding for about a month now and he continued his hot streak last night going 4-22-2-0-2-0-1 on 9-of-14 shooting. Over the last six games, he’s averaged 21.7 points on a 60.5% shooting clip with 3.3 3’s per game. Meanwhile, Monte Morris has been playing great right along with him and went 1-17-7-10-1-0-1 on 7-of-13 shooting and 2-for-2 from the line. Over his last three game he’s averaged 18.3 points and 8.3 assists in 39.3 minutes per game. Once Jamal Murray and Gary Harris return, their roles are sure to be reduced, but it might be wise of the Nuggets if they move some of their players at the trade deadline to bring in some bigger names. So, it may be worth holding these guys until after Thursday to see what transpires, and they may even hold a bit of value once Nuggets get fully healthy, if that ever happens…
It was a huge slate in the NBA last night so let’s get into it. Here’s what went down last night:
Nikola Jokic– 13-16-10-0-0-5 on 4-of-13 shooting and 5-of-8 FTs. Another day, another triple-double for the Joker, and he pushed the Nuggets past the T-Wolves on the second night of a back-to-back.
Paul Millsap– 0-3-2-0-0-1 on 0-of-2 shooting. His numbers have taken a dip this year and he’s having his worst season since his fourth year in Utah. He still has value though. He’s just on the back end of his career-arc.
Karl-Anthony Towns– 2-31-12-7-2-1-3 on 12-of-19 shooting and 5-of-9 FTs. Had an off night from the line, but you can’t complain about those numbers.
Jerryd Bayless– 3-15-3-10-0-0-2 on 6-of-12 shooting. Minnesota is still without Jeff Teague, and Bayless has been eating up minutes and actually been playing pretty damn well. If you need assists in the short term, you couldn’t pay less than Bayless.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander– 1-14-7-5-3-1-2 on 4-of-9 shooting and 5-of-8 FTs. He’s strung together a few nice games. 2+ steals in four games in a row is a nice start. The D stats are really what float his value and he looks to be getting over the “Rookie Wall”.
Lou Williams– 2-39-3-9-0-0-2 on 13-of-26 shooting and a perfect 11-for-11 from the line. Sweet Baby Jesus Lou! Averaging 25.4 PPG over his last five. He’s on a heater, so enjoy the ride.
Blake Griffin– 3-24-11-6-0-0-5 on 9-of-23 shooting and 3-of-4 FTs. No D as per usual, but this is what you bought into if you drafted him.
Reggie Jackson– 5-29-2-7-1-0-0 on 11-22 shooting and 2-of-2 FTs. He’s been way better over the last five then he has been on the year. Have a yourself a Reggie Bar young man!
Lauri Markkanen– 1-30-9-1-0-0-2 on 8-of-13 shooting and 13-of-13 FTs. Some really good FT shooting tonight. He’s a beast and I could see him going around round 3 or 4 next year.
Bobby Portis– 4-33-9-0-2-0-1 on 13-of-23 shooting and 3-for-3 from the line. He’s been up and down, on and off the injury report, but games like this make him worth holding onto.
Kemba Walker– 4-37-6-10-1-0-0 on 10-of-23 shooting and 13-of-14 FTs. The FT shooting last night was ridiculous. He hasn’t gone over his season average for points (24.4) since January 14th, so this is a good sign that he could go on another hot streak.
Malik Monk– 1-18-3-5-0-1-4 in 20 minutes off the bench. Monk broke his vows of silence with four solid games in a row. The minutes aren’t really there yet, so I wouldn’t be running to the waiver wire to add him, but he may be worth a look if you need points and 3’s.
Ed Davis– 11-16-3-0-0-0 on 4-of-8 shooting and 3-for-4 from the line. If you streamed him for this week, you got 45 rebounds which is rock solid. Mr. Ed is a true workhorse.
Jonathan Isaac– 1-10-12-1-3-3-3 on 3-of-8 shooting and 3-of-4 FTs. He has really come on of late, and has a solid outlook for the future. Kudos if you scooped him up and he could be a sleeper next year.
Nikola Vucevic– 24-12-4-1-3-2 on 12-of-22 shooting. Just another night at the office for Vucci Mane. Putting up late 1st round value, but is flying a bit under the radar because he’s on the Magic, quite possibly the least relevant team of the last five years.
Giannis Antetokounmpo– 37-10-2-1-0-4 on 10-of-20 shooting and a ridiculous 17-of-17 from the line. Greek Freak at his peak? I think not, but this may be his best FT shooting night of his career.
Brook Lopez– 3-21-6-1-2-2-1 on 7-of-9 shooting and 4-for-4 FTs. He’s a fantasy stud. Blocks, 3’s, and great ratios. Great year to have drafted him.
Otto Porter Jr.– 2-18-7-2-4-0-1 on 7-of-14 shooting and 2-for-2 from the line. He’s had some injury scares, but if he can stay healthy, we know what he can do. It’s been about two weeks since he’s had a game like this though.
Jeff Green– 2-20-3-2-0-2-1 on 6-of-17 shooting and 6-for-7 FTs. Realistically, he’s been own-able all year in 12-ers, but let’s be honest, you probably dropped him at some point if you’re reading this.
Maxi Kleber– 2-10-9-2-1-2-1 on 3-of-8 shooting and 2-for-2 FTs. Started and got 27 minutes. Maxi Pad has a good opportunity at minutes, but he’s low-end. I you need blocks and some of everything, he’s not the worst speculative add in the wake of the Porzingis trade.
Luka Doncic– 4-35-11-6-1-0-2 on 13-of-25 shooting and 5-of-7 from the line. Doncic-Fil-a’ed the Cavs, but who doesn’t? Seriously, though it was an impressive showing once again from the rook and, if he improves his FT%, the sky is the limit.
Jalen Brunson– 1-15-6-4-0-0-2 on 5-of-10 shooting and 4-of-6 FTs. Action Brunson, got the start, but once the Knicks arrive, which should be next time out, his role should be reduced.
Dwight Powell– 8-3-1-0-1-2 on 3-of-5 shooting and 2-for-2 from the line. He was a hot add in the wake of the Porzingis trade, but he’s a mostly a blocks/rebounds specialist. Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith should eat into Powell’s value, and vice-vice-versa.
Larry Nance Jr.– 11-12-3-2-1-1 on 4-of-6 shooting and 3-of-5 shooting. Not sure what his minutes will look like once Tristan Thompson returns, but for now he’s easily worth owning for boards, FT%, and D stats.
Thaddeus Young– 1-11-9-4-3-0-0 on 5-of-14 shooting. He was playing his best ball with Victor Oladipo. His usage rate should be up, but I could see the FG% slightly dip. Still, he’s a great value on the year.
Bojan Bogdanovic– 3-31-7-1-1-0-1 on 13-of-19 shooting and 2-for-2 FTs. Another guy who could possibly benefit from Oladipo going down, Bojan’s scoring should be up at least.
Darren Collison– 2-20-2-6-1-0-3 on 8-of-14 shooting and 2-for-2 FTs. I’ve always been a fan of his, but I regret not adding him when he was putting up only low-end value. He has a chance to really put up some nice numbers the rest of the year.
Dwyane Wade– 3-21-6-4-0-1-1 on 7-of-15 shooting and 4-for-4 from the line in 27 minutes. He got named to the All-Star team as a special roster addition with Dirk Nowitzki, which I think is a great move by Adam Silver and the NBA. They’re both Hall of Famers who have meant so much to the game and this is just a classy move. Nights like this remind you of the good times.
Frank Jackson– 1-25-2-2-0-0-0 on 10-of-20 shooting and 4-for-4 from the line. Got the start and logged 42 minutes. I don’t know much about him, but 42 minutes is nothing to sneeze at. The Pelicans are a mess right now with the Anthony Davis situation, so he’s at least someone to monitor.
Rudy Gay– 3-17-8-3-1-0-2 on 6-of-10 shooting and 2-for-2 from the line. I’ve been singing his praises all year, and he’s having a renaissance. Rest and potential injury are the only things standing in his way of a huge bounce back year, and it will be interesting to see where he gets drafted next year if he stays healthy.
Brandon Ingram– 20-4-3-0-1-1 on 9-of-21 shooting and 2-for-2 FTs. I’ve been a hater, but this is one of his better games against the best team in the league.
Rajon Rondo– 1-12-8-11-1-0-4 on 5-of-14 shooting and 1-of-2 from the line. He’s been a nice source of dimes and is always a triple-double threat. His role should be slightly reduced once LeBron returns though.
DeMarcus Cousins– 1-18-10-4-0-2-1 on 5-of-15 shooting and 7-for-7 from the line. It looks like his minutes are still capped at 25, but he’s more than capable of producing in that time. If he ever gets fully unleashed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=god7hAPv8f0
Andre Iguodala– 3-17-3-4-1-1-0 on 7-of-9 shooting. Iggy always manages to put up low-end value even though he’s averaging 23.5 minutes per game, which is actually more than I thought.
John Collins– 2-35-16-2-0-1-2 on 13-of-20 shooting and 7-of-11 from the line. Well, he got one block at least… I said last year that this was the year to own him, and I should have taken my own advice. He’s scoring 9.2 PPG more than his rookie season. The D stats have disappeared though.
Trae Young– 4-27-7-8-0-0-4 on 9-of-21 shooting and 5-of-7 from the line. He looks to have figured it out a bit, averaging 26.8 PPG over his last five. Young is growing up right before our eyes!
Mikal Bridges– 5-20-4-2-3-0-3 on 7-of-10 shooting and 1-of-3 FTs. I could see him breaking out next year as well. He’s been a great source of 3’s and steals. He’s like a poor man’s Trevor Ariza, but the upside is there.
Josh Jackson– 1-25-2-2-3-1-0 on 10-of-15 shooting and 4-of-9 FTs. He can do a bit of everything, but his percentages are just too bad to warrant ownership. He’s got to fix at least one area of his game, whether it be cutting back on the turnovers or working on his free throws. He’ll never reach his full potential until he does one of those.
Devin Booker– 4-32-8-10-1-0-4 on 13-of-27 shooting and 2-of-3 FTs. Points and dimes with a lot of turnovers: Book it.
Kenneth Faried– 16-12-0-0-1-3 on 6-of-9 shooting and 4-for-4 from the line. He’s been really good since joining the Rockets. Obviously, once Clint Capela returns it will hurt his value, but for now just ride the Manimal.
James Harden– 4-43-12-5-6-4-5 on 12-of-22 shooting and 15-of-15 from the line. The ultra-rare double rainbow line! This line is just stupid… He’s a walking cheat code.
Gerald Green– 7-25-4-1-0-1-1 on 7-of-12 shooting and 4-of-5 from the line. He has not been playing well lately, and unfortunately for him, the Rockets will probably add someone at the deadline, and he could see his minutes dry up.
Donovan Mitchell– 2-26-6-9-1-0-5 on 7-of-24 shooting and 10-of-11 FTs. He’s been playing much better over the last month after a disappointing start to the season. Weeks and weeks ago, I called the Jazz the biggest disappointment in the NBA, and now they’re sitting in the 7th seed in the West. Mitchell’s improved play is a big part of their turnaround.
Joel Embiid– 29-17-2-1-4-4 on 9-of-24 shooting and 11-of-13 FTs. Stud. The only caveat to his game are the turnovers.
Jimmy Butler– 4-29-4-7-2-0-1 on 11-of-18 shooting and 3-for-3 from the line. Sometimes it’s good for fantasy when you have All-Star snubs on your team because they start playing with a chip on their shoulder.
Buddy Hield– 7-34-6-3-1-0-2 on 12-of-21 shooting and 3-of-4 from the line. Sitting at #4 in the league for 3-pointers made and is one of the most improved players of the year.
Marvin Bagley III– 14-13-1-1-0-3 on 7-of-16 shooting. He turns it over way too much, given his lack of assists and he’s a really bad free throw shooter, but if you need big man stats, it’s in the Bag.
