With an ADP of 68.6 in drafts all the way back in 2014, Jimmy Butler has been an absolute revelation and made all his fantasy owners rich with value. “Butler, I need some extra steals! A couple more blocks! Some artisan cheese!” And the trusty ol’ Butler would always deliver.
Unfortunately, all that caviar and pancetta piled on that silver serving plate really wore down the Butler’s elbow, and Jimmy Buckets is going to miss 3-4 weeks. Hey, on the bright side this is the NBA and not a year-long pitcher injury! So the billion dollar question – to drop or not to drop JB? Well don’t drop me! I’d try to hold where I could. I’d much rather have JB at the end of my bench than stashes of Kemba Walker or Paul George. Even in 10ers, I think I’d probably hold on as most Jimmy Buckets teams are doing pretty well.
In his stead, the vastly improved Tony Snell should get the tiger’s share of minutes. He’s greeeeeeeeeat! I don’t think he’s a must-own in even 12ers though, since he’s a semi-ThrAGNOF with steals upside. Not that I don’t like him! But I would say a little better FG%/FT% version of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The real interesting addition to me is Nikola Mirotic, who should get a lot of run while Taj Gibson is out at least another week. And with Butler gone, maybe he gets a handful of SF minutes here and there, even though it hasn’t gone that well when experimenting with that before… But experiments take a lot of tries before they go right! Here’s what else I saw last night in fantasy basketball action:
DeMar DeRozan – I think if you’re a scorer and play against the Sixers, you should have a -15 handicap. At least I think that’s how handicaps work, I don’t know golf! 12-24 FG (1-3 3PTM 10-10 FT) 35/9/5/2/0. What did Kate Upton say to Justin Verlander? DD came to play!
Greivis Vasquez – A decent enough fill-in for 12/1/5 with a couple of treys, but Vasquez took only 8 shots and non-DeRozan starters combined for only 17 attempts. Go bench! Kyle Lowry might sit a few more, so if you streamed Vasquez and are desperate for PG stats, I’d hold the Twerp.
Patrick Patterson – I feel like he’s right on the rim of ownership in 12 and 14ers, as he’s one of the most common commenter questions. He’s boring, but can hit the cats and keeps the ball safe. He’s like a fantasy mother hen. 15/4/3/0/1 last night on 6-10 FG (2-4 3PTM 1-1 FT).
Isaiah Canaan – Hit his 4 treys, but otherwise was a mad-empty 14/1/3/0/0. At least comitted no TO, but had some moments of struggling D. Besides hitting the long ball…
Ish Smith – …looked much better. MUCH BETTER! Whoa, how did I remember an Amanda Bynes show reference… I remember her shows better than she does! Now I sound mad creepy… The fiance put it on a few years ago, I swear! 19/5/9/0/0 on 8-13 FG (1-2 3PTM 2-3) and can do so much more. Easily the PG to own in Philly. Other than hit triples, he’s better in every facet of the game than Canaan and out-minuted him again 27 to 25.
Jakarr Sampson – Rainbow alert! 7/3/4/2/3 and is a pretty athletic player and defender, but with no Jason Richardson (old) or Robert Covington (British), got 21 minutes. As the starter…
Nerlens Noel – So it’s like the ugly friend theory. With Covington out, there is absolutely no future starters on the Sixers, and most are D-Leaguers. So it makes Noel look like an MVP candidate! 7-7 FG (3-4 FT) 17/7/3/2/1 and legit did look really good out there. When he’s matchup up on PFs instead of C next year (Joel Embiid = twin towers commence!), I think he can maintain this mad run he’s on in a more natural position.
Hassan Whiteside – The Dolphins could use another middle linebacker, amiright?! Awesome fight between 7-footers as Whiteside got kinda hit in the face when dunking, kinda came down hard on Alex Len, Len threw him off, then Whiteside piledriver FTW! Whiteside still racked up a 17/10/0/2/2 in 26 minutes before getting ejected with Len. Wouldn’t be surprising to see Whiteside get a 1-game ban from the long dick of Adam Silver’s law.
Goran Dragic – Revenge is best served with Dragons! Or something cooler sounding… An unreal 21/4/1/1/0 hitting 5-9 FG (2-2 3PTM 9-9 FT) given he barely could play with back spasms and only went for 15 minutes. He said he wouldn’t have played against anyone else, but proves a 50% healthy Dragic on another team is worse than having a 100% unhappy Dragic on your team.
Michael Beasley – Hmmm, fairly Beasley-ish 12/6/1/1/1 and he could do that if he plays 26 minutes a night like yesterday. Worth a look in deepers.
Tyler Johnson – Less believing in Ty-Jo! 26/1/1/4/0, but hitting 10-13 FG (3-3 3PTM 3-3 FT) is flukier hot than 60 degrees after snowstorms all last week!
Brandon Knight – “Is that a hip pointer, or are you just happy to see me?!” 13/1/7/1/1 and luckily didn’t miss any time after coming out early on Saturday. The 5 TO and 3-12 shooting is no bueno, but the nice dimes and a 5-6 FT after coming off an injury shows there’s still some of that Milwaukee-Knight magic out there.
P.J. Tucker – Hey P.J., know your range! 8-13 FG, but 1-6 3PTM as he made all his 2-pointers. 20/14/3, but his low %s make him tough to label as a must-own. The steals are nice though!
Andrew Bogut – The Hot Australian! 8-10 FG 16/8/0/0/3 in a huge night after almost getting rested. No taming this stallion! Actually had been brutal until last night, so yeah, meh.
Festus Ezeli – Exactly what we needed! The C and backup PF minutes for the Warriors to have YET ANOTHER guy crack the rotation! 14/8/0/0/1 on 4-6 FG and 6-7 FT in 15 out-of-nowhere minutes. Makes all of these schlubs even harder to own.
Mason Plumlee – Another start with disappoint minutes, going 7/7/1/2/0 in only 22 mins. Shot 3-7 FG and that brutal 1-4 FT. He’s more cuttable than Edward Scissorhands! Brook Lopez came off the bench, and led the Nets in shots with 22 FGA in 26 minutes.
Jarrett Jack – Still getting decent run at 28 minutes, but a pretty boring 9/1/5 with a trey. Still rather Jack over the 76ers guys, but definitely harder to roster in 10-teamers these days. Deron Williams held his own with his held-together-by-glue ankles for 22/4/4 and 4 treys, but playing another 34 minutes gives me no optimism he’ll stay healthy for the duration.
Thaddeus Young – Should be playing so much more than 25 minutes off the bench! Then again, the Nets beat the Warriors and are playing well, and The Impaler’s 14/4/4/2/0 will do. That’ll do, Thad, that’ll do…
Ricky Rubio – Ay, ay, ay, Ricky es en fuego! 4th career tripdub for 18/12/11/1/0 hitting 5-11 FG with a trey and 5-7 FT. Pretty good game against Chris Paul! I remember having to be pretty steadfast in recommending Rubio a hold everywhere, and to the patients go the spoils! Sounds like a crazy doctor’s bumper sticker…
Gary Neal – Posted a nice 19/9/4 line getting the start with no Kevin Martin. Neal or No Neal! I’ll lean no Neal.
Gorgui Dieng – Started for the kankled Pek, and went 10/11/0/1/2 in a tough matchup against DeAndre Jordan. Pretty solid for all yas on the Dieng Train!
Zach LaVine – Very encouraging 22 bench minutes going 14/3/4 on 5-9 shooting and 3-4 FT. I bet he’d be doing some mad work if he was on the Sixers!
Jordan Hamilton – Got a spot start with Matt Barnes (hammy) and Jamal Crawford (calf) out (it’s like barnyard animal injury day!), but didn’t do much for 10/3/1 and a couple of treys. That said, in the deepest of deepers where you can stream, ThrAGNOF if both oldies are out again!
Alexis Ajinca – The Hot Frenchman! We’re going full circle with the import centers! 13/12/1/1/1 on 6-9 FG and continuing to play out of his mind off the Pels bench. Or should I say, off the Pels roost. Do Pelicans roost? I need to get briefed on Pelicans…
Norris Cole – What in the world?! 19 points off the bench for 19/1/3/0/1 playing a whopping 36 minutes. I certainly did not expect this massive of a role. How could they just forget about Jimmer Fredette?!?!?! I jest, but still did not expect this kind of run, although he’s sorta become a ThrAGNOF.
Rajon Rondo – Whoa, look at Shooty McGoo over here! 9-15 FG for 19/5/2 with 3 TO. All-in-all, the way Rondo’s season has gone, you’ll take it! Crazy that Dallas scored 102 points on 11, count em, 11 team assists. Rondo’s 2 tied a team-high! They also had only 5 team TO. Long live hero ball!
James Harden – Suspended one game for kicking King James’ crown jewels. Hey-O!
Streamers/Cheap Daily League Picks:
Ray McCallum (8% owned) – Ray Mac has been playing pretty well since taking over starting PG duties, with 16 AST to 4 TO the past 4 games. If there’s any matchup to fully expect great things, it would be tonight at the Poppycockers.
Nikola Mirotic (28% owned) – I’m going against my normal mantra, in that I think Mirotic is a medium-term hold. That said, still out there in way too many leagues and I love the upside for tonight against a Wizards team that’s been brutal lately.
I hope everyone had a nice start to their week, and we’ll see you tomorrow Razzball Nation!
