Wooo, preseason is here! We finally get to see players on the court, thennnn, pretty much immediately we have season-ending injuries… Just let athletes take steroids again, eesh! Tired of this nonsense!
In literally the second game of the preseason, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist slipped on just a routine perimeter dribble and dislocated his shoulder. It looked like he might’ve slipped on some sweat, those are some slacking Magic ball boys! Then after an MRI yesterday, it revealed a torn labrum (true story, it had a red underline underneath “labrum” which had me being sure I spelled it right, and the suggested fix was labium) and he’ll likely need season-ending surgery. Yikes. Tough shakes for the Hornets who just invested $52 mil over 4 years in the guy (THAT’S MORE THAN MONTA ELLIS!), and have nothing great to fill-in SF minutes. Well, I guess technically SG minutes, as Nicolas Batum should slot back to SF as the Hornets hodgepodge their SG. Jeremy Lin had a nice 17/2/7 debut in that first game on Saturday, but followed it up with 10/3/1 and 4 TO on Sunday. Jeremy Lamb scored 16 in the debut and got the start Sunday, only to shoot 2-11 in 25 yawnstipating minutes. P.J. Hairston also got a start Sunday as Batum got that game off, and shot 1-7 missing all 5 treys. Then there’s also Marvin Williams, who has reportedly lost weight and was rumored to get SF minutes back in July, but he figures to be more of a Batum backup or a small stretch-4 like last year. I really don’t like any of these guys, and none of them vault into the draftable range for me in 12ers. I guess in deepers I’d grab Lin first, but meh. The only actionable impact for me is MKG’s 15-16 death. “This guy here is dead!” “Well cross him off then!” Here’s what else has happened through the first few nights of preseason as we prepare for the 2015-16 Fantasy Basketball season:
Joffrey Lauvergne – Let’s start our preseason daily notes with an irrelevant player! Haha, I keed, the toolsy, tall PF/C slash Italian dish started strong going 16/11 shooting 7-10 from the field. Didn’t really do much else though… It’s a vegetarian lasagna!
Will Barton – I’ve always been a fan of his, and had a game high 13 boards against the Clippers. Yes, even with DeAndre Jordan playing more minutes. More just a fun stat oddity, Barton is no more than a backup wing who boards.
Gary Harris – Played 29 minutes in the opener, and the only interesting thing he did was swipe 4 steals. It’s possible he works his way into the starting SG role, but it would be a pretty low-minutes opportunity.
Nikola Jokic – With everyone’s favorite Jamba Jus still out and possibly missing games to start the year, Jokic could find a role and went 14/8/0/1/1 on 6-8 shooting in 23 minutes. The Nugs started the ghost of J.J. Hickson, who looked ghastly shooting 1-7 with 3 TO and was out of shape. Although Jokic fouled out in his 23 minutes… Yikes, this is going to be a bad position until Nurk is close to 100%. Stream your fringy bigs against the Nuggets early!
Emmanuel Mudiay – Way to bury the lead for the Nugs! The stat line was MCW-esque, but he at least looked like an NBA player out there. 5-18 FG (blehhhh) and 8 TO (explosive diarrhea of the dribble). Still outside my top-100.
Victor Oladipo – Shined for 16/5/3/1/0 shooting 6-8 FG (1-1 3PTM 3-3 FT) with no TO. Just remember, after MKG went down, Lin was likely playing a little D on him. And by little D, I mean a lil D!
Andrew Nicholson – The king of the flat foot jumper, Nicholson shocked with a 23/8/2 line shooting 9-14. Since he’s not known as a defender, I’m pretty sure Skiles doesn’t know his name…
Frank Kaminsky – Frank was stank in his debut (7/4/0/0/1 with 3 TO in under 10 minutes), but was much better against the Heat for 9/11/3. All his points came on treys, but he shot 3-11. Meh.
Paul George – Said he was “uncomfortable” after playing PF. Hey PG13, why don’t you shut your stinkin’ trap and make this a fantasy-friendly offense already, mmmkkk?! No one wants to see a team starting Jordan Hill at PF! Although, maybe they could start Turner at PF if George keeps whining… In that case, PF isn’t for you PG13, tell them how you feel!
Myles Turner – Speaking of my rookie nookie, did some good in his debut (6 boards and 2 blocks) in 15 minutes, but also some bad (0-5 FG 3-6 FT). Don’t let the FT mislead you, he’s a good freebie shooter. Seeing two swats already gives me some rankings premature validation. Also leads to O face.
Ian Mahinmi – Well, the Pacers somehow got 16 swats against the Pels, with Mahinmi swatting 4. I’m still really, really disinterested, but I guess he’s worth a top-200 rank in my next update. Turner is such a better player.
George Hill – Rainbow alert! Preseason’s first rainbow line. 11/4/3/2/3. Yes, 3 blocks for Hill. I guess I REALLY prematurely validated for Turner in this block-fest, I should see a doctor about my sensitivity…
Chris Bosh – In RCLs, he seems to fall crazy low, including my RCL league where I got him outside the top-50. He looked great Sunday night though, hitting 6-11 FG for 14/7/2 in 23 minutes. The more he plays in preseason, the more accurately I see him getting drafted around 35ish.
Kyle Lowry – Man, he looks tiny out there… If only the weight he lost could be added to his height! Looked unreal scoring 26 in 21 minutes, but the Clips played Friday night before this Sunday one and I bet Chris Paul was in coast mode. Also, all of Lowry’s lost fat means a harder landing when he goes to the floor – doesn’t help his injury risk!
Raul Neto – Wooooo, Slim is gonna hear it on today’s Podcast! 2/2/6/4/1 in 20 minutes, and on a team that emphasizes defense and needs facilitating on offense, it just makes so much sense to start him and bring Trey “Sure, I don’t mind shooting it every touch” Burke off the bench. Something to monitor through the remainder of preseason.
Julius Randle – Nice to see him back out there, and a decent 7/7/0/1/1 line in his debut, albeit shooting 2-10. I just hope Byron Scott didn’t tell the team to break a leg in his pre-game speech.
D’Angelo Russell – Still looks raw for 5/3/3/1/0 on 2-8 shooting. But hey, only 2 TO! That’s something like 7 less than his Summer League average!
Meyers Leonard – Rolled his ankle last night off Boogie’s fat foot. “Hey, let me land when I take jumpers, you big tree!” Doesn’t sound too serious, he should be OK.
C.J. McCollum – Started and was reportedly rushing, shooting only 2-11. I’m pretty sure Stotts needs to have the locker room motto read “Pump the brakes, pass it to Lillard”.
Ed Davis – Sigh… Comes off the bench, and then does what he does – 5/6/1/1/1 in 19 minutes. Let him start and play 30 already!
Marco Belinelli – Scored 32 last night, but should’ve had a handful more… 12-18 FG (4-10 3PTM), but only 4-8 FT. If he was still on the Spurs, Pop would’ve benched him for missing FT even in the first preseason game…
Darren Collison – First dimebag of the preseason! 24/1/10/4/0, and the backcourt of Colly/Belli looked much better than Rondo/Ben Mac…
Willie Cauley-Stein – Out of shape arriving at camp, but had a nice debut last night for 6/5/0/0/1 on 3-5 shooting. I still think it’ll be a while before he’s a 30 MPG guy.
Draymond Green – 5/6/5/1/0 with a trey in his first 24 minutes of preseason. It’s like nothing changes! #OccupyDraymondGreen baby!
Nik Stauskas – Ruh roh. Same stress reaction in his leg that has taken chunks of time from Bradley Beal and Jrue Holiday. The Sauce Castillo needs a little more density! Hopefully they can mix a little corn starch into his bones…
I hope everyone is enjoying some live NBA action to over-analyze before the season! Remember to not read too much into the big performances, and just be happy hoops is back! Happy draft season, Razzball Nation!
