So ya know, sometimes it’s good to be late to the party. Ya get to seem like you had a lot of more important shizz to do, if it’s lame it won’t matter as much if you dipset early… If only that principle worked in fantasy analysis!
After a fantastic weekend, the buzz to go and grab Terrence Jones was like a hot party right in its peak. “New York’s hottest new club is JELLY BONES! Located on the Lower Upper Side, this random home invasion is the creation of legally drunk clothing designer Nick Nolte and Gabana. As you walk in, you’ll be handed a glass of champagne – or is it piss?” With the Rockets hesitancy to stretch him out, adding Josh Smith back in the day, and the return of Dwight Howard at some point, I was like, “F that shizz, sounds like a lame sausage party!” But Houston put TJones in the starting line-up last night, and he went straight Nolte for 15/15/0/1/2 making 6-9 FG. He’s kinda looked like what the optimistic Kenneth Faried backers were hoping for! Plus he can hit threes! Now a must-own in all leagues, and I certainly would be dropping Manimal for him. That said, when Dwight is back, it might not be as rockin’ as JELLY BONES at midnight. It could be another month before Dwight is out there though, so TJones my Jelly Bones! Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy NBA action:
Isaiah Canaan – Well, maybe the Sixers are just so bad and disjunct that no PG is ever going to be a nice dimer. The shockwaves of Iverson! Indie band name idea… 11/1/3/0/0, but at least the 3 treys…
Nerlens Noel – Captain N is bringing out the wompin’ stick! 18/7/2/0/4 with no TO and hit 8-10 FT. While he’s been ballin’ and I am not discounting it…
Hassan Whiteside – …looked tired. Had a decent enough game for 12/14 making 5-8 FG, but no other stats and 2-4 FT. He’s so friggin’ big and throws his body in every rebounding opportunity that I am a tad worried he might be getting worn down. I’m not changing my value of him, but not expecting huge block outbursts as much as before watching this game.
Luol Deng – Looked good hitting 11-14 FG and 4-5 3PTM. Hadn’t scored 20 points the previous 8 games. Maybe a tad more upside with Chris Bosh out for the year, but not going out and trading for him.
Goran Dragic – The dragon was beastly last night! 23/2/10/2/0 hitting 9-14 FG. That said, it was against the Sixers who are starting a PG that was just in the D-League. Canaan black balled!
Lou Williams – While yes, on the surface it looked ThrAGNOFfy only scoring 9 points on 1-8 shooting, but keeps up the high volume FT (6-7) with another 2 steals. I love my Lou!
James Johnson – After that spike in the D stats the past two games, 15/5/1/0/1 as I cautioned the D stats will be inconsistent. That said, started, hit 7-10 FG and hit another trey. Low-end usability with night-to-night upside.
Alexis Ajinca – Came off the bench in favor of Dante Cunningham for the open void of PF minutes, but Ajinca still got 27 minutes for 16/9/2/0/1. Had 5 TO though… “These short people keep stealing it from me!”
Norris Cole – Had a solid night with a 15/1/6/1/0 line hitting 7-11 from the field. Meh, I don’t think he does too much and I expect the stats to flattop.
Milwaukee Bucks – Geez, they look absolutely dreadful. 71 points last night, 34% shooting, 16 AST:10 TO as a team. I honestly think they might miss the playoffs pulling that Knight trade. I know Michael Carter-Williams hasn’t debuted yet, but the chemistry didn’t look great – given against a tough defensive team on the road in Chitown.
Tony Snell – “Ohhhhhh, what’s that Snell?!” Snell is on fiyah! 20/2/0/1/1 hitting 7-11 FG (4-6 3PTM 2-2 FT). How many times have I talked Snell up the past two years?! That said, no Kirk Hinrich (late scratch with illness) and Mike Dunleavy didn’t play well/much. I love Snell, but I don’t think the minutes will be consistent. Please be a starter somewhere next year! Oh wait, he’s signed through 16-17… Please get rid of Dunleavy and Hinrich next year!
Nikola Mirotic – Another Bull that gets ignored way too often by the Bulls, No Minutes Mirotic got the run last night! 31 mins for 16/14/1/1/2 with a pair of treys. Like Snell, no Taj Gibson helped open er up. Taj also out with illness, so he and Hinrich can’t split hotel rooms on road trips anymore…
Andrew Wiggins – Best player in that game against Houston last night! Well, second best… 12-24 FG 30/6/1/1/1. He’s so good…
Adreian Payne – Here’s me yesterday! “…we should see an interesting bench rotation tonight and I think it’s Adreian Payne time!” That’s me quoting me! And Flip actually started him! Cue the hate mail, Gorgui Dieng owners… Payne for 11/10/0/0/1 hitting a trey in 29 minutes, but shot 4-15 FG and 2-4 FT. They did the shotclock camera on one of his FT, and he stands a little bit off-center! Weird… Anyway, deepers should give Major Payne a look and Dieng owners still got a nice 7/14/4/1/1 line. We can all live in harmony!
James Harden – Ham alert! Dude, greatest idea for a viral video idea. You sneak up on someone while someone else films, and you throw one of those giant whole hams at them and yell, “HAM ALERT!” Maybe it can be for heart disease awareness or high cholesterol or something like the ice bucket challenge… 31/11/10/1/4 and busting out the swatting gloves on top of the tripdub! Toss in the usual awesome FT (12-15) and 5 treys, and baby you got an MVP stew goin!
Thaddeus Young – Ugh, another game, and another appearance off the bench while the horrible Mason Plumlee keeps starting. Plum for 14/5/0/0/0 with 2 TO in 16 minutes, but still only 24 minutes for Young off the bench. Thad the Impaler went 15/5/1/2/1 with a trey and should get more and more minutes as we move on.
Deron Williams – Another solid game with Jarrett Jack out as the Nets dismantled the Nugs. 16/5/12, and the poster child for a sell high right now.
Markel Brown – What the fracking?! 45 minutes?! A rainbow line?! What in the wide world of sports?!?!?! 10/11/2/2/4, setting career marks in everything but the dimes. When Jack is back he’ll steal some G minutes and Bojan Bogdanovic sat with a kankle, so even in the deepest leagues there’s not too much to do with this.
Kenneth Faried – Roadkill. He did hurt his hand, but I’m not picking him up off the side of the road.
Danilo Gallinari – About the only Nug to show up for 22/2/1/2/0 hitting 3 treys. Seems a little ThrAGNOFfy still…
Will Barton – Given it was a blowout, but I’ve always liked Barton and he got 21 minutes of 15/4/1 with a trey while Randy Foye played only 20 minutes with a bluuuuuuccucckckck line. Foye is not yo boy.
Joffrey Lauvergne – Is it bad that I think Sansa is hot? Tangent, I know… Anyway, King Joffrey of France for 0/9/2/2/0 in his second game, missing all 6 shots from the field. That said, has range, the ability to hit all stats and is 6’11. Kinda like Giannis-lite. But def not going there… Wait I did just go there… I shouldn’t have gone there! The Nuggets are so bad, maybe Joffrey gets deep-league usable minutes.
Brandon Knight – Still doesn’t look quite like the Bucks Knight, but 20/1/4 and 4 treys is still mighty usable. I think things will get better, and played 34 minutes getting his first start there in PHO. Also, I think the assists will still be there as he played some backup PG when E-Bled sat here and there.
Eric Bledsoe – Speaking of E-Bled, 21/7/10/2/1 with a couple of treys. Ham alert! Gonna be huge with that excess fat trimmed off the G depth. But don’t trim too much fat off that ham!
Alex Len – 32 minutes of 10/12/0/0/6 hitting 5-7 FG. Turning into such a beast. I love tooting my own horn, we all know this, so lemme toot again! Look at that only person ranking him… I ate my magical beans for breakfast!
Isaiah Thomas – Ham alert! Went off on his old team for 21/1/7 and 3 treys on his old team’s home court. Ham on that Mr. Pizza! Marcus Smart started, but only played 24 minutes and IT2 is showing off how much better he is.
Jae Crowder – The Boston Clam Crowder had one of his best games in green (well, Boston green not Dallas green… I’m too lazy to pull up his Dallas game logs, OK?!) for 12/7/4/2/0 and no TO, with all points coming on 4 treys. Has played almost 60 minutes the past two games, and maybe with Jared Sullinger out of the picture, he can find some consistency in backup 3/4 minutes. A little interested in deepers.
Avery Bradley – Going nuts lately, with a 23/4/3/6/0 line last night. Racked up 13 steals the last 3 games and 20+ points in each one. Most important Brad involved with the Celtics, that’s for sure!
Kawhi Leonard – Ya know, Pop is a legend and all, but playing your stud 25 minutes and and only playing Tim Duncan more (28 minutes) in a 13-deep rotation while losing at Utah is just not a recipe for success right now. I don’t get the low minutes while Kawhi looked pretty good (8/4/3/3/1 – did hit only 2-5 FT and had 3 TO, but still), so it’s another game the Sours (I typoed that, too funny to fix) deserved to lose. Get your shizz together Pop, play your stud the minutes and win some games!
Danny Green – I mean, the Spurs played last Friday and don’t play tonight, I don’t get the minutes at all… Just 20 for 2/7/0/0/0 with 3 TO, maybe it was a coaching moment, but they champions?! Good buy low.
Rudy Gobert – Seems like he’s about to be a perennial Defensive Player of the Year guy. 7/14/1/2/3 and another team held to absurdly low points. Game changer!
Joe Ingles – Mr. Fundamental! Missed a few games with injury, but back to starting and went 10/3/3/3/0 last night with 2 treys. Deep leaguers could do worse!
Chris Paul – With no Blake, yes another ham alert! 30/4/10/2/2 in a nasty rainbow hitting two treys. Trying to do it all! But the Clips were still short…
Spencer Hawes – It’s nothing too special, but 9/1/2/0/3 with no TO and a trey is semi-usable. Samurai Spence is more like So So Spence…
Streamers/Cheap Daily League Picks:
Al-Farouq Aminu (10% owned) – With Chandler Parsons out a few more games with a kankle, Aminu should have upside for close to 30 minutes and bring some nice defensive stats in a physical game. He was horrible last time out, but I could see a bounce back.
Devin Harris (12% owned) – There are Slim Pickens on the wire for tonight, so I’m sticking with the Mavs and sticking with how bad Rajon Rondo has been playing. He also struggled against the Hornets, but had a fairly nice roll the 3 before that.
I hope everyone got off a nice start back into the full week schedule, and thanks for stopping by Razzball Nation!
