2016-17 NBA Team Previews: Minnesota Timberwolves

July 26, 2016 | Team Previews | 35 Comments

As we prepare for the 2016-17 Fantasy Basketball Season, I’ll be taking a look at each NBA team with their major adds and drops to see if we can pan for any surprise rotational gold. This open is especially witty for the Nuggets. We’ll be counting down from worst NBA regular season to the best, mainly because I’m still figuring out how to rank the Warriors…

Minnesota Timberwolves (29-53)

Wolves

Key Acquisitions:

G Kris Dunn (Rookie)

C Cole Aldrich

F/C Jordan Hill

G/F Brandon Rush

COACH TIBBY TIBS!

Key Losses:

G Kevin Martin

G Andre Miller

Mayyyyybe Kevin Garnett, which would dramatically drop their average age…

Wow, this is going to be one of the most similar looking teams from last year to this season, with their only overhaul at the head coaching position. And yet, I think they’re going to be a popular sleeper playoff pick after finishing 5th worst in the NBA last year.

The Wolves will presumably roll out the same starting 5 that ended 15-16, and it’s a mad fun team. Rubio with the passes, LaVine with dunks, KAT with the post game, Wiggins with the isos, Dieng with the D, lions and tigers and bears, OH MY! And they add into the fold another combo guard who easily looks ready for the NBA, not to mention the Summer League MVP. Plus some underrated vet backups to get this young crew through their run at making the playoffs. Here’s how their roster is shaping up:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Spring Six Pack

March 9, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 6 Comments

by: Matty

Winter might not officially end for another couple of weeks, but Spring looks to have sprung for us up here in the northeast. Temperatures are climbing, the last of the snow has melted, the pretty girls are starting to peel away their heavy winter apparel, and the Toronto Raptors are reminding Canadian hoops fans why it’s never a good idea to buy into the idea that “maybe this will be our year.”

You’d think after nearly blowing a 15-point lead to the Blazers on Friday, and then actually blowing it against the visiting Rockets on Sunday, my Raps would take out some of their frustrations on the woefully bad Brooklyn Nets…yeah, not so much. Thanks to getting outscored 35-14 in the 2nd quarter, they were down 16 at half…to the Nets. The 18-45 Nets. That Toronto came back to win on the strength of 48 points from their All-Star backcourt of Kyle Lowry (23) & DeMar DeRozan (25) is besides the point. These extended periods of disinterested play against inferior competition are what have caused their early playoff exits each of the past couple years and Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre was just the most recent example of the team failing to learn from their past mistakes. If history is any indication, there’s going to be a lot more where that came from…

Whatever. I’m preemptively upset about it happening again and I don’t want to talk about it anymore, alright? Let’s just move past it.

For variety’s sake, we’ll change up the format again this week and break down Tuesday’s six pack game-by-game with a focus on the noteworthy fantasy performers who are helping and hurting owners as the playoffs fast approach.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Elite Assist Sources Give You A Thursday Kick To The Groin

November 13, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 154 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

After a pretty quiet first week, we’re all the sudden getting ravaged by injuries and late DNP scratches. LET STEROIDS BE ALLOWED AGAIN DAMMIT! No one wants to see Austin Rivers start an NBA game… And then to top it off, the Clippers started a backcourt with daddy’s boy Austin alongside Pablo Prigioni… Who is certainly old enough to be Rivers’ daddy too…

But before that travesty in Phoenix, the Wolves decided to scratch Ricky Rubio after calling him probable. To be fair, it was probable they were going to get bludgeoned by the Warriors, then again they played Golden State pretty close… Mitchell probably thought this was a loss anyway, but who knows if Rubio would’ve made a difference over the Zach LaVine start and the out-of-nowhere minutes for Andre Miller. Then to just make assists even more a lost cause for fantasy owners, Chris Paul was suddenly questionable then ruled out with his groin strain. Maybe his groin injury is some sort of cosmic karma for punching Julius Hodge in the nuts when at Wake Forest… Isn’t cosmic karma an ice cream flavor…? Whatever, anything to keep me from saying groin again! There isn’t much of a fantasy spin on these frustrating-as-hell DNPs, other than Rubio indeed looked like a massive sell-high after that opener and CP-3 needs to re-nicknamed CP-DNP. Both will be managed and it will hurt their overall value, so if you can sell for per-start stats, I would. And just like the trend we’re seeing in all the other major sports, players will be managed through minor bumps and bruises, especially injury-prone and older players. LET STEROIDS BE ALLOWED AGAIN DAMMIT! Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Kemba Ditches His Walker

March 12, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 50 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

The tennis balls are off the legs, the HurryCane back in the closet, the pre-game meal eaten at 5:00 AM at the early bird special – we’ve got Kemba Walker back!

After a month and a half off, Walker came off the bench last night for the Hornets, and looked like Louis C.K.’s nethers. Rusty. 2-9 from the field for 6/1/2/0/1 with a TO in 16 minutes. While there’s no need to be harsh – we expected some rust after knee surgery – but Mo Williams played pretty well with 8 dimes and Gerald Henderson shocked the world with a career-high 11 assists. Ok, “shocked the world” may be a slight overstatement, I could say “it was so shocking it blew all his hair off!” It’s certainly interesting he had a previous career-high 9 dimes just last Sunday, so now there’s two facilitators to battle with. Makes me worried about Kemba’s assists upside, and he’s kinda looking like an Isaiah Canaan clone. Wait, I said I didn’t need to be harsh! That said, Kemba is healthy and has a lot more upside, so obviously worth owning everywhere. I just wouldn’t be shocked (unlike Hendo’s dimebag!) if he’s towards the end of the line if you’re killing Pts/3s and need to stream a stat at the end of week one of the playoffs… Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Fantasy Basketball Infirmary: Week 19 Injury Analysis

March 6, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 4 Comments

by: Peter Kap

For one week this season, it feels like there are more stars returning from injury than ones getting hurt. However, that won’t console those who saw their players were added to the injury list. So we’ll start with the bad news first.

All-Star Jimmy Butler suffered an elbow sprain in Sunday’s game and will miss the next 3-6 weeks. Fortunately the injury will not require surgery, but that still puts him out for most, if not all of March.

Joining Derrick Rose and Butler on the sideline, Taj Gibson is out with another ankle injury. Out since suffering the injury in Friday’s game, he’s no longer wearing a walking boot. Gibson has a history of ankle injuries so the Bulls’ may want to be extra cautious with him, but Gibson should be considered day-to-day going forward.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The Biggest Game-Changer In The Trade Deadline Didn’t Change Teams

March 4, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 33 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Who is the hottest team in the NBA right now? The Pacers are surprisingly playing well and OKC is still winning through injuries, but those Utah Jazz are as tough to score on as the bookish chicks in college!

5-1 since the trade deadline, the Jazz have wins against Portland, San Antonio and now Memphis in that span (their loss was against the Lakers, but we’ll overlook that), and other than that fluke Lakers game, no one has scored over 82 points. And we all know the key to the Jazz D is Rudy Gobert. Moving into the starting line-up, Gobert has been playing unreal with a 15/24/1/0/0 line last night on 6-10 FG and 3-4 FT. He was on a 6-game streak of 3+ blocks, so a random outlier of 0 last night isn’t a biggie especially since Marc Gasol loves his mid-range.

I’ve seen a few comments of owners looking to trade for FG% and a big man boost, and I would be all-in on trying to bring Rudy to those squads. Even his FT% is improving at 11-15 from the stripe the past 3! And the Jazz have that oh so saucy 4/4/4 playoff sched. Yesterday on the Podcast, I asked Slim if he would take Gobert or Hassan Whiteside first in next year’s drafts. It’s really really close and comes down to a points need (Whiteside) vs. steals need (Gobert). It’s crazy that probably the biggest value change during the deadline was just the stubborn Jazz finally unleashing the beast that is Gobert. Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Turn The Other Cheek

March 2, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 87 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Oh man, Russell Westbrook has turned into Oscar Robertson meets Michael Jordan! It’s like the first time you heard your favorite off-the-radar album, you’re like, “it sounds like Godspeed You! Black Emperor meets Between the Buried and Me on acid!” And right at the end of yet another tripdub with monster scoring Friday night (40/13/11), Andre Roberson pulled a Van Damme from Kickboxer and kneed the shizz outta RW’s face. Friggin’ Roberson and his fat knees! After the game, the fashion photographers were like, “Russell, show me your good side, no no the other way, give me Le Tigre! Ferrari! MAGNUM!”

Luckily facial reconstruction for face dents doesn’t include a long healing period; maybe they just went in under the skin and used a Pops A Dent! It’s been reported he could’ve even come back yesterday if it were the playoffs. I’d guess he’ll miss another game or two, but looks like we dodged a bullet. More like, Westbrook’s cheek caught the bullet, just it bounced off his Adamantium! Here’s what else went down over the weekend in fantasy basketball action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Fantasy Basketball Infirmary: Week 18 Injury Analysis

February 27, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 12 Comments

by: Peter Kap

Another week, another rash of injuries to some of the NBA’s top players. All-Star Chris Bosh was admitted into a hospital last week with flu-like symptoms. Unfortunately, his diagnosis was much worse than initially thought. On Friday, doctors diagnosed him with a blood clot in his lung and Bosh will miss the remainder of the season. Bosh is safe to drop in redraft leagues and isn’t the only player to have their season cut short to blood clots. Brooklyn Nets forward Mirza Teletovic also has blood clots in his lungs. Left untreated, blood clots can cause sudden death, like what happened to former-Trail Blazer Jerome Kersey.

Bosh is expected to be out of commission for at least six months, as he’s on blood thinners to address the blood clot. Blood thinners will make it easier for him to bleed, hence why he won’t be able to play contact basketball for a while.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

No Colly Makes Me No Jolly

February 27, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 68 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

First off – F this snow! Sorry about the delay with comments yesterday as my power was out almost the whole day and also claimed our Podcast. What did we do in a world without power?! Fantasy basketball would be mad, mad tough. Dr. Naismith’s Fantasy Peach Buckets League! Since we didn’t get to it on the Pod – be sure and check out the SideLeague app in the GooglePlay and App Store to play in their weekend contest starting tonight. Download the app now, and once you’ve set up your account, enter promo code RAZZBALL for $5 free dollars! And friend me “jb@680” so we can smack talk our squads!

Well, the late-season injury bug has become an all-out Mothra, with Darren Corrison having surgery on a core muscle and is likely out for the year with a re-evaluation in 3-6 weeks. With the Kings going nowhere, I highly doubt he comes back this year. Obviously droppable in all redrafts, it opens up monster playing time for Ray McCallum and grandpa Andre Miller. Of course Old Man Karl is keen to his fellow retirees, and has said Miller and Ray Mac will split minutes close to down the middle. Ray in for defense and Andre for O. Miller makes for an interesting add in 14ers if you’re looking for dimes and Ray for overall upside. But neither quite crack the 12er range unless streaming. Still would rather the “unconditioned” Isaiah Canaan or Aaron Brooks. Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy hoops action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Don’t Get Clipped On Saturday

February 21, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 26 Comments

by: danb

The all-star break has come and gone. For DFS purposes it seemed like an eternity. For me it was a nice break to step away and recharge batteries. Thursday was the NBA trade deadline and we seen a ton of movement. 39 players were traded. Now I’m not going to sit here and tell you who the winners and losers were cause I could care less. I will tell you it opens up opportunity for a lot of players for DFS and also takes the value away from a few players. When you are building your lineups make sure these players that were involved in a trade are playing for their new teams. This process can take a few days because of the amount of trades at one time and the players have to pass physicals. On Saturday we a small 5-game slate so let’s get on with it:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Fantasy Basketball Infirmary: Week 17 Injury Analysis

February 20, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 17 Comments

by: Peter Kap

Well, it finally happened. The New York Knicks shut down Carmelo Anthony for the season. The news isn’t surprising, especially after he went 6-20 in the All-Star Game on Sunday night. The East players tried their best to get Anthony the ball, but it was clear something was amiss with his jump shot.

On Thursday, Anthony had successful surgery to repair his patella tendon in his left knee. The initial recovery time is around 4-to-6 months, but more will be known about his timeline in the days after the surgery. He’s safe to drop in all redraft leagues.

As mentioned in previous injury posts, Tim Hardaway, Jr. and Langston Galloway become the primary beneficiaries on offense. Someone will have to take the shots that Anthony was accustomed to taking. When starting this season, Hardaway has averaged 14.6 ppg and 2.1 3PTM, while Galloway has averaged 11.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, and 3.0 apg. Readily available on the waiver wire (22% for Hardaway and 24% for Galloway in Yahoo leagues), these guys can become useful pickups for the playoff run.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Trade Deadline LIVE POST!

February 19, 2015 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 153 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

[We’ve got the Trade Deadline Podcast up! Slim and I react to all this hooblah as this post continues to be updated – you can find the Pod the post below this one as well as that link.]

Razzball Nation!

The Trade Deadline is nigh, which is to say, soon. Can I trade the start of this open with a different one…? “Did you hear the one about how the Hawks got nothing for the broke ass of Josh Smith last trade deadline?!” Imagine the Hawks with a lottery pick as well… I guess as fortune-tellers, they knew they didn’t need anything for Smoove!

The 2015 NBA Trade Deadline will pass at 3:00 PM EST, and up until the closing moments, I’ll be updating this post as each trade moves across my virtual news desk. Fantasy spins galore! That’s the younger sister of Pussy Galore… So be sure to constantly ping that refresh like Goldfinger on Kitco! Here’s what’s gone down so far:

Please, blog, may I have some more?