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The NBA season keeps rolling along and injuries are piling up, so Joel and Ossie discuss who stands to gain in the wake of the big blow to Paolo Banchero (spoiler: Jalen Suggs!), who’s making the most of the opportunities in Memphis and New Orleans, and why the full strength Warriors are a fantasy minefield. […]

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Draft season is over and the NBA marathon is underway! As expected, CJ McCollum is returning first-round value, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic look sharp while Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton scuffle, and Andrew Wiggins is outproducing Devin Booker. Pretty standard stuff, yeah? March and April are often called the “silly season” but the numbers […]

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Last night we saw the transition from Shaedon Sharpe the cool shiny gadget that’s just for show, to the I Gotta Have This In My Daily Life type of tool. 

With Anfernee Simons out 6 weeks [sad face] and Scoot Henderson injured mid-game, Sharpe took over with 25 points in the second half, scoring on all three levels and finishing with a 27-7-5-1-2 stat line (9-16 FG, 3-6 3PT, 8-10 FT). 

Sharpe has been hitting the glass early on this season, averaging nearly 6 per game (including several smooth offensive putbacks) and has 9 stocks in five games. I still need to see him continue to be aggressive, as the youngster tends to stand around and wait for his turn. If he can, this could be one of the better breakouts of the first couple months of the fantasy season. 

Here’s what else was noteworthy to me on another packed Wednesday slate, with some boring blowouts and a couple nail biters. 

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The Bergens are coming, AHHH. The Bergens are coming, AHHH. The Bergens are coming, AHHH. The Bergens are coming, AHHH. 

For those without kids, that’s Branch in “Trolls” overreacting because he’s scared of success (and friendship), just like so many fantasy basketball players will overreact to the first couple games, when regular bench rotations guys will be proclaimed breakouts of the season, and busts will be said to abound as the rust gets knocked off the boots. 

However, while we definitely don’t want to overreact, let’s remember: Branch ended up being right. You don’t want to be caught with that average penny stock and telling yourself, “any day now, it’s gunna go crazy!” [Checks portfolio, sighs with depression, gets back to basketball.] Keep an eye on minutes, rotations and usage more than the general stat lines in these early going. 

And with that piece of nonsensical advice, let’s get on with the show! Here’s what caught my eye in the 12 games of the unofficial official opening night in The Association.

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Welcome back to another round of NBA DFS! We have a really different kind of slate this Thursday with only two games. This slate is more similar to a playoff DFS type slate with very few options and lots of duplicate lineups. Odds are, a lot of tournament winnings will be split among multiple people with the top scoring lineup. There are only so many viable combinations you can make with two games. Since there are so few options, I’m going to break this down by price range only and give you a few options I like in each range.

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If you’ve been reading my NBA Wednesday fantasy recaps throughout the season, then you’ve probably noticed that I like to give a different team the focus each and every week. Gotta keep it fresh for you, right?

Well, this week I’m happy to finally land on the New Orleans Pelicans, one of the most interesting teams in the entire NBA. To me, the Pelicans are the No. 1 what if? team in the league. What if they could ever keep superstar Zion Williamson (hamstring this time) healthy? What if they could ever roll out their optimal starting lineup: C.J. McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Herbert Jones, Zion and Jonas Valanciunas? What if Jones (24 years old), Trey Murphy III (22) and Dyson Daniels (19) all happen to pan out? There are a lot of different ways things could potentially work out for these young Pelicans, but none of those ways have come to fruition just yet.

But Wednesday marked a step in the right direction, as the pesky Pelicans booked a huge 113-106 win over the reeling Dallas Mavericks. With the victory, New Orleans stayed a half-game ahead of the talented young Thunder for the final position in the West’s playoff ladder. Let’s dive in and take a closer look at Wednesday’s performances from a fantasy perspective.

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Can you tell that Joel Embiid is tired of coming in second? Because that was made extremely clear after last night’s performance in the battle between the top two MVP finalists the past two seasons. After being snubbed as an All-Star starter and barely being mentioned in the MVP conversation this season, Embiid had a near 50-20 game on the head of the reigning MVP and this year’s lead candidate, Nikola Jokic. Embiid took this matchup so personally that he finished in style, hitting a dagger jumper in the closing moments, followed by the infamous Michael Jordan shrug. Five other Sixers finished in double figures, including James Harden, who had 17 points and 13 rebounds, but last night was all about Embiid.

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The Magic have been everyone’s favorite fantasy outlet this season, from Bol Bol Euro-stepping into monster jams to Paolo Banchero compiling historic rookie numbers. The play of Franz Wagner has by no means been lost in all the excitement, but his games of late have been next level good. Over his last six games, he’s averaging 24 points on 55% shooting, 68.3 TS%, pitching in about 4 boards, 3 assists, a steal and 3 threes per game. 

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