2016-17 NBA Team Previews: New Orleans Pelicans

August 8, 2016 | Team Previews | 9 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…

New Orleans Pelicans (30-52)

Pelicans

Key Acquisitions:

G Buddy Hield (Rookie)

F Terrence Jones

G E’Twaun Moore

G/F Solomon Hill

G Langston Galloway

F/C Cheick Diallo (Rookie)

Key Losses:

F/C Ryan Anderson

G Eric Gordon

G Norris Cole

F Luke Babbitt

G Toney Douglas

The Athletic Trainers are the SAME?!?!? Totally should be a key loss…

The team of injuries… That’s the team Terrence Jones goes to… SMH…

It’s a pretty boring off-season for Nawleans. They lose some meh vets, but don’t really bring in anything that special, particularly in youthful excitement. I mean, Buddy Hield isn’t even a year younger than Brow… And despite some people’s love in Hield, I think he’s just an average starter. I wish they had done a little more to surround Brow as he enters his 5-year deal through 2021… But what do I know?! Here’s how their roster is coming together:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Making It RainbOlapio! …and the 7 Ahead

March 21, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 87 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Welcome to the semis! Hopefully your week 1 matchup of the playoffs didn’t go as badly as most of mine… And with a mix of my awful bracket in the Razzball Bracket Challenge, who’s ready for baseball season?! Haha, I keed, I’m still alive in a few leagues and still have my-Heels-as-champ pick alive and well.

And just like the Hoosiers – one of virtually all the teams in the Sweet Sixteen I got wrong – Victor Oladipo went ham over the weekend, including living up the RainbOladipo nickname for 45/5/3/3/2 against the Cavs Friday night. Shot an unreal 16-22 FG including banging 6 treys. With a game like that, I would’ve expected the Magic to BEAT the Cavs! But then again, they’re coached by Scott Skiles… SKIIIIIIIILES! Oladipo kept it up last night for 21/6/3/0/2, giving him 7 straight games with blocks and multi-blocks in the last 4. Better shot blocker than Serge right now! In per-game, Oladipo is still only ranked 45th (42nd in total) according to BBMonster, so he’s still finishing right at my pre-season rank. If only this team was coached by someone else, I would be going Eric Bledsoe-nuts for this guy in my 16-17 ranks. Scott Skiles – ruining basketball one player at a time… Here’s what else went down over the weekend in fantasy hoops action, plus The 7 Ahead for week 20 and the semi-finals of standard league H2H playoffs:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Lob City Live From Houston

March 17, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 4 Comments

by: Peter Kap

Lob City was alive in well in Houston on Wednesday. Chris Paul was throwing DeAndre Jordan alley-oops left and right. By halftime, Paul already had 11 assists. He finished the blowout with 15 points and 16 assists, while Jordan added 23 points and 16 rebounds. Jordan even shot over 50% from the FT line (7-13 FT, but not by much!). J.J. Redick also knocked down 5-9 from the 3PT line to finish with 25 points. It was all Clippers from the beginning and the Rockets just couldn’t find an answer.

James Harden did his usual thing, trying to carry the disappointing Rockets, but it wasn’t enough. He finished with 33 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. Big men Dwight Howard (6 points, 7 rebounds) and Clint Capela (3 points, 3 rebounds) were rendered useless against Jordan. The only other bright spots for the Rockets were Trevor Ariza (16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 threes) and newly acquired forward, Michael Beasley, who scored 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds off the bench. Coming over from China, Beasley makes a good waiver wire add for all teams.

The Rockets started the season with lofty expectations, but are currently tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the 7^th playoff spot. If they finish 7^th or 8^th, they’ll end up playing the San Antonio Spurs or Golden State Warriors in the first round of playoffs, something that nobody wants to do.

The Warriors, by the way, won their 50^th straight game at home on Wednesday, dismantling the New York Knicks by 36. Stephen Curry hit 8 threes and scored 34 points (6 rebounds and 4 assists), before sitting out the 4^th quarter of the blowout.

I don’t think anyone saw the Warriors playing on an historic level or the Rockets playing this poorly at the beginning of the season, but that’s why you play the game!

Now onto the other nightly notables:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The Playoffs Are Here! …and the 7 Ahead

March 14, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 45 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

It’s hard going into the fantasy playoffs without thinking of that cliche soundbit over and over… I feel like the dude from Pi trying to write an open to this, the drill is plugged in!

But seriously, if you’re still reading at this point in the season, there’s a 95% chance you’re in the fantasy playoffs or in the running to win your Roto league. The other 5% of you… I love you. Thanks for reading until the bitter end!

As with the advice you’ll see anywhere, now is the time to move on from anything that isn’t nailed down, no more stashing unless you have a bye, and it’s week-to-week, all-hands-on-deck (can-I-come-up-with-any-more-linked-together-phrases?!) here on out. I’m all over the place with emotions right now, I can’t focus on a succinct open! I shocked the world by winning the reg. season of the Slim vs. JB RCL, got another playoff berth in the REL, UNCW (my alma mater) is playing in-state rival and a buncha-crooks Duke, just had my first epic fantasy baseball draft… There’s so much going on! And with March Madness obviously cutting into our basketball time, don’t sleep on your fantasy hoops postseason and start partyin’ it up like James Harden when your season is on the line. I don’t care about getting my 14 over 3 upset, I need to get to the semis! So stay locked and loaded, don’t let the NCAA Cinderellas these first 2 rounds distract you, and let’s go out and bring home the bacon. Here’s what went down over the weekend in fantasy hoops action, plus The 7 Ahead for Week 20 – the first week of the playoffs for standard H2H leagues:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

RazzWired: The Key To Winning

March 10, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 25 Comments

by: Adam

ricky-bobby-if-you-aint-first-e1303710617483

Wassup Razzballians!!

We’ve finally hit the stretch run in fantasy basketball! This is the point where you need every player on your team to be productive. Now, I promised the key to winning, in the title, so I suppose I should give some kind of helpful advice…

The key to all fantasy sports is to not be attached to your players. You can build a juggernaut with this philosophy: Everyone is available for the right price. When it comes to playoff time, it is important to cut injured and unproductive players. I don’t care who they are or how high you drafted them. At this point, it’s all about minutes and production. Sure, you may get unlucky, and the player breaks out of his slump as soon as you drop him. Thankfully, this isn’t that likely.

If you’re in a competitive league, cruising to a title is highly unlikely. I’ve learned this through years of experience. Even if your team appears to be stacked, it is very important to not take anything for granted. If you can cut a player to guarantee yourself a win in the current round, then do it. It’s time to put the pedal to the metal and make the ballsy move.

With that in mind, this week’s edition of RazzWired will feature players who are poised for big minutes and solid roles down the stretch.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Robo-Butler …and the 7 Ahead

March 7, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 73 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Do-you-want-s’more?

That was the last time I saw a Butler as mechanical as Jimmy Butler… “He’s more machine now, than man!” Well, that was more a bartender, but ya know… Godzilla returned from a pretty scary knee injury faster than I thought, going 24/11/6/1/0 in 34 minutes Saturday night exactly a month after “straining” his knee. I’m sorry, when I hear nonspecificity with a knee injury, it’s scarier to me than realizing Deebo from Friday would lead our presidential candidates right now. “WHY THE HELL IS IT EATING ALL THE SATELLITES!?” Future came sooner than we thought on that one… Focus, JB! Aziz, light! Godzilla did have some warts with the 5 TO and fouling out (actually the first time he’s fouled out in his career!), but when you’re a lizard-beast born from nuclear winter, it’s tough to have a blemish free outing! I preached caution in trying to buy Buckets low, so hopefully you were bolder than me. More daring. Basically let’s hope you treated this like a giant Dorito, while I was a tasteless vegan vegetable straw. Here’s what else went down over the weekend in fantasy hoops action, plus The 7 Ahead for week 19 (last week of the regular season!!!!):

Please, blog, may I have some more?

RazzWired: Droppin Dimes

March 3, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 18 Comments

by: Adam

state-farm-droppin-dimes-featuring-damian-lillard-kevin-love-large-2

We’ve reached the point in the season where we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of picks. At this point, most pickups will be targeting specific stats, so this edition will feature some of the solid guards that are still available in many leagues. I needed a title for this week, and the Lillard/Love ad refused to leave my head… Seemed like a good fit, so I went with it!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The Spurs Feel Right At Home

March 3, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 4 Comments

by: Peter Kap

It’s unusual for teams to be clinching playoff spots this early in the season. The Warriors are on a historic pace to challenge the ’95-96 Bulls for the best single-season record in NBA history, at 72-10.

Because of this, the Spurs are flying under the radar, something that they seem to do every season. By beating the Pistons on Wednesday, the Spurs improved their home winning streak to 29 games and are now 51-9 on the season. That’s 17 straight 50+ win seasons. Absolutely incredible.

Marcus Morris (16 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists) the oldest Pistons’ starter was 8 years old when Tim Duncan (12 points and 8 rebounds) made his debut. And when Duncan is ready to call it a career, he has two young studs to continue the Spurs’ legacy: LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard.

Just like David Robinson and Duncan, Aldridge has played nicely along with Duncan. He grabbed a double-double against the Pistons with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. Meanwhile, the reigning Finals’ MVP, Leonard, posted a 27/6/5 line with 2 steals.

While the Warriors have a shot at 72-10, both the Warriors and Spurs are still a ways away from matching the Bulls’ record of 44 straight wins at home.

Now onto the other nightly notables:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Mirza ThrAGNOFovic

February 26, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 100 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Like Radiohead’s Kid A album, we need to start off this morning with a reminder that even ThrAGNOFs can get Everything In Its Right Place treatment. Often ridiculed, thrown garbage at, excommunicated like lepers, they pretty much mope around like they’re listening to Radiohead… Even ThrAGNOFs are people too!

Just look at our conversation during the Pod yesterday. Slim hates on Mirza being a ThrAGNOF, I say he’s the only real consistent PF, and Slim has to begrudgingly agree. We say “Threes ain’t got no face” not because they have no existential meaning and are The Plague on Camus’s fantasy team, but because a player that hit 3s/scores/low TO are often overrated by the metrics. Last night, Mirza went 30/11/1/0/0, hitting 12-23 FG with 5 treys against his former Nets. Now, he didn’t have the normal low TO (4), but he grabs more boards than your typical wing ThrAGNOF, and brings it at an out-of-position PF spot. In the 4 games since the deadline, ThrAGNOFovic is 20.5/7.3/1.5 with 3.5 treys a game. He’s owned in all of my RCLs, but he’s still only 39% owned across the Yahoo-verse and still available in several leagues. Of course if you don’t need scoring and 3s, you’re not missing on too much, and his production is easily replaceable if he gets cold. But while hot, you gotta ride your ThrAGNOFs! Here’s what else went down in fantasy hoops action last night:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Changing Of The (Point) Guard

February 24, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 29 Comments

by: Matty

The season-long fantasy wasteland that is the Utah Jazz starting point guard spot saw a change to its depth chart on Tuesday night. New addition Shelvin Mack was tossed in with the first group after looking really good in his first game with the Jazz on Sunday. His promotion meant that Raul Neto was bench bound, a move that quite frankly would have been made several weeks ago had Utah actually featured a healthy, professional quality point guard on their roster prior to the trade deadline. One quick look at Neto’s game log from this season and you’ll see that he’s achieved fairly modest benchmarks quite infrequently:

Double-digit scoring – nine times
Five or more assists – seven times
Five or more rebounds – zero times (!)
Three or more combined 3s/steals/blocks – 16 times
Double-digit FGAs+FTAs – eight times

Those numbers come after having played in 55 games and averaging over 20 MPG, so they’re even more pathetic than they look at first blush. The usage wasn’t there for Raulzinho (yep, that is his full given name) and neither was anything resembling roster-worthy fantasy production.

Enter Shelvin Mack, he of former Atlanta Hawks fame. Well, the “fame” part was mostly lacking as he was never truly unleashed by Coach Bud and the Hawks organization. After a largely forgettable three-year stint as a backup combo guard, Mack held seasonal high water marks of just 7.5 PPG, 3.7 APG, 2.2 RPG, and 0.8 SPG (all during the 2013-2014 campaign where he saw 20.5 MPG across 73 games). However, in his two games sporting a Jazz uniform and having had very little time to learn the offensive system and intricacies of his teammates’ games, Mack has already posted lines of 16/3/6/0/1 (in his debut off the bench) and 17/1/2/1/0 in his first starting gig last night.

It’s easy to see that Mack is worth a pickup as the complementary stats are sure to follow once he’s fully integrated into the Utah system. He may never be a top-50 player with several other capable ball-handlers on the roster (Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood currently, and Alec Burks within the next couple weeks once he returns from injury), but it’s clear that Mack no longer belongs on any fantasy waiver wires as he looks to have a stranglehold on the starting PG job. If you haven’t already, go pick him up.

Here’s what else happened on a five-game Tuesday in the NBA…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The Duchess Going On Break In Style!

February 12, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 29 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

When you’re The Duchess K Middleton, you don’t go on scrubby vacations. None of that beach hotel with bratty kids running around and sand in the halls, none of those rickety cruise ships where the power goes out and you have to poo in plastic bags… I’m talking huge! Like Disneyland completely rented out only for the family! Sledding down glaciers in Antarctica! Hanging out with baller celebs at The Razzball Basketball Office!

As is always the case, our commenters are absolute gold. Joe mentioned the trend of Khris Middleton‘s poor play with Jason Kidd the coach, and I also ran with it looking at the numbers in a FantasyPros piece on second-half expectations. Now, it’s not really that The Duchess is playing that poor, but ROS rankers had him 36th overall. Seemed a little rich – not quite Kate Middleton rich – but like, Queen Latifah rich. Using the ol’ copy-and-paste: “Since Jan. 26, Middleton has shot only 33% from the field with a 3.6:3.6 AST:TO ratio (I guess I could’ve simplified that to 1:1!) in 7 games. Given, it’s a pretty small sample, but in the 17 games immediately prior to when Kidd was out, Middleton shot 50% with a 5.0:2.5 AST:TO ratio (I mean 2:1!). And then the chunk at the beginning of the season until Kidd’s hip gave out, dimes were at 3.4 and he shot 39.9%.” I agree it could be statistical noise, but Kidd has had several “are you effing KIDDing me?!” moments with his line-ups. Luckily The Duchess ended the first half on a high note, going 27/6/9/5/0 with only 2 TO and shooting 9-17. Kidd must’ve just been not paying attention! Too busy rubbing his bald head like foreplay with Mr. Clean. It’s a great finale to an otherwise rough February, and maybe It’s Much Ado About Nothing. Which just seems British, I dunno… And you wanna know who else is heading into this ASB strong?! ME! And well, the NBA by only having two games… So a slightly shorter Daily Notes, since we’re all ready to actually pay our families some attention with the NBA off until next Thursday (that is, except for the All-Star events!). Here’s what else went down last night in Fantasy Hoops action:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Daily Notes: All-Star Snubs Edition

February 11, 2016 | Fantasy Basketball Daily Notes | 8 Comments

by: Peter Kap

With any All-Star list, it’s impossible to include everyone who is having a great year. There are only 12 roster spots and there will always be well-deserving candidates that just don’t fit on the roster. It’s what makes the All-Star selection so noteworthy.

With the All-Star Game this weekend, here is my list of valuable fantasy all-stars who just don’t receive as much love:

Eastern Conference:

Kemba Walker – The Hornets are right in the hunt for the 8^th playoff seed in the east and that’s due to the play of Walker. Al Jefferson and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (more on him later) have missed most of the season, while Nicolas Batum (11/6/5) has been in and out of the lineup. Walker produces night in and night out with whoever is playing alongside him. Walker scored 25 points with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals to lead the Hornets to another victory.

Nikola Vucevic – Vucci Mane has been the cornerstone of the Magic and has single-handedly won the game for them with a few recent game-winners. He did much of the same on Wednesday with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. He’s only 25 so there’s still time for him to make the roster one of these years.

Please, blog, may I have some more?