Oh man, a busy day yesterday in hoops! The obvious first mention is GO HEELS! Oh man, I feel like storming the court today. I think Chapel Hill fans everywhere this morning should storm their office/classroom/crowded area in a flash mob at some point. Then we have LeBron James getting his nose broken by Serge A Broke-a! The mayor of Cleveland has already issued Serge Ibaka a key to the city. Fine LeBron $5,000 for flopping! Man, the next round of internet videos of “LeBroning” are going to be a lot more like “The Knockout Game”. Seriously, even LeBron haters have to love he got it broke a step or two out before throwing it down. Word still to come if the nose is indeed broken, but my money is on yes. Regardless, we’ve seen a few players come back from a broken nose in the same game donning the Hannibal mask, so I doubt he misses any time after passing concussion tests last night. MaskBron! And then we had the trade deadline come and go, with nothing too major albeit a few surprises. I’m starting a bit off the reservation with a guy I’m going to pump hard and is a pickup now in 12-teamers. Lord Byron Mullens! After trading their former starting 5 which we’ll get in below, it’s Mullens and Arnett Moultrie manning down the C fort in the abandon ship Sixers front line, with Mullens picked up for draft picks. I know Mullens is boring, but he was usable while with the Bobcats posting a 10.6/6.4/1.5/0.6/0.6 line with 1.2 treys in 27 minutes a game in 12-13. His sub-40 FG% blew, sure, but he’s a perimeter shooter who can play decent D so I think he will get run. He’s a lot better than Moultire in my opinion and I think will get big minutes. And I don’t know why, maybe it’s because he looks so goofy or maybe because he’s been in the league 5 years, but Mullens is actually only 25 when I thought he might be 30. For a team tanking, he’s a perfect acquisition to help rack up points to try and fill maybe 2 more seats a night in Philly. “Thanks for coming Mr. and Mrs. Mullens!” Here’s what else went down yesterday, starting with NBA deadline deals:
Pacers Get: Evan Turner, Lavoy Allen
Sixers Get: Danny Granger
Huge improvement for the Pacers. Granger may start on the tanking Sixers, but I am not making any sort of effort to get him on my team in most leagues. So injury prone, so inconsistent, doesn’t fit the youth/tanking plans. And there’s also the possibility he gets bought out of his contract. Granger falling from fantasy near-eliteness to bought out by a tanking team in only a few years. Rough. I guess his value gets a nudge upwards, but marginally. Turner gets a shove downwards. Will come off the bench to be an upgrade as a wing defender over old-legs Granger. Cutting Turner in virtually all leagues. Hey my hate of Evan Turner came true!
Cavs Get: Spencer Hawes
Sixers Get: Earl Clark (already cut), Henry Sims
Starting with the Sixers, Clark was way too small to play the 5 anyway and has already been cut, and I guess you have to throw Sims in with the mix of Moultrie and Mullens. I still think Mullens can take off with the job though. Burying the lead! Spencer Hawes started extremely hot this year, cooled off a little, and now is frozen in a probable bench role. BUT! Haste favors nigh the wicked. “Um, what?” Slim’s Pickens yesterday got me in the Ole English mood. Hold Hawes for right now as Anderson Varejao is still hurt. Hawes will probably slide right into the starting line-up until the Sideshow is back, so I’d wait for now. And hey, maybe he has a big debut and you can pull a fast one on your league’s patsy.
Wiz Get: Andre Miller
Nugs Get: Jan Vesely
Sixers Get: Eric Maynor
Hmmm. Not much of a takeaway here. Maynor has shown some flashes, so maybe a little worried about my late-season Tony Wroten love. But Wroten has shown a lot more, so still sticking with Wroten as a stash in the playoffs.
Raptors Get: Nando De Colo
Spurs Get: Austin Daye
Main takeaway – Austin Daye is still in the NBA?! Sucks for Nando. I really like Nando after coming back into a game after breaking his nose. I think this is a tiny nudge of confidence that Tony Parker is fine. And confidence in Patty Mills and Cory Joseph.
Bob C’s Get: Gary Neal, Luke Ridnour
Bucks Get: Ramon Sessions, Jeff Adrien
Hey, at least Neal might get to the playoffs! Sessions gets a downgrade in the move out of Charlotte. We all know I love Brandon Knight (despite what happened to him yesterday – below) and have warmed up to Nate Wolters, and while Sessions should see similar minutes, it’s not going to consistent enough to warrant any fantasy confidence. Neal and Ridnour are obviously below Kemba Walker who is playing great. So just a dual-headed vet backup vs. one vet backup.
Kings Get: Roger Mason
Meh. Shrug.
Hawks Get: Antawn Jamison
This I think has a little bit of an impact. Mostly in that it hurts deeper leaguers who have Mike Scott. Which is really unfortunate. Another shooting 3/4 combo and I think he’s actually going to get some run. Makes me sad thinking Scott gets even less run… I love Scott… Even though his tattoos are… wow. And apparently they’re supposed to be Emoji tattoos….
Glen Davis – That’s it for trades, but after no trade of the Big Baby, Orlando bought him out. It’s rumored the Clippers make sense and I agree. Baby and Doc! Would obviously be a backup role. Cuttable in virtually all leagues. They can now go Jameer Nelson, Victor Oladipo, Arron Afflalo, Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic as the starting 5. Makes the most sense to me and gets RainbOladipo back into the minutes he deserves.
Russell Westbrook – He’s back! Well, sorta. 4-12 16/5/2/3/0 isn’t exactly vintage Westbrook. But to the pessimist to the pit! I’m gonna have fun with faux-Ole English today… 8-10 at the stripe in only 24 minutes and looked really healthy at the eye level. Slashing to the hoop, getting to the line, that had me very encouraged in this return.
Dwyane Wade – Remember a few weeks ago when a lot of people were asking if they should cut him? I said no! Hold and hope. 24/7/10/3/0 in a huge line.
Reggie Jackson – 37 minutes and went multi-cat, but 9/3/5/2/1 with 3 TOs is kinda bleh. Westbrook looked good and their minutes will flip-flop. I’m fine losing Jackson.
Brandon Knight – The showerstep is fraught with peril! Cut his heel in the shower and missed last night. Are you just absolutely friggin’ kidding me!? The Bucks are such a circus. Welcome to the circus Sessions!
Nate Wolters – Another start, but plays much better with Knight on the floor. 12/2/5/0/0 without a trey. Still on the fringes of 12-team though.
O.J. Mayo – Does anyone really care that he’s back? 11/3/0/0/0 and a trey. Light Mayo. Non-fat Mayo. Non-dairy Mayo.
Khris Middleton – The dutchess K Middleton is frozen! 2-9 6/1/1/0/0 in an ugly start. While…
Giannis Antetokounmpo – …played well and rainbowed! 11/4/4/2/3 without a TO in 32 minutes. Has at least 1 in each 5 cats the past three and I’m about ready to dive into the alphabet soup again.
Ty Lawson – Still out with the fractured rib while Randy Foye started and got another dimebag. Sell, sell, sell Foye.
Evan Fournier – 7/5/3/0/0 in 27 underwhelming Virgin minutes. Lawson sounds like he’s close, so the Virgin is about to get Virginized yet again.
Kenneth Faried – Ersan Ilyasova is a joke on defense. 14 of Faried’s 15 shots were within 5 feet of the basket?! Yikes. 26/6/2/1/0 shooting 11-15. Don’t look now, but 20+ points in two straight! New scoring champ on the horizon!
James Harden – Hyperextended his elbow. Didn’t slow him down from staying in the game and throwing up 39 points. Thine elbow is thusly nay important! 39/4/5/1/0 with three treys.
Terrence Jones – Ugly betty. 1-7 for 3/6/0/0/0 in 18 minutes. In 15 Omer Asik went 6/5/2/1/1 in a Turkish Delight sort of line, but I’m still sticking with Jones a little longer. Might float a fell buy lows.
Draymond Green – Still underrated. Only 12 minutes last night but was in foul trouble. 4/2/3/1/2 almost rainbowing in 12 minutes. The Warriors really don’t want Jermaine O’Neal to play 37 minutes again while Andrew Bogut is out, so I see Green getting back to the 20s and helping out 14-teamers. #OccupyDraymondGreen!
Steve Blake – Debuted for the Warriors and didn’t do anything. No surprise there.
Klay Thompson – Such a ThrAGNOF. No surprise there.
Have a good weekend Razzball Nation! Good to be back in the swing of things for the stretch run. May thou weekends hath fantasy glory!
