It is not yet 2026 in most places, but nevertheless I will wish you preemptively a Happy New Year with health, great memories and lots of whatever makes you happy!
Besides the obvious talking point of last week which is the injury scare that Nikola Jokic gave us, we had a moment of real scuffle in the NBA, which seems rarer and rarer as the seasons go on.
Besides the brave Alvarado throwing a punch to Mark Williams, who is almost twice his size, I was amused by Jordan Poole’s reaction, as you can see in the video. Perhaps he was having flashbacks from his Golden State Warriors days and a certain practice with Draymond Green…
Regarding last week’s suggestions, Egor Denim had an excellent game with 7 triples and is gaining momentum, while Brook Lopez has provided triples and blocks, albeit in a more mediocre rate than expected. Finally, Precious Achiuwa royally sat the bed with the opportunity presented and Ausar Thompson did nothing to help his case by playing 16, 24 and 22 minutes in the last games.
Buy
Jonas Valanciunas: The whole basketball world and me personally held our collective breaths when Nikola Jokic exited the game against Miami limping with a left knee injury but the basketball gods were kind and he will be sidelined only around a month with a hyperextended knee. In the meantime Jonas Valanciunas will hold the fort and while he can not obviously provide the same value as the Joker, he can be a solid source of big man stats without hurting your ft% (26% owned).
Ayo Dosunmu: Chicago saw both Josh Giddey and Coby White exit the game against Minnesota with injuries that should keep them sidelined for at least a few games so Ayo Dosumnu’s minutes and usage is bound to increase in the short term. He is not a flashy fantasy contributor but someone has do the playmaking in their absences so give him a look of the waiver wire (18% owned). Tre Jones is also always an option when the Bulls are shorthanded, but he is far less available in competitive leagues (20% owned).
Isaiah Stewart: Another suggestion due to injury, this time to Tobias Harris. Stewart should get more minutes sans Tobias and has shown great blocking rate this year, along with good rebounding and percentages. He is a streaming play for this week, with the only downside having only 1 game until Saturday (20% owned).
Sell
Andrew Wiggins: Wiggins is taking full advantage of Tyler Herro missing time and has become the main offensive outlet for Miami, averaging 21.7 points during the last week with crazy efficiency and top tier defensive contributions. Add to that that he is having an excellent year overall and you can easily see why this stretch can be considered an opportunity to try and trade him for someone that has a more proven track record of top50 fantasy finishes.
8 minutes before my trade of Bey and Maxime for Powell was to execute, it got vetoed. Ugh. Our league requires only three votes so that blows. Powell’s big game did not help.
I may take another stab. Would Gillespie and Maxime for Powell be good for me but fairish?
I hate those kind of vetoes and 3 votes are too few. What if it is done by competitors? A vetoe should be reserved for collusion or blatantly unfair trades, which this one was not.
Bey also had great games this week. I also like the trade with Gillespie, still good for you I think and keeping Bey around to see if he can keep it up is a bonus.