A little potpourri for today’s introduction of things around the association that caught my interest from last week, starting with the usual unpleasant surprise of the level of refereeing in some games, like this instance from Memphis vs Portland.
Even if we ignore the fact the foul was committed right in front of them, it is abysmal that with the ball going out of play they just hand the ball to the inbounder and let play continue for an easy 4 on 5 dunk at the other end. You can borderline hear the foul, you don’t even need to be able to see it in this instance…
Moving to something lighter, it is always interesting to listen to player thoughts on other players, especially in more informal settings than the usual press conferences. Here is a clip of Jaylen Brown on Twitch talking about Scottie Barnes and his strength
I will refrain from commenting on this one, no reason to get canceled for the sins of a guy with a painted hairline.
Regarding last week’s suggestions, except for the Bulls guys who ended up missing games due to injuries, both Kevin Porter Jr and Jay Huff had excellent weeks and are must roster players until further notice, so I hope you capitalized. On the Sell front, John Collins continued being mediocre at best and the Clippers keep on losing, so I see no reason to roster him in standard leagues.
Buy
Neemias Queta: During my usual rounds in the ownership statistics of Yahoo, I stumbled upon the 38% ownership of Neemias Queta and it was obvious to me that he had to be mentioned here. 8.2 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 66% shooting from the field and a 74 per game rank makes him an obvious must roster, so make sure he is not available in any league.
Anthony Black: Just as Paolo Banchero returned and things were looking bleak for Black’s playing time, Franz Wagner went down with a nasty injury so he should be able to hold onto his 30 minute role for the foreseeable future. He bring elite defense with an excellent steals rate, along with above average rerbounds and assists so if your team can take the fg% hit, he is worth a look in standard leagues (31% owned).
Kyle Filipowski: Despite a rather uninspiring start to the season, recent injuries and blowouts have increased Filipowski’s playing time and he has responded with top65 value in the last 2 weeks. More veteran rest and more blowouts are obviously in the cards for Utah, so it is not a bad idea to give him a chance and see if he can keep averaging 30 minutes per night on the rebuilding Jazz (23% owned).
Sell
Cam Johnson: The offseason trade to practically swap Michael Porter Jr with Cam Johnson has not worked out well for the latter’s fantasy value and despite the absences of both Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun, his usage remains alarmingly low at 15.1. You can hold for the guaranteed minutes and the occasional hot shooting night, but the truth is that things will only get worse as the Nuggets get healthy again and his only positive category is triples, which can easily be found by streaming from the available free agents (77% owned).
