RADIO
Can you believe that we're already seven weeks deep into the NBA season? It's wild. A wise man once said,"'time flies when you're having fun." But in this case, a more appropriate quote may read '"time flies when you are obsessively fixated on tweaking your roster while dealing with unlimited injuries and trying to figure out who to stream on a daily basis." That's more like it. Oh, and while I was typing this, Jalen Duren just sprained his ankle again and Daniel Gafford took a trip back to the locker room. Some things never change.
Week 7 was the most peculiar week in fantasy basketball history in lieu of the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament taking place. It was tricky, but if you stayed the course and streamed the right guys, it should have resulted in an easy victory. With the IST (In-Season Tournament) in the rearview, it's time to take a look back at some interesting trends from the previous week. The hope is that these trends -- positive and negative -- can be a valuable resource when managing your roster.
Without further ado, let's dive right into this week's edition of my weekly column -- Three Things I Like And Don't Like.
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Three Things I LIKE
Dante Exum Is Kind Of A Thing?
Be honest, you forgot Exum existed over the last couple of years, didn't you? It's alright if you did, there's still time to get back on the train. Jokes aside Exum has been quite impressive over the last two games for the Dallas Mavericks. After playing sparingly to open the year, injuries have thrust him into a larger role. He played 26 minutes in Wednesday's victory over the lowly Jazz and while he shot poorly, he dished out seven assists, grabbed six rebounds, and nabbed two steals. And because he won't be a 20% shooter every night, he went off for 23 points, seven assists, and six rebounds on 60% shooting in Friday's win over the Blazers. His 33 minutes in that contest marked a season-high and that might stick for the foreseeable future with Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, and Grant Williams all remaining out.
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The Mavericks play four games in Week 8, including on Tuesday, which is tied with Sunday for the lightest slate of the week. Exum represents a terrific streaming option in all 12-team and up leagues and may even hold some long-term streaming value if his impressive play continues. All in all, it's been nice to see him play well after a few years out of the league.
Detroit Pistons Conspiracy Theories
I've talked enough junk about Monty Williams on here, so I'm not about to go down that rabbit hole again. What I will say, however, is that an ankle injury to Jalen Duren that will sideline him for at least two weeks may not give Williams a choice but to give big roles back to one - or both - of Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson. Think about it like this: Duren is out. His direct backup, Marvin Bailey, is doubtful with a back injury. With Bojan Bogdanovic back in the lineup, Williams could very well shift Isaiah Stewart to center and Bogdanovic to power forward, leaving room for one of Thompson or Ivey to slide into the starting wing spot. Am I the only one who feels like a madman trying to formulate conspiracy theories to let Thompson see more minutes? I swear it all makes sense in my head.
Ultimately, this is Monty Williams we are talking about here, so don't be surprised to see James Wiseman feature as the starting center with Duren and Bagley sidelined. Honestly, there is a part of me that hopes he does do that to watch NBA Twitter (or NBA X?) crash and burn. In the event that my theory is correct, it would be worth your time to go scour the waiver wire and see if a disgruntled manager dropped either Ivey or Thompson. It both are out there, I'd prefer to stash Thompson over Ivey, but both could be high-upside players in Week 8 if they are let loose.
Not Patrick Williams Again
I swore I wouldn't do it. I told myself I was done with Patrick Williams after he lost his starting spot to Torrey Craig. But, here I go again. To Williams' credit, he's been terrific over the last handful of games and it appears that he's finally making the most of an increased role with Zach LaVine out. I swear, every single time LaVine or DeMar DeRozan would miss time in the past, Williams would always flop. But this time is different and it's worth highlighting.
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Over the last eight contests, Williams is boasting averages of 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.0 blocks, and 1.6 threes on 55% from the field in just under 32 minutes a night. Now, I know these numbers don't jump off the page, but for Williams, it's solid stuff. These averages have buoyed Williams as a top 100 player over the last two weeks according to Basketball Monster.
What I love most about his recent play is that he's been consistent, which has been a knock on his game since he entered the league. He is dealing with some ankle soreness but is probable to play on Monday and the Bulls have a favorable schedule this week. For whatever reason, Williams is under 50% rostered on Yahoo leagues, so RUN to waivers and see if he's available. With Zach LaVine's days in Chicago seemingly numbered, Williams could end up being worth much more than a short-term stream for the duration of the season.
Three Things I DON'T LIKE
Jarrett Allen's Shot Blocking
We all know Allen's start to the season was a little iffy after it was delayed due to an ankle injury suffered in training camp. And while he hasn't been horrible, Allen has certainly left a lot to be desired, especially on the defensive end. Throughout his six-year career, Allen has been viewed as one of the best rim-protecting bigs in the league. As a matter of fact, he's never averaged less than 1.2 blocks per game in a season, and that includes his rookie year in which he played 20 minutes a night. This season, his numbers are down across the board. It could very well have something to do with playing alongside Evan Mobley, but what matters in fantasy basketball is the output. He's down to a career-low 1.0 blocks this season and only has two games with more than two blocked shots.
To add insult to injury, Allen failed to record a single block in Week 7. It was already a weird week, and if you trotted someone like Allen out into your fantasy lineup, zero blocks from a shot-blocking center across three games can really put you behind the eight-ball in a jiffy. With Mobley set to miss his second consecutive game with left knee soreness, perhaps Allen can enjoy a stretch of dominant basketball to help get back on track.
The San Antonio Ferris Wheel
There was so much excitement surrounding the Spurs heading into the season, and rightfully so. Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell exist, Zach Collins was going to start, Jeremy Sochan was the point guard. The list was endless. But throughout the first quarter of the season, they have sort of become a nightmare team when it comes to fantasy basketball. First, Vassell got hurt and when he returned, Gregg Popovich used him off the bench in favor of Malaki Branham because that makes a ton of sense. That trend lasted for a couple of weeks until Wednesday's slate during Week 7. Vassell, along with Cedi Osman were both inserted into the starting lineup in favor of Branham and Sochan. Meanwhile, the team's true point guard, Tre Jones remains on the bench. As if it couldn't get any weirder, Popovich mixed it up again on Friday, this time swapping Sochan back in the starting lineup for Collins. Make it make sense.
Spurs lineup is weird again. Sochan back at PG, Branham starting, and Zach Collins benched. I would hold Collins and I wouldn't rush to add Sochan.
— Josh Lloyd (@redrock_bball) December 8, 2023
The Spurs are experimenting. There isn't pressure to win a ton of games in Year One of the Wemby experiment, so Pop is going to trot out whatever lineup tickles his fancy. While the experiment is interesting, it's brutal for fantasy managers. With so many moving parts and more changes on the horizon, here's where I stand: Collins is absolutely a hold, but Sochan can be dropped and streamed in favorable spots.
Sitting outside the top 230, Sochan was already teetering on droppable status before the Pop games, so he can officially be thrown out. As for Jones, I'm not adding him yet, but he's someone to keep a close eye on. If he starts at any point and sees 30+ minutes a night, he's worth adding in 12-team and up leagues. When it comes to the Spurs, for now, let's just sit back, relax, and watch Wemby play basketball.
The Pelicans Usage Dilemma
Let me start off by saying I really enjoy when the Pelicans are good at basketball. They've built a team full of talented players, and exciting personalities, and, um, Trey Murphy exists. But when it comes to fantasy hoops, this team is an absolute nightmare. They run a near 10-man rotation on any given night now that C.J. McCollum, Jose Alvarado, and Murphy are back in the lineup, leading to a changing of the guard in most games. This means you'd be better off drawing straws than attempting to guess which one of McCollum, Brandon Ingram, or Zion Williamson will dominate the stat sheet. This dilemma has taken a toll not only on the consistency of these guys but their place in the Per Game rankings.
Zion is outside the top 170 (mainly due to poor free throw shooting) and Ingram is outside the top 100. McCollum has enjoyed the most success from a rankings standpoint, sitting at 22, but he also just missed a chunk of games over the last couple of weeks. Now, rankings don't tell the whole story and Zion is much more valuable than 174, but the point is that a team this deep has the ability to cap fantasy upside and consistency. While Zion has had some monster games, he's averaged a mere 10 shots per game throughout December. And for a guy who isn't known to produce a whole lot in the peripherals, this isn't great.
The Pelicans are a great team to target when streaming if there are injuries that occur, but if I roster any of the main guys I would be looking to cash out at the top after some big games.
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