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Brendan Kennealy highlights three fantasy basketball takeaways from the NBA's October 20th slate. This recap focuses on Trae Young, James Harden, and Montrezl Harrell.
Welcome to the RotoBaller NBA Recap. In this feature, we will highlight three fantasy basketball takeaways from last night's slate of NBA games.
Russell Westbrook made his season debut for the Oklahoma City Thunder, as he missed the first two games of the season (both losses) with knee inflammation, but the Thunder were still unable to notch their first win of the year with the Sacramento Kings beating them 131-to-120. Westbrook nearly finished with a triple-double with a final stat line of 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on an efficient 13-for-23 shooting night. De'Aaron Fox was a shining light on the Kings with yet another great night, finishing with 22 points and 10 assists. The Denver Nuggets knocked off the Golden State Warriors in a 100-to-98 win behind 28 points from sharpshooter Gary Harris. Fantasy God Nikola Jokic poured in 23 points while grabbing 11 boards and dishing out six assists as well. Stephen Curry continued his hot start with a 30 point performance, while Kevin Durant finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists.
Let's take a look at Sunday's fantasy recap.
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Trae Young Translating Well to NBA Action
The most exciting player from college basketball last year is hitting his stride in the NBA, and boy is he fun to watch. His first two games of the season were decent, as he came into Sunday's game averaging 17 points, seven assists, and four rebounds, but what he did against the Cavaliers was eye-opening, to say the least.
Young led the Hawks to their first win of the season with a 35-point game (six 3PM), while also dishing out 11 assists on 13-for-23 shooting. The Hawks offense clearly goes through this man, and if he can continue to produce at a level near this then his payoff from his ADP will be monumental.
Although the performance was quite impressive, you may want to take this game with a grain of as it was against the Cavaliers, who may be one of the NBA's worst defensive units. His ability to limit turnovers will be huge toward his ability to enter the upper-echelon of players, but his 11-to-1 assist to turnover ratio last night was a step in the right direction.
James Harden is a True Point Guard
With Chris Paul suspended two games for his involvement in the Rockets-Lakers fight on Saturday night, James Harden is back to running the point for the Rockets and he looks tremendous while doing so.
The defending NBA MVP has raced out to a great start to the season that is highlighted by his performance yesterday where he finished with 31 points and a season-high 14 assists, which sits only three assists shy of his career-high. His ceiling is as high as anyone in the fantasy landscape, as he finished with this stat line on a night he shot just 4-for-12 from the three-point line.
With Paul in the lineup, Harden is still able to set up his own shot with his ball-handling abilities, but his potential to fill the stat sheet goes through the roof whenever Paul is out of the rotation. The Rockets are back in action on Wednesday against a tough defense in the Jazz, but Harden should still have no problem putting up a line similar to Sunday's.
Can Montrezl Harrell Continue Bench Production?
After a slow first couple games of the season, Harrell had his coming out party on Sunday with a 17 point and 10 rebound game in 24 minutes off the Clippers bench. He was 8-for-10 from the field and was swarming on the defensive side of the ball as he finished with three blocks and a steal too.
Tobias Harris and Danilo Gallinari are the only two frontcourt members of the team ahead of Harrell in the rotation with the departure of DeAndre Jordan. Harrell has the potential to approach the 30-minute mark if either Harris or Gallinari get injured, or simply get in foul trouble in a game.
As of now, Harrell is a great streaming option on nights where you are looking to fill out your roster. If Harris or Gallinari do go down with an injury, Harrell is your guy to snag off of the waiver wire to help bolster your frontcourt. Harrell's per 36 stats are stellar, as he would average 19.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 blocks. All that is needed is the opportunity for minutes, and the potential is definitely there for him.
