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Welcome to the RotoBaller NBA Recap. In this feature, we will highlight a few key fantasy basketball takeaways from the games played during the past week. These viewpoints can be both positive and negative and will hopefully help to provide insight into different roster moves you should consider making.
Fantasy basketball has a lot of moving pieces with all the different scoring settings that are possible to play under, so I will always do my best to spotlight where players gain or lose value in certain game types.
Without further ado, let's get right into the last week of 2021 games and try to figure out how to take advantage of what we saw transpire.
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including NBA Writer of the Year, Best NFL Series, MLB Series, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!
Monday, January 11th
Beal keeps calling for liberation while Siakam keeps heating up
What the Wiz will do with Beal, no one truly knows (not when I'm writing this Tuesday morning, at least). What the Wiz should do with Beal, though, is an entirely different matter: trade him asap. Brad Beal is too good for a more-than-rebuilding Wiz, Russ or not, and he kept proving so last Monday when he played to the best level of the day thanks to a near-dub/trip-dub 34-8-9 line to go with 2 steals and a block. Miami, please, go for the Beal before it gets cold remaining on the plate.
Speaking of cold, what about Toronto? The Raps are not even remotely close to the cold Canadian soil playing in Tampa this season, and that heat is starting to get into Siakam's system. Siakam had his best game of the season on Monday with a 22-13-10 trip-dub against Portland... in another losing effort, though. Siakam has gone from averaging 35 FP in his first five games of the season to 51 in the Jan. 6th-10th span of four games.
- Stars aligned and both Buddy Hield and Davis Bertans scored 18 points on 6 made triples each. They shot 54.5 and 60 percent respectively on 11 and 10 FGA, but that's pretty much all they did. It's been a horrid season shooting for these two, so it was nice to see them do something on that front once for all.
- Speaking of shooting: Doug McDermot isn't a worldbeater but he's playing more and more for the Pacers and in the four games leading up and including Monday's he's shot 81.1 percent from the floor on 24 total FGA.
- Bobby Portis scored a season-high 20 pops on Monday shooting 69.2 on 13 FGA with 2 triples. Cheap/affordable guy to have in your roster with scoring/rebounding upside.
- Damian Lillard kept playing on the edge, as he's done all season long. He's not been truly bad, but he's far from his best levels of play. 23-7-5 line with 8 (!) turnovers against Toronto on Monday, in another game in which partner-in-crime C.J. McCollum was undoubtedly better (30-6-5, no turnovers, 5 treys).
- In that same game FVV put up another dud, and it's been how many as of late? Including Monday's performance, it's been three out of four games in which FVV has scored fewer than 40 FP, and logged usage rates below 22%. Kinda concerning for someone as coveted as he is.
- LaMelo didn't start for the Hornets, yet he thrived off the pine once more to the tune of an 8-14-7-3-1 stuffed line. I don't even know where Melo's ceiling will be at once he gets unleashed.
- Philly was hit by COVID, and that has allowed Isaiah Joe to play heavy minutes. Not the worst flier considering Monday's 18-2-4-2 performance off the bench in 27 minutes hitting 4 treys and shooting 66.7 percent on 9 FGA.
Tuesday, January 12th
Big night for big men, led by Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic
Nothing new about biggie boys racking up fantasy points. But Tuesday wasn't the average day at the office for Embiid and Jokic, both of whom played to terrific levels of performance. Embiid led the slate with an impossible 45-16 dub-dub to which he added 4 dimes, 5 steals, and a block while shooting 69.6 percent on 23 (!) FGA.
Jokic, the other star of the day, was the closest player to a quadruple-double since Harden reached the last 10-7-7-7-plus line all the way back in 2016. The Joker closed the game against Brooklyn with a stuffed 23-8-11-7-1 line, hit a trey, only committed one turnover, and hit all of his 6 FTA, reaching a very high fantasy score while logging a rather "low" 26.7% usage rate.
- Playing for a very slim squad after COVID hit it, Danny Green logged almost 50 minutes for the Sixers and finished with 29 pops and 10 boards in a 9-triple game starting at the SF position. This won't probably hold long-term, but Danny is definitely a great off-the-pine option going forward.
- Speaking of bench-microwaves, Jordan Clarkson played 28 minutes off Utah's pine and had a monster night with a 21-8-4-2 line, with 15 of those 21 pops coming from 5 treys. Not a bad day for Clark, who posted up the highest plus/minus of all Utah Jazz players along with Mitchell and Royce O'Neale.
- Devin Vassell benefited from his teammates in reaching a team-high 20 plus/minus himself, but had a putrid 12% usage rate, attempted 5 FG while scoring none of them, finished with just 2 points, and only his 7 rebounds saved the day for the rookie. Not liking that version of Vassell...
- The Rockets are crumbling with Harden calling out everybody in the organization last Tuesday. That didn't affect Christian Wood, who kept putting up numbers and had a great 18-8 game with 2 triples and a dime in only 26 minutes of playing time with a huge 31.1 usage rate%.
- Another low-key performer off the bench: Dwight Howard. With Embiid obviously above him in the rotation and starting at C, Howard has turned into a nice per-minute performer for the Sixers this season. Dwight played just 13 minutes on Tuesday but still finished 10-8 with a perfect shooting percentage from the floor and no turnovers.
- Oladipo is healthy these days, but Indiana doesn't feel like forcing him to play. That's why he missed Tuesday's game (back-to-back) and that opened the door to Aaron Holiday, whose 16-2-12-2 was a very good line that should put fantasy GMs on Holiday's track as an addition to any and every league team.
Wednesday, January 13th
Harden gets traded, Portland's backcourt combines for 127 FP
Let's address the elephant in the room first: James Harden finally got his belly moved out of Houston with the Rockets sending him packing to Brooklyn. Without getting into the nitty-gritty details, Houston acquired Victor Oladipo in a secondary move that also sent Caris Levert to Indiana, while Cleveland landed Jarrett Allen. Tons of fantasy impact coming from this trade, indeed.
Speaking of what truly matters, though, Portland's pair of Dame (71) and McCollum (56) put on a show last Wednesday combining for 127 FP, although they weren't good enough to beat slate-leader Luka Doncic (77). The three of them put up a double-double while scoring at least 28 points. The only triple-double of the night, though, came from Giannis' 22-10-10 performance against Detroit.
- The Lakers, as expected, are going to be a headache for fantasy GMs this season. They just needed 27 and 24 minutes of LBJ and AD respectively to snatch a W, which obviously cut both players' upsides a lot. And that will stay that way ROS, making these two great real-life players, but not so valuable on fantasy leagues.
- Knicks rookie Immanuel Quickley only logged 22 minutes off the bench yet he closed the day with a great 19-2-3-1 stuffed line to go with 3 treys and a second-unit leading 35.1% usage rate.
- Had it not been for Lonzo Ball and Zion Williamson being out, Nickeil Alexander-Walker would have not started nor logged 33 minutes nor had a 52-FP game to the tune of 37 points, 8 rebounds, a steal, and a dime. No wonder Wednesday's marked NAW's best game of the season and boosted his fantasy upside for those looking for a nice bench asset.
- Speaking of injuries, Porzingis came back for Dallas, started, and coincidentally (or not) Luka had one of his best games of the year. They started slowly together last season but the pairing seemed to finally click, and that was on display once more last Wednesday.
- Darius Bazley, Harrison Barnes, and Robert Covington all were pretty bad on a per-minute basis, with RoCo posting the highest DKFP/min on Wednesday yet reaching only a putrid 0.66 mark...
- Nico Batum was also bad for the Clippers, perhaps for the first time this season. He could only finish with a 9-2-4 line even though he logged 27 minutes against New Orleans.
- LaMelo, another dud from Wednesday. Ball will remain playing off the bench, per HC James Borrego, and he had his worst game of the year with a horrific 4-7-5 performance facing the Mavs.
Thursday, January 14th
Jokic keeps building his MVP bid while Curry drowns in greatness
What projected as a potentially great game just the day before the draft took place, turned out to be a watered-down one with Klay Thompson injured and Denver's Jamal Murray going through a rough stretch along with MPJ and Gary Harris being out too. That didn't matter a lot, as Jokic and Steph were available and performed to incredible levels of play.
Jokic put up the best line of the slate with a great 23-14-10-3 trip-dub, and he is well on his way to make a very compelling case to win the MVP award if he is able to keep up his current triple-double average on the season. Curry, while also fantastic (35-11-4-2 shooting 60.9 percent from the floor and hitting 5 triples), proved once more that even in a great night he is quite alone in GSW, as the Warriors could do nothing to stop Denver from getting the W.
- Christian Wood had to carry the Rockets past the Spurs in Wall/Gordon(/Harden/Oladipo) absence but he didn't have a problem doing so: 27 pops, 15 rebounds, 5 treys (!), and 3 blocks for the man that considers Shaq's just a "casual".
- Domas Sabonis, in a similar situation (waiting for LeVert and without Dipo available), put up a 23-15-5 line for another incredible game in which is turning a daily expected outing from Sab Jr.
- Miami's rookie Precious Achiuwa was one of seven players to dub-dub thanks to a 10-11 line in 27 minutes while starting at PF. Worth keeping an eye on, as he's looked like a real thing and another draft hit by Miami's FO.
- Bol Bol started his second game in a row, but he did nothing in just nine minutes of play: 4 points, a rebound, and a block was all his line reflected.
- Robert Covington's underperformance is hella worrying. Another day, another start, another 26-minute run, and another putrid line of 3-1-1-2-1 with 7 FGA and a mediocre 14.3 FG%... Not the Covington we'd love to watch out there.
- Shake Milton, LaMelo, and Boucher were clearly the best second-unit players of the day. Milton finished with a 31-2-7-2-1 stuffed line while LaMelo (14-6-11) and Boucher (25-10-2-1-2) both posted double-doubles.
- Bench-player turned starter: Enes Kanter. Jusuf Nurkic will be out three-to-eight weeks with a fractured wrist, so Kanter will be insta-slotted into the starting C position in Portland. Worth adding to your fantasy roster.
Friday, January 15th
Andre Drummond helps Cleveland by raising his trade value
A lot of things to cover here. Drummond is a Cav these days because Cleveland traded for him last season. The price was ground-level back then, amounting to just two rotation players (both of them out of the league already) and a second-round pick. Another Cav since Wednesday: 22-year-old center Jarrett Allen. With the 'Fro expected to take the paint-reins of Cleveland, it makes sense for the Cavs to trade Dru before his deal expires this summer, but as you see the return might not be too high.
Well, actually, maybe it is. Dre put up his best game of the season on Friday by reaching 75 FP on a night in which he logged a massive 33-23 dub-dub to which he was able to add 3 dimes, 2 steals, and 2 swats. Drummond shot the rock 18 times and hit 55.6 percent of those attempts, and he also went to the line 19 (!) times scoring 13 of those freebies. The market for biggies is on the low, for sure, but Drummond is one of the best big men around the L and he should fetch something interesting for the Cavs if (when) he gets moved.
- It took Kristaps Porzingis three days and two games to log his first double-double of the season, which he did Friday with a 15-10 performance that wasn't anything otherworldly (he shot 31.6% from the floor and turned the ball over 4 times).
- Shai and LaVine went mano a mano in a Thunder-Bulls affair, both played 42+ minutes getting to OT, and they finished with 33-5-10 and 35-7-6 lines respectively hitting 3 and 8 triples each.
- Can we call Giannis a ball hog? The Greek played 30 minutes, hit 31 pops, turned the ball over five times, and all things considered, he logged an impossible 40.9% usage rate. It's the sixth-highest mark of the season through Friday among players with 30+ minutes played. Antetokounmpo also has the third-highest mark of that group (42.3% on Dec. 23rd).
- At the total opposite end of Friday's usage rate leaderboard: Steven Adams started at C for the Pels, played 33 minutes, and finished with a ridiculous 5.3% usage rate. Does Stevie help NOLA on a nightly basis? Yes. Is he a good fantasy play? Far from it.
- If you read my waiver-wire columns, you know I have been telling you to target Khem Birch for a while. He's still rostered in just 7% of Yahoo leagues, yet he comes off his second dub-dub (12-12) of the season against Boston on Friday playing 33 minutes for Orlando's second unit.
- More cheap/affordable/widely-available values from Friday: Kuzma, Quickley, Portis, Ojeleye, Noel, and the returning Obi Toppin (disappointing on Friday but poised to rack up minutes going forward).
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