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Welcome to the RotoBaller NBA Recap. In this feature, we highlight three fantasy basketball takeaways from last night's slate of NBA games. Normally, the opening to this column is the place where we talk a little about last night's games, discuss which ones were exciting and what it all meant, but if you were online yesterday or by a television or paying any attention to sports, you know that New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis has requested a trade and that Twitter is currently a barren wasteland of fake NBA trade screenshots.
That Davis finally wants out of New Orleans isn't a surprise. The team didn't really take a step to make the team a contender until last season, and that fell apart in the wake of the DeMarcus Cousins injury. The Pelicans aren't built to win, and if that's the ultimate goal for Davis, he'll have to do it elsewhere. Where, though? The Lakers are the obvious choice, but don't count out the Celtics, though the Rose Rule means that they couldn't trade for Davis until after this season.
If a Davis trade happens, we'll be here with all of our thoughts on how that impacts the fantasy basketball landscape, but for now let's take a closer look into what happened around the league on January 28th.
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Rondae-Hollis Jefferson Rounding Into Shape
Brooklyn Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson missed some time with a groin injury and wasn't immediately back in the heart of the team's rotation when he returned on January 16th against the Rockets, but the past two games suggest that RHJ is once again a factor for this team and a viable fantasy option.
With Spencer Dinwiddie (hand) set to miss at least a month, the Nets need offensive production from somewhere. Hollis-Jefferson's game is antithetical to what head coach Kenny Atkinson wants this team to do -- Hollis-Jefferson is the only post-up threat on this team and he's made just eight three-pointers on the season -- but he provides a solid option when he's in the team's lineup. On Monday, Hollis-Jefferson finished with 14 points on 7-for-19 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, three assists, and a pair of blocks. It's likely that we see production at or similar to this level until Dinwiddie returns and cuts into RHJ's shot totals.
Was This The Last Home Game For Gasol And Conley?
The Memphis Grizzlies are about to start a long and arduous rebuild, and it'll be kicked off when they trade Marc Gasol and Mike Conley before February's trade deadline. There's been enough reports at this point to make it clear that something will happen, and that neither of the long-time Memphis teammates will be on this team for much longer.
Monday may have been the last home game for the pair, as they'll play at home just one more time before the deadline. Gasol finished with 28 points and nine rebounds, while has 23 points and 11 assists. For much of the game, it looked like the pair would lead to Grizzlies to an emotional victory, but the Nuggets outscored them by 20 in the fourth quarter to take the 95-92 victory.
Fantasy owners who have Gasol and/or Conley are in a wait and see mode right now. You don't want to trade them because they could end up in great spots, but part of you also worries that they'll land somewhere where their production will suffer. Hopefully we'll know some more soon about their landing spots and can have a better idea of how to talk about the two of them moving forward.
Oh, There's DeMarcus Cousins Being DeMarcus Cousins!
The first few games of DeMarcus Cousins' tenure as a member of the Warriors went how you expected they would -- coming off a torn Achilles, Cousins flashed his all-world skill but there seemed to be a little something missing.
Well, after Monday's win over the Pacers, it's safe to say that Cousins is starting to look more and more like the dangerous weapon that he's always been.
Cousins finished with a season-high 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting and grabbed six rebounds to go along with four assists. He showed off his ability to make plays out of the post:
and he also showcased his three-point shooting:
Cousins' ability to make an impact inside and outside is huge for the Warriors and their chances of winning the title in four series sweeps, and while the crowded offense of Golden State means that you can't trust Cousins on a nightly basis to the degree that you did last season, when he teamed with Anthony Davis to create a fantasy juggernaut in New Orleans, you can trust him in your season-long lineups, where the possibility of a night or two where he's game planned out of things won't have a hugely negative effect on your team and your season.
