RADIO
Welcome to the RotoBaller NBA Recap. In this feature, we will highlight a few key fantasy basketball takeaways from the games played during last night's slate. These viewpoints can be both positive and negative and will hopefully help to provide insight into different roster moves you should consider making based on trends and statistical nuggets from around the Association.
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. For the sake of simplicity and consistency, every time I mention Fantasy Points in these articles I will be using DraftKings' scoring system, which goes as follows: 1*PTS, 0.5*3PM, 1.25*RBD, 1.5*AST, 2*STL, 2*BLK, -0.5*TO. On top of that, bonus points are awarded for Double-Doubles (+1.5) and Triple-Doubles (+3), only one per player at a time.
Without further ado, let's get right into the latest slate of games from the 2021 season and try to figure out how to take advantage of what we saw transpire.
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Tuesday, February 16
Nikola Jokic is Denver's lone gold Nugget; the Wolves might have a diamond in Anthony Edwards
As much as Nikola Jokic is fighting to stay alive in the MVP race, the Nuggets can't quite put it all together this season. In another loss, this time to Boston, Jokic was excellent putting up 64 DKFP (third-most in yesterday's slate) and did that to the tune of another 43-point, 6-5-2-1 rest-of-line performance to which he added 3 treys, a 70 percent shooting from the floor on 23 FGA, and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Even with Jamal Murray finishing with a 25-6-6-3 line himself, the team couldn't get the W... and they won't be doing in the future if Murray is going to turn the ball over 9 (!) times as he did last night.
We're not surprised even just one bit about Minny sitting at the bottom of the standings. The team has missed KAT for long stretches, are now going to endure another four-to-six weeks without D'Angelo Russell, and a top-3 pick looks closer than a near-future postseason berth. Speaking of top-3 picks... What about Anthony Edwards? Since he was put in the starting lineup on Jan. 29 he has started 11 games straight and turned into a 17-5-3 player for the Wolves. While those are not his rookie-season averages (he was worse to start the year), only 17 rookies since 1980 were able to put up that line. If Edwards can sustain it, then Minny might be rubbing his hands in anticipation of Anthony's development going forward.
- As bouncy as he's on a nightly basis, Fred Vanvleet had a great outing yesterday in Toronto's win over the Bucks. FVV put up a nice 33-4-7-2 line while hitting tied-second-most three-pointers with 5 on the night. Most importantly for the Raps, OG Anunoby came back and wasn't bad in a 27-minute performance which saw him finish with a 13-7-1-1-1 stuffed line.
- Zion was on the court for 29 minutes and all he did was impress. Another in-the-pain show from the sophomore in a 31-7-6-2 night in which he shot 81% on 16 FGA and hit his four freebies. The fact that he keeps scoring a triple per game is helping his game as defenses have to at least stay a little bit honest about Zion's shooting prowess from beyond the arc.
- Back to Denver, Campazzo started for the Nuggets as the squad was carrying some injured players. The "rookie" played a monster 40 minutes but was the most valuable play of the slate (in terms of price/availability; Campazzo is rostered in just 3% of Yahoo leagues...) with a 15-3-8-2-1 line, scored 2 long-rangers, and only committed one turnover on a 16.7% usage rate. Not the worst flyer to take in deeper formats.
- Josh Hart keeps coming off the bench for the Pelicans, but with Lonzo and JJ close to reaching their expiration dates in New Orleans (they should be traded before the deadline, as rumors have it), you'd do good in trying to acquire him before he becomes a starter/much-larger-role player. Just yesterday he played 32 minutes and still reached a 27-9 near-dub-dub while dishing out 2 dimes and shooting 63% on 16 FGA while hitting a slate-leading 6 triples.
- With Anthony Davis injured and out through the All-Star Weekend at the very least, both Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma should see an uptick in playing time, usage, and numbers. Harrell was good yesterday (17-6-3-1-1 in 18 min.) and although Kuzma disappointed a bit starting at PF (7-4-1 with a block) he should get it right more often than not.
- Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond won't play anymore for the Pistons and Cavaliers respectively. I have some doubts on what Griffin can do even in a new environment, but Drummond is a 27-year-old starter and stat-hog who will put up numbers wherever he lands. Make sure to try and acquire him on the low now that he will be sitting on the shelf and his GMs might be disenchanted with that situation.
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