Fantasy Basketball Week In Review: Week 2

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.

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Monday, December 28th

LeVert shows he can lead, Jokic is already at peak-form

One huge headline before Dec. 28th tip-off: Spencer Dinwiddie is out for the season. That meant Caris Levert would start at the point for Brooklyn and that, paired with KD/Kyrie's absences due to rest, were going to force CLV to play to his best of levels... which he did with gusto, dropping 28 pops on Memphis to go with 4 boards, 11 dimes, and 5 steals. If this is the Caris Brooklyn is getting, they shouldn't miss Dinwiddie that much, but we'll see how it all develops with more time and games to analyze.

One other huge headline after Dec. 28th games: Jokic is the main beneficiary from the NBA's late start to the season, as he always struggled through the pre-winter months of the year. Not this season, though, with the Joker putting up two trip-dubs in three games and missing on a three-for-three perfect record but a single rebound in G2. Bonkers.

• Gary Trent Jr. finally popped for Portland after a quite scary start to the year that had us fantasy GMs very worried. He dropped 28 pops on the Lakers, hit 7 treys, and paired all that with 3 rebounds and a dime. Much closer to the Trent we expected before the season started, and definitely a relief to watch it unfold.
• Both Bogs (Bogdan and Bojan) dropped five triples each. Bogdan came off Atlanta's bench and finished 17-5-5 while Bojan started for Utah putting up a 23-3-1-2 line himself. The roles are very different for the two players, but they are more than viable fantasy plays.

• Christian Wood--reasonably--lowered his fantasy outcome in Houston's G2 of the season, but he was still putting up tasty numbers with 23 points, 3 boards, 4 (!) triples, and attempting a very palatable 20 field goals against Denver. I have Wood as one of the most underrated players out there, and definitely a low-key league-winning guy with massive upside. Whether Harden stays or goes, Wood will end as a top-tier fantasy player this season.
• The Pistons are a mess. But that might mean we can take advantage of them and their cheap/available players for fantasy purposes. Take Josh Jackson, who playing just 28 minutes scored 27 points (including three triples), grabbed 4 rebounds, and stuffed the rest of his stat line with 2 assists, a steal, and a block. It was the ultimate performance by Jackson and he won't (most probably) keep it up, but he's definitely someone to target.

• Will Barton was very disappointing as part of Denver's second unit. Above-average 23.4% usage rate, but putrid performance with an 11-4 line. He better level up or he'll be highly fadable and droppable.
• Kuzma was even worse than Barton. He attempted 9 shots and hit two of them for 6 points, not going to the free-throw line once, and turning the ball over three times through the game. Never liked Kuzzy, and he did nothing to change my perception.

 

Tuesday, December 29th

Big-men destroy the slate, Russ brings the Wiz to a flameout

Let's address the elephant in the room first. As much as Russ is always saying that he doesn't care about individual numbers, yada yada, Westbrook was three-for-three in games/trip-dubs by the end of Tuesday's games and that was thanks to a great 21-15-11 line... and another L eaten by Washington in what amounted to a 0-4 start to the year. Russ is fantastic, and fantasy GMs are very happy having him, but the Wiz can't be too pleased about how things are looking in the Capital.

Now, for better news, biggies were the thing of the day back on Tuesday. Four of the five best players of the day were either PFs or Cs, including Randle, Embiid, Jokic, and Drummond. Randle (1st) and Jokic (3rd) had triple-doubles to add to their season accolades.

• It is widely known that Steph is (almost; kudos to rookie James Wiseman for his campaign to date!) the only bright light among Golden State's players. Just looking at his ridiculous 35.5% usage rate speaks volumes of how many possessions Curry is finishing out of pure necesity.
• Speaking of Warriors... Juan Toscano-Anderson started for the GSW but although he played 23:55 minutes he just finished the fourth-least possessions (among all of the slate's starters) with a USG% of 10.6 percent.

• Jrue Holiday was key for a Milwaukee team that once more missed Giannis, who put on a very upsetting 9-6-6-3 performance. Holiday hit 6 triples while finishing with 24 points, 7 dimes, and 3&3 steals and rebounds.
• Michael Porter Jr. was automatic shooting against Sacramento, hitting all of his 18 FGA for 30 points (4 triples) and also being a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe while committing no turnovers.
• With Jamal Murray down injured, Monte Morris took on starting-PG duties for the Nugs and he excelled with a 24-1-4-2-1 line in 36 minutes of playing time.

• Lonzo Ball was horrific in Phoenix's demolition of New Orleans, with the worst performance of all players with 20+ minutes played on Tuesday's games.
• Keep an eye on Duncan Robinson and his starting role for the Heat. Dragic is--same as last season--coming off the bench instead of starting, but Robinson hasn't looked like a fit to start games in Miami and could lose that role sooner rather than later.
• Mason Plumlee is one of the best and (still) most affordable fantasy players still out there. 10 more boards for him on Tuesday and in his first four games he finished with 8, 9, 12, and 10 while dishing out 5+ dimes in three of those four.

 

Wednesday, December 30th

Giannis is back, and Dallas got smacked

Let's make one thing clear: Giannis never left. He never left, but he definitely had a rough start to the year alternating good and bad performances on a nightly basis. Until Wednesday, that was. Facing Miami in the second leg of a back-to-back series Giannis finally exploded and logged his first triple-double of the season with a 26-13-10 line that included 3 thefts and a block. This is the Giannis we expect, and want, and enjoy the most. Here's to hope he keeps it up.

Luka wasn't the main reason for it, but Dallas got smashed by Charlotte and magnificent games by both Miles Bridges (20-16) and LaMelo Ball (22-8-5). That forced Dallas to sit Doncic early, which meant the MVP-favorite was limited to just 24 minutes of playing time and could only finish 12-2-5-2 on the night.

• The Nets had to fight against a surprisingly great Hawks squad in an absolute booming game in terms of scoring. Durant put on a show with a 33-11-8 performance, while Kyrie added 25 pops and Trae counter-attacked with 30 himself. No missing of Dinwiddie yet.
• Three-pointers three-pointered (?) on Wednesday. All of Jaylen Brown, McCollum, Joe Harris, Bogdan, and Wesley Matthews hit 6+ treys each while all shot above 47 percent from the floor. Brown was definitely the best of them all as he dropped 42 pops on Memphis while logging a monster 40.5% usage rate and a 22 +/-.

• Tyler Herro has taken on starting duties for the Heat at the PG (!) position and not only is he racking up dimes and points in heavy minutes, but he also went on to grab 15 (!!!) boards against Milwaukee on Wednesday.
• No only guard-eligible player snatched more than 8 rebounds other than Herro, with LaMelo coming in second with 8 boards.

• Trae Young was able to go to the charity stripe 16 times, hitting 87.5 percent of those freebies. Young is a do-it-all player and the leap seems to have happened from him going from good to great this season.
• Derrick Jones Jr. played 34 minutes for Portland. Worth keeping an eye on going forward. The same can be said about under-the-radar players such as De'Andre Hunter (33), Lonnie Walker (32), Desmond Bane (31), and Donte Divincenzo (30). All of them are secondary options on their teams but if only because of the long runs they could be very worth rostering in all sorts of fantasy leagues.

 

Thursday, December 31st

Russ closes 2020 with the best and worst start to a season ever

What Russell Westbrook is doing this season has virtually no historical parallel. Russ has put up a triple-double in the four games he's played with Washington, and at the same time, the Wiz have lost all those four games. Only Russ and Oscar Robertson (in 1961-62) were able to start a season with a 4-for-4 in trip-dubs, but Robertson's Cincinnati Royals were 2-2 in those games compared to Washington's 0-4. Russ could be the first player ever to start the year 5-for-5 if he gets another triple-double in the next game he plays.

• Otto Porter of all men led the day in fantasy leagues and contests thanks to a pretty much unheard-of performance in which he finished 28-12-3-3 shooting 71.4% from the floor. Otto is available in 36% of Yahoo leagues, and although he is not a starter for the Bulls he should still provide some fantasy goodies on a daily basis.
• The Kings are definitely into something. Once more, all of Richaun Holmes, De'Aaron Fox, and Harrison Barnes put up nice games for Sacramento and forced Houston to a massive effort to get their first W of the year. Low chances you can find Holmes/Fox for free at this point, but Barnes might be a tasty WW-target with FG% upside and good averages at both scoring at rebounding.

• Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Cole Anthony led the Pels and Magic second units with usage rates above 30% each. NAW is more a flier and deep-league asset, but Cole Anthony has been much better than pundits had people thinking and he's putting up some great numbers among rookies this season with a 10-5-4 line on just 20.3 MPG.
• Watch out for Josh Hart and his efficiency. He played 34 minutes, sure, but finished 12-11-2 with a steal and 3 treys logging a measly 14.6% usage rate and shooting a bad 33.3% percent against OKC. The shooting should rebound, but if Hart can put up dub-dubs in such low-usage/bad-shooting terms, which is his ceiling?

• Markelle Fultz came back down to earth and finished with a -31 plus/minus, the worst mark of the day. Fultz is founding his game, though, so if you can swing a deal for him I'd advise doing so as he's looking way too good compared to his newborn freshman, Sixers' days.
• If you don't have shares of either Tyrese Haliburton or Cameron Johnson, wait for his GMs to get upset but a couple of bad games in a row and go get them. They have looked fantastic for what they are and their "price".

 

Friday, January 1st

It's all about Hollywood to kick 2021 off

It makes sense. The Hollywood-based Lakers and Clippers put on firework-shows yesterday to start their respective new calendar years. Actually, more than the franchises themselves (the Lakers won, the Clippers lost) it was all about their superstars on the night.

For the Lakers, LBJ and Anthony Davis played 35 minutes each and finished 26-11-10 and 34-11-5 respectively with 2 steals each in their victory over San Antonio. For the Clips, Kawhi and PG13 logged 37 and 38 minutes and put up 20-16-9 and 25-8-4-6 performances that also finished in the top-7 (DraftKings scoring system) in Friday's slate--although the Clippers fell to Utah.

• Giannis had the most-efficient game of the season up to this point with 65 fantasy points in less than 28 minutes of playing time, dropping 29 pops on the Bulls to go with 12 boards, 8 dimes, 2 steals, and 2 blocks on a bonkers 43.4% usage rate.
• Shout-out to Keldon Johnson, who started for the Spurs and finished as a top-15 player in fantasy contests thanks to his 26-10 dub-dub against the Clips. Johnson is still available in 44% of Yahoo leagues, so you know what to do before it's too late.

• Luka got back on track thanks to a monster 27-15-7 dub-dub even though he "only" shot 40.9 percent from the floor on 22 FGA. As long as Kristaps Porzingis stays out injured Doncic will keep racking up points and eating all his stomach can handle.
• I haven't mentioned him in the review of the previous days above, but D'Angelo Russell kind of confirmed yesterday that his fantasy GMs might very well start to worry a lot about his upside. DLo is averaging a rather bad 16-3-4 line with 1.2 SPG while turning the ball over an atrocious 3.8 times per game... For someone playing 29 MPG and finishing 28.7 percent of Minny's plays, the averages are horrid. DLo better improves his performance asap or he could be starting to be considered a lost cause.

• Devin Booker has fallen below 20 points just once in six games. That's great, but that's also all he's doing these days--scoring. Booker, pretty much like DLo, is getting kinda worrying because even on a starting lineup that features CP3 (and is aided by Deandre Ayton's presence too) he's just averaging  4 RPG and 3.8 APG. The game against Denver yesterday was his second-worst of the season finishing with a lowly 22-2-2 line and losing 8 (!!!) possessions.
• What about Terry Rozier? The guard hit 10 triples back in Charlotte's season debut, and yesterday he went 1-for-11 for a 6-2-2 performance starting at SG. Fellow Hornet Devonte' Graham started at the point... and finished 1-for-10 from the floor, with a 3-2-5 line himself. Is it time for LaMelo to get the starting nod? The three of them are rostered in 80+ percent of Yahoo leagues but they cut each other's upside and are rather volatile, so you'd be better off them.
• Caris LeVert was impressive starting the first game after Spencer Dinwiddie's injury (28-4-11-5) but he went back to the second unit after that. In back-to-back games against the Hawks (both losses) he has been rather bad, and all he could do yesterday was put up a -15 plus/minus to the tune of an 8-2-3 line. Situation worth monitoring as LeVert could be swinging from starter to reserve on a nightly basis.

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