RADIO
BALLER MOVE: Add in 14-Team Leagues
ROSTERED IN: 0% of leagues
ANALYSIS: The trade deadline works wonders for those in search of opportunity from either their own team or someplace else. Nico Mannion was slated as a 2020 lottery pick during his only season at Arizona, but for whatever reason (and there's always a few bad reasons) he slipped all the way to 48th overall where he was selected by Golden State. Even then, Mannion was thought to be a non-factor as a rookie point guard behind Stephen Curry, Brad Wanamaker, and Mychal Mulder, not to mention Damion Lee, the ball-command of Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre, and Draymond Green who takes on many traditional point guard duties.
Mannion went to the G-League Bubble with the Santa Cruz Warriors and keyed everyone in on what they're missing. In 33.1 minutes on average over nine games, the Italian-born Mannion put up 19.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 1.8 steals per contest, also hitting 77.3% of free throws and 3.0 of 8.3 three-point attempts each night (36.0%). After the Bubble, the Warriors remain on the brink of the postseason play-in tournament, and they just traded Wanamaker at the deadline.
Maybe they chose to bear with whatever Mannion's developmental pace turns out to be, maybe they're confident in Mannion as a backup. They should be, because he's utilized every ounce of his skill set in the time he's seen for the big league Warriors. Mannion has netted a 2.4% steal rate and 25.9% assist rate thus far into his rookie season, ranking first and third on the roster, respectively, and yet has demonstrated excellent care and floor IQ while orchestrating the offense, as evidenced by his solid 15.9% turnover rate (worse than Curry, tied with Wanamaker, almost twice as good as Draymond). In ten games this month, through 20.1 minutes per contest, Mannion has averaged 8.1 points, 2.1 boards, 3.3 assists, and 1.o steal while shooting 15 of 16 from the stripe (93.8%) and 16 of 36 from deep (44.4%).
Nico Mannion is playing like everything he appeared to have the potential for as a PAC-12 All-Freshman, and more. Even with the handful of heavily-established players in front of him in the order, 15-20 minutes a game is all it takes to be worth your while. In deep leagues, Nico Mannion can contribute in threes, points, steals (plus), and assists (double-plus) with more rebounding than you'd expect from a player of this mold.
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