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Welcome to the RotoBaller NBA Recap. In this feature, we will highlight three fantasy basketball takeaways from last night's slate of NBA games.
LeBron James made his Staples Center debut on Saturday, scoring 24 points in a 124 to 115 loss to the Houston Rockets, but Lebron's production was the last thing on anyone's mind when the game came to a close. During the fourth quarter, Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo exchanged punches while Brandon Ingram came running in and threw a haymaker of his own at Paul. The three men were ejected, and fines and suspensions will surely be levied on each of them. For the Lakers, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball should see the most significant boost in usage over the next week. From an injury perspective, Ben Simmons was forced out of the Philadelphia 76ers game because of back tightness. There is hope that he can heal up over the weekend and be ready for their next game on Tuesday, but we will have to wait and see. Kevin Knox, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Knox suffered a left ankle sprain and is expected to miss two to four weeks. Allonzo Trier should see a boost and may be worth a speculative add in deeper leagues.
Aside from injuries and fighting, the slate of games were unique from the fantasy side of things, so without further ado, let's take a look at Saturday's fantasy recap.
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!
Nikola Jokic: The NBA's Most Underrated Star
Most fantasy owners are well aware of how good a player Nikola Jokic is, even if the general public hasn't quite caught onto this fact yet. We were all selecting him in the top-10 of drafts, so this isn't news to any of us. But how many of you are going to raise an eyebrow when I claim that Jokic could be this year's number one overall player? And yes, that even includes over the man with the famous unibrow.
Jokic is a proficient big man that will thrive in nine-category leagues. Last season, the 23-year-old scored 18.5 points per game while adding 10.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks. Jokic also shot 49.9 percent from the field and 85 percent from the free throw line. 6-foot-10 big men that weigh 250-pounds aren't supposed to be this skilled, and Jokic is a superstar flying under-the-radar.
On Saturday, the Serbian displayed every bit of why he is the game's most underrated player. In the Denver Nuggets 119 to 91 victory over the Phoenix Suns, Jokic produced a triple-double with 35 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists while adding in four steals, three three-pointers made and one block. And if that is not good enough for you, he was 11-for-11 from the floor and 10-for-11 from the charity stripe.
Jokic being this good at 23 years old almost seems impossible. If you own him, you are thrilled with his tantalizing upside, and if you don't, he is going to be hard to acquire. In deep leagues with big benches and extended starting spots, I don't mind trading certain players that I took over Jokic and trying to get the Serbian, plus other pieces. In more shallow leagues, two-for-two trades could be possible, hopefully where you can obtain Jokic and another star for your first round pick and something less valuable. The savvy owner will realize how close Jokic is to the top-end production but less experienced fantasy members could fall in love with the idea of landing a player like LeBron James or Kevin Durant and completely overpay. It never hurts to test the waters.
Josh Richardson: Now Is the Time to Buy
Usage is king in fantasy basketball, and perhaps no player has been asked to increase his role this year more than Josh Richardson. The 6-foot-6 small forward entered the league as a rotational player for the Heat in 2015, averaging 6.6 points per game in 21.3 minutes.
Last season, Richardson made a small jump into fantasy relevance. His usage climbed to 18.2 percent, and he transformed into a nine-category fantasy contributor. However, despite his slight improvement, the 25-year-old failed to exceed 12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds or 2.9 assists in any of his first three years in the NBA.
Lacking a natural go-to offensive threat and struggling with injuries to three main offensive contributors, Head Coach Erik Spoelstra made a conscious effort to let Richardson run the offense in 2018, and fantasy owners rejoiced during his first two games of the year. Richardson averaged a staggering 21 shots per game, 10.5 of which came from deep. The increased usage plummeted his field goal percentage, but the former Tennesse Volunteer excelled in all facets outside of that. Richardson averaged 24.5 points per game while adding in 4.5 rebounds, four assists, 3.5 threes, one steal, one block and over 90 percent from the charity stripe.
Fast forward to Saturday and most fantasy owners that did not watch the game may see a stat-line that screams to SELL NOW! Richardson was 3-for-11 from the field, finishing with just seven points, four rebounds, two assists and no blocks or steals. But let's dive a little deeper into why we should instead be trying to acquire Richardson from those owners panicking and trying to sell high.
For starters, the low-key fantasy stud essentially only played the first half. Richardson quickly picked up his fifth foul in the third quarter and sat until the last few minutes of the game. There is nothing we can do about his field goal percentage, and it will be a concern all season long, but his ability to stuff the stat sheet across the board aside from that will propel him into top-25 upside in category leagues, mostly for those who were already punting field goal percentage. His ceiling is somewhat stunted in points leagues because the bulk of his value derives from category domination, but there may not be a better opportunity to try and acquire him than right now, regardless of the league.
Luka Doncic: If You Own Him, See What You Can Get
Everyone loves a new rookie in any sport. Part of the intrigue is we don't know what that player's upside could be, and that alone makes fantasy owners overpay for unseen production.
Luka Doncic entered his rookie campaign with an average draft position of 53rd across ESPN and CBS leagues. A fifth-round price tag was too steep for my liking, and I didn't end up with him anywhere, but the Slovenian youngster did possess immense upside potential.
In Doncic's first game on Wednesday, he struggled from the field, shooting 5-for-16, 0-for-5 from three and 0-for-2 from the line. He contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists but was shut out in steals and blocks while committing four turnovers. However, Saturday was a whole different story for the 19-year-old. Doncic exploded for 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 from deep. He added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in 36 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This is the type of performance fantasy owners were hoping to get from the third pick in this year's draft, but instead of settling with his quality showing, why not try and see what Doncic may be able to get you in a trade? Let's face it, the youngster is going to be extremely hit-and-miss this year. I am not advocating going out and giving him away; I still think he can provide top-60 production in all league types, but if another owner is willing to overpay because of one quality performance, let them. And cash-in on your winning lottery ticket.
