With Tuesday’s less-than-satisfying opening slate of games behind us, last night’s games had everybody juiced and engaged despite Madison Bumgarner’s history-making run for the S.F. Giants.  We have a lot of ground to cover so I’m going to jump right in. 

For real-time NBA news and fantasy analysis, you can click here to follow me on Twitter.

BUCKSHOT

 

Jason Kidd said before the game that he wouldn’t mind going with a 10 or 11 man rotation and I was just thankful he didn’t say 13.  Your starters for last night were Brandon Knight, Jared Dudley, Khris Middleton, Jabari Parker and Larry Sanders, which negated a summertime report that John Henson would be the team’s starting center.  The good news is that the bench minutes were held in check, with everybody but O.J. Mayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo playing just 12-14 minutes while the two bigger names logged 24 minutes apiece. 

Knight was the statistical story with 22 points on 5-of-17 shooting, eight rebounds, 13 assists, one block, two threes and a 10-of-10 mark from the foul line.  If that’s not a sell-high moment I don’t know what is.  The Bobcats looked like a group that had read too many of their press clippings before picking things up in the second half, but Knight is going to solidify his role pretty quickly with lines like this. 

Middleton was one of the Bucks’ better players last year and he finished with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, six rebounds and a block in 36 minutes, and aggressive owners may want to take a chance that he’s up for some late-round value.  Parker didn’t look like a guy that teams should be tanking for with just eight points, four rebounds and one steal in 37 minutes, but nobody should be writing the rookie off after one bad game.  For what it’s worth, I didn’t have him ranked very highly at No. 115 in 8-cat and a whopping 218 in 9-cat where his turnovers are a major drag at that stage of the rankings. 

O.J. Mayo looked great in this one with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting with three treys, three rebounds, three assists and a block.  I got way too cute thinking I could wait on him in drafts and it’ll be a regret all year long.  He’s a must-own player in my book and I think the Bucks will come to rely on him as the year goes on.  Giannis scored 10 points with one three, five boards and a block and my guess is that he’ll be a post-hype guy next season.  We’ll see.

Editor’s Note: Rotoworld’s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $100,000 Fantasy Basketball league for Thursday’s NBA games. It’s $25 to join and first prize is $10,000. Starts at 7pm ET on Thursday. Here’s the FanDuel link.

 

BIG STINGIN

 

Kemba Walker said he dealt with his foot cramping throughout the game and that might have been partially responsible for his 9-of-26 shooting night, but he was still in charge out there while posting 26 points, three treys, six rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block.  He fell in a lot of drafts and that might look silly in a few months, and at the same time I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hornets use kid gloves with his foot in the short-term.  Marvin Williams came out of nowhere for 19 points, three treys, four rebounds, three assists and a steal, but I’d look back toward his Utah days for a more accurate assessment of his value. 

Lance Stephenson (groin) wasted no time getting in players heads last night (hello Middleton), finishing with seven points on 3-of-12 shooting, 13 rebounds, eight assists and one nasty dunk.  Al Jefferson went for 14 and 10 on 6-of-15 shooting with two steals and four blocks.  Owners shouldn’t get too worked up about the defensive stats as a player with his tenure typically doesn’t veer away from career marks in those categories. 

I’m going to take a bit more bullish stance on Michael Kidd-Gilchrist than some of my contemporaries.  He hit 6-of-8 shots for 17 points (5-of-6 FTs) with eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 34 minutes.  Yes, Gerald Henderson (nine minutes) isn’t all the way back, but the kid is a hard worker and he stood out during the game on a number of plays for his energy.  More than anything, he just seemed to be doing the right thing a lot.  Is he a must-add player? No, but summarily ruling him out for value this season would be a gross mistake in my opinion. 

 

SHVED SIGHTING

 

Much like Milwaukee, the Sixers entered this season with practically no traction on what the rotation would look like and the good news is that we didn’t see a smorgasbord of 20-minute nights.  Nerlens Noel (six points, 10 boards, three blocks, 2-of-11 FGs), Chris Johnson (12 points, one steal, one three), Tony Wroten (22 points, eight boards, seven assists, three steals, 9-of-21 FGs, 3-of-8 FTs) and Hollis Thompson (five points, one three, three boards, four steals) all played more than 29 minutes. 

Noel’s field goal percentage is going to be a mess this season because the Sixers are terrible, and Wroten’s free throw percentage looks like it’s going to be a massive anchor to his value once again.  If you’re not punting with Wroten in a head-to-head league this isn’t the time to uncork the champagne.  Henry Sims looked bad with just 10 points, four boards and nothing else in 23 minutes, but those are the breaks for a substandard player on a historically bad team.  Don’t jump ship unless this is a trend for at least a week if not more.  The Sixers don’t have anybody to replace him with. 

I’ve sat back and watched the Alexey Shved salt accumulate all summer and preseason and wondered if it wasn’t a bit overboard.  There were actually local guys in Philly that indicated to some of our guys that he was really struggling but still the Sixers are a whole new level of bad.  Needless to say I wasn’t surprised to see him score 18 points (5-of-11 FGs, 3-of-6 3PTs, 5-of-6 FTs) with three rebounds and five assists.  He’s not in the clear by any means with Michael Carter-Williams eventually returning, but a change of scenery to this type of team could mean he eventually rises to the top of the group.  Add him as a flier at best right now, but don’t bury your head in the sand because anything goes in Philly. 

K.J. McDaniels had a quiet night with two points, two rebounds, one steal and one block, but face it, this was a stash pick on your part and anything more optimistic was too optimistic.  He’ll probably take at least a couple of weeks to ripen up. 

 

THE PHILLY BUMP

 

The Pacers started off slowly but eventually realized that as bad as things are going to go for them – losing to Philly at home simply wasn’t an option.  Roy Hibbert was getting served on the inside early but finished strong in a very productive effort, scoring 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds and seven blocks.  It’s doubtful that anybody in your league would not understand that this was a Philly thing, but it’s worth a sell-high offer to see if anybody is buying heavy into Hibbert this year.  I can see him starting out with big usage numbers and from there I’d be worried about how things look as attrition sets in for a bad team toward the end of the year. 

Donald Sloan was the most recent recipient of the Philly bump with 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, one steal and a three, and he projects as a low-end value until the cavalry returns with a small hint of upside because the Pacers are so shallow.  C.J. Miles hit 6-of-17 shots for 15 points, two threes and not much else.  His ultra-green light is both intriguing and scary, and along with the ups and downs the lack of peripheral stats probably dooms him to late-round value at best.  The same thing goes for Chris Copeland (11 points, two threes, one block, 26 minutes), also known as the man without a position as long as David West (ankle) plans on suiting up this year. 

 

NO SLEEP IN BROOKLYN

 

The Nets struggled with the reality that their defense isn’t good enough to play without effort, so when the latter occurred the young and hungry Celtics took them to school on Opening Night.  The only silver lining of consequence was that Deron Williams looked like he’s going to exceed draft expectations, scoring 19 points on 6-of-16 shooting with two threes, three boards, eight assists, two steals and one block in 39 minutes.  I had him higher on my board than most people but not high enough to enjoy what will likely be a profitable season, injuries notwithstanding of course.  He simply has more bounce than he did last year after the ankle surgeries. 

Mason Plumlee got into early foul trouble and finished with four points, four rebounds and two blocks in 11 minutes, and frankly that’s a productive night when considering the context.  Don’t panic here.  His stat set is made for fantasy and he’s only going to improve.  Throw an offer to his owner with relative confidence. 

 

RETURN OF RONDO

 

Speaking of guys whose draft expectations were insanely low, Rajon Rondo gave the most recent reminder to owners that players in their second year after ACL surgery (that aren’t broken) are going to regain their explosion.  He put up 13 points, seven rebounds, 12 assists, one steal and one block in just 30 minutes before garbage time, and as I said in the B150 as long as he didn’t face plant he’d finish at or around the 46/61 rank I gave him (8/9 cat).  He hit a three and missed all four of his free throws, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can add value with his three without it being negated by reduced field goal percentage. 

Kelly Olynyk was an interesting projection heading into the year, since a marginally successful year would slide him in as a late-round value and anything else on top of that would be gravy.  He scored 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting with six rebounds, one steal and one three in his 29 minutes, and it may be sacrilegious around these parts but I actually like his upside a bit more than Sullinger’s if we control for the chance that Sully goes berserk on the boards or something.  They have similar stat sets and Olynyk has shown he’s a better shooter and that’s as far as the analysis goes there.  Sully hit 5-of-9 shots for 13 points, one three, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks, and both 3-point shooting big men have to improve their defensive output to be real difference makers. 

Jeff Green hit 4-of-10 shots for 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals, two threes and a 7-of-9 mark from the line.  Perhaps this is his warning shot that he’s going to have a bounce-back campaign, but I’m going to stop short of that for now and simply note that he looked pretty aggressive and confident shooting the 3-ball this preseason.  It’s Game 1 after all. Evan Turner put up 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block in his 24 minutes and I need to see a lot more on the defensive and 3-point shooting side before unleashing you guys into that mess for standard leagues. 

 

DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE OLD MAN GAME

 

The banged up Wizards found themselves in Miami and lost the battle on the boards and at the line – so they walked out with a loss – but the statistical story wasn’t half bad for owners.  Paul Pierce scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting with six rebounds, five assists, two steals and one three.  He was a guy going way too late in drafts and sometimes not even being drafted at all, and I actually like his projected low-minute role when Bradley Beal gets back.  It’ll keep him fresh for a projected upper-late round value.

Drew Gooden did Drew Gooden things by scoring 18 points with five rebounds and a trey in fill-in duty for Nene and DeJuan Blair, who were both serving suspensions.  Garrett Temple has flashed some low-end intrigue in spots in the past, and last night he put up six points on 2-of-8 shooting (2-of-6 3PTs) with seven boards, two steals and one block.  If you have a hole in your lineup due to injuries, give him a short term look as a plug-and-play guy while Glen Rice Jr. is out. 

 

With Tuesday’s less-than-satisfying opening slate of games behind us, last night’s games had everybody juiced and engaged despite Madison Bumgarner’s history-making run for the S.F. Giants.  We have a lot of ground to cover so I’m going to jump right in. 

For real-time NBA news and fantasy analysis, you can click here to follow me on Twitter.

BUCKSHOT

 

Jason Kidd said before the game that he wouldn’t mind going with a 10 or 11 man rotation and I was just thankful he didn’t say 13.  Your starters for last night were Brandon Knight, Jared Dudley, Khris Middleton, Jabari Parker and Larry Sanders, which negated a summertime report that John Henson would be the team’s starting center.  The good news is that the bench minutes were held in check, with everybody but O.J. Mayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo playing just 12-14 minutes while the two bigger names logged 24 minutes apiece. 

Knight was the statistical story with 22 points on 5-of-17 shooting, eight rebounds, 13 assists, one block, two threes and a 10-of-10 mark from the foul line.  If that’s not a sell-high moment I don’t know what is.  The Bobcats looked like a group that had read too many of their press clippings before picking things up in the second half, but Knight is going to solidify his role pretty quickly with lines like this. 

Middleton was one of the Bucks’ better players last year and he finished with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, six rebounds and a block in 36 minutes, and aggressive owners may want to take a chance that he’s up for some late-round value.  Parker didn’t look like a guy that teams should be tanking for with just eight points, four rebounds and one steal in 37 minutes, but nobody should be writing the rookie off after one bad game.  For what it’s worth, I didn’t have him ranked very highly at No. 115 in 8-cat and a whopping 218 in 9-cat where his turnovers are a major drag at that stage of the rankings. 

O.J. Mayo looked great in this one with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting with three treys, three rebounds, three assists and a block.  I got way too cute thinking I could wait on him in drafts and it’ll be a regret all year long.  He’s a must-own player in my book and I think the Bucks will come to rely on him as the year goes on.  Giannis scored 10 points with one three, five boards and a block and my guess is that he’ll be a post-hype guy next season.  We’ll see.

Editor’s Note: Rotoworld’s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $100,000 Fantasy Basketball league for Thursday’s NBA games. It’s $25 to join and first prize is $10,000. Starts at 7pm ET on Thursday. Here’s the FanDuel link.

 

BIG STINGIN

 

Kemba Walker said he dealt with his foot cramping throughout the game and that might have been partially responsible for his 9-of-26 shooting night, but he was still in charge out there while posting 26 points, three treys, six rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block.  He fell in a lot of drafts and that might look silly in a few months, and at the same time I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hornets use kid gloves with his foot in the short-term.  Marvin Williams came out of nowhere for 19 points, three treys, four rebounds, three assists and a steal, but I’d look back toward his Utah days for a more accurate assessment of his value. 

Lance Stephenson (groin) wasted no time getting in players heads last night (hello Middleton), finishing with seven points on 3-of-12 shooting, 13 rebounds, eight assists and one nasty dunk.  Al Jefferson went for 14 and 10 on 6-of-15 shooting with two steals and four blocks.  Owners shouldn’t get too worked up about the defensive stats as a player with his tenure typically doesn’t veer away from career marks in those categories. 

I’m going to take a bit more bullish stance on Michael Kidd-Gilchrist than some of my contemporaries.  He hit 6-of-8 shots for 17 points (5-of-6 FTs) with eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 34 minutes.  Yes, Gerald Henderson (nine minutes) isn’t all the way back, but the kid is a hard worker and he stood out during the game on a number of plays for his energy.  More than anything, he just seemed to be doing the right thing a lot.  Is he a must-add player? No, but summarily ruling him out for value this season would be a gross mistake in my opinion. 

 

SHVED SIGHTING

 

Much like Milwaukee, the Sixers entered this season with practically no traction on what the rotation would look like and the good news is that we didn’t see a smorgasbord of 20-minute nights.  Nerlens Noel (six points, 10 boards, three blocks, 2-of-11 FGs), Chris Johnson (12 points, one steal, one three), Tony Wroten (22 points, eight boards, seven assists, three steals, 9-of-21 FGs, 3-of-8 FTs) and Hollis Thompson (five points, one three, three boards, four steals) all played more than 29 minutes. 

Noel’s field goal percentage is going to be a mess this season because the Sixers are terrible, and Wroten’s free throw percentage looks like it’s going to be a massive anchor to his value once again.  If you’re not punting with Wroten in a head-to-head league this isn’t the time to uncork the champagne.  Henry Sims looked bad with just 10 points, four boards and nothing else in 23 minutes, but those are the breaks for a substandard player on a historically bad team.  Don’t jump ship unless this is a trend for at least a week if not more.  The Sixers don’t have anybody to replace him with. 

I’ve sat back and watched the Alexey Shved salt accumulate all summer and preseason and wondered if it wasn’t a bit overboard.  There were actually local guys in Philly that indicated to some of our guys that he was really struggling but still the Sixers are a whole new level of bad.  Needless to say I wasn’t surprised to see him score 18 points (5-of-11 FGs, 3-of-6 3PTs, 5-of-6 FTs) with three rebounds and five assists.  He’s not in the clear by any means with Michael Carter-Williams eventually returning, but a change of scenery to this type of team could mean he eventually rises to the top of the group.  Add him as a flier at best right now, but don’t bury your head in the sand because anything goes in Philly. 

K.J. McDaniels had a quiet night with two points, two rebounds, one steal and one block, but face it, this was a stash pick on your part and anything more optimistic was too optimistic.  He’ll probably take at least a couple of weeks to ripen up. 

 

THE PHILLY BUMP

 

The Pacers started off slowly but eventually realized that as bad as things are going to go for them – losing to Philly at home simply wasn’t an option.  Roy Hibbert was getting served on the inside early but finished strong in a very productive effort, scoring 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds and seven blocks.  It’s doubtful that anybody in your league would not understand that this was a Philly thing, but it’s worth a sell-high offer to see if anybody is buying heavy into Hibbert this year.  I can see him starting out with big usage numbers and from there I’d be worried about how things look as attrition sets in for a bad team toward the end of the year. 

Donald Sloan was the most recent recipient of the Philly bump with 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, one steal and a three, and he projects as a low-end value until the cavalry returns with a small hint of upside because the Pacers are so shallow.  C.J. Miles hit 6-of-17 shots for 15 points, two threes and not much else.  His ultra-green light is both intriguing and scary, and along with the ups and downs the lack of peripheral stats probably dooms him to late-round value at best.  The same thing goes for Chris Copeland (11 points, two threes, one block, 26 minutes), also known as the man without a position as long as David West (ankle) plans on suiting up this year. 

 

NO SLEEP IN BROOKLYN

 

The Nets struggled with the reality that their defense isn’t good enough to play without effort, so when the latter occurred the young and hungry Celtics took them to school on Opening Night.  The only silver lining of consequence was that Deron Williams looked like he’s going to exceed draft expectations, scoring 19 points on 6-of-16 shooting with two threes, three boards, eight assists, two steals and one block in 39 minutes.  I had him higher on my board than most people but not high enough to enjoy what will likely be a profitable season, injuries notwithstanding of course.  He simply has more bounce than he did last year after the ankle surgeries. 

Mason Plumlee got into early foul trouble and finished with four points, four rebounds and two blocks in 11 minutes, and frankly that’s a productive night when considering the context.  Don’t panic here.  His stat set is made for fantasy and he’s only going to improve.  Throw an offer to his owner with relative confidence. 

 

RETURN OF RONDO

 

Speaking of guys whose draft expectations were insanely low, Rajon Rondo gave the most recent reminder to owners that players in their second year after ACL surgery (that aren’t broken) are going to regain their explosion.  He put up 13 points, seven rebounds, 12 assists, one steal and one block in just 30 minutes before garbage time, and as I said in the B150 as long as he didn’t face plant he’d finish at or around the 46/61 rank I gave him (8/9 cat).  He hit a three and missed all four of his free throws, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can add value with his three without it being negated by reduced field goal percentage. 

Kelly Olynyk was an interesting projection heading into the year, since a marginally successful year would slide him in as a late-round value and anything else on top of that would be gravy.  He scored 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting with six rebounds, one steal and one three in his 29 minutes, and it may be sacrilegious around these parts but I actually like his upside a bit more than Sullinger’s if we control for the chance that Sully goes berserk on the boards or something.  They have similar stat sets and Olynyk has shown he’s a better shooter and that’s as far as the analysis goes there.  Sully hit 5-of-9 shots for 13 points, one three, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks, and both 3-point shooting big men have to improve their defensive output to be real difference makers. 

Jeff Green hit 4-of-10 shots for 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals, two threes and a 7-of-9 mark from the line.  Perhaps this is his warning shot that he’s going to have a bounce-back campaign, but I’m going to stop short of that for now and simply note that he looked pretty aggressive and confident shooting the 3-ball this preseason.  It’s Game 1 after all. Evan Turner put up 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block in his 24 minutes and I need to see a lot more on the defensive and 3-point shooting side before unleashing you guys into that mess for standard leagues. 

 

DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE OLD MAN GAME

 

The banged up Wizards found themselves in Miami and lost the battle on the boards and at the line – so they walked out with a loss – but the statistical story wasn’t half bad for owners.  Paul Pierce scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting with six rebounds, five assists, two steals and one three.  He was a guy going way too late in drafts and sometimes not even being drafted at all, and I actually like his projected low-minute role when Bradley Beal gets back.  It’ll keep him fresh for a projected upper-late round value.

Drew Gooden did Drew Gooden things by scoring 18 points with five rebounds and a trey in fill-in duty for Nene and DeJuan Blair, who were both serving suspensions.  Garrett Temple has flashed some low-end intrigue in spots in the past, and last night he put up six points on 2-of-8 shooting (2-of-6 3PTs) with seven boards, two steals and one block.  If you have a hole in your lineup due to injuries, give him a short term look as a plug-and-play guy while Glen Rice Jr. is out. 

 

LIKE A BOSH

 

Last night’s outing for Chris Bosh has me immediately questioning my B150 ranking of 28/23 (8/9 cat), as he played all of the angles en route to 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting with three treys, 15 rebounds, four assists, one steal, one block and a 5-of-5 mark from the foul line. 

A few things to keep in mind here – his starting power forward was Shawne Williams and Josh McRoberts is a slightly better rebounder that will command the ball a lot more.  He also beat up Marcin Gortat, who can’t move laterally with him, and joining Gortat down low was Drew Gooden and Paul Pierce.  That’s not exactly the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys, so try to keep that in mind before you go buying a new TV with all of your expected winnings.  Still, he answered a lot of questions tonight and the only thing that will keep him from being a top-20 value is if those rebounding and defensive numbers start to slip. 

Luol Deng dealt with a foot strain that sort of slid underneath the radar last night so owners should watch out for that.  He finished with 12 points, four rebounds and one block in his Heat debut, and as long as he stays healthy he profiles as a late-round value.  Dwyane Wade left the game momentarily due to a bruised calf, and owners knew that would be an issue coming into the season.  He finished with 21 points, two threes, two steals and relatively low numbers otherwise.  As long as he’s upright he’s doing okay in my book, which had him at No. 56/98 (8/9 cat).   

Norris Cole had a statement game with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, two threes, three assists and two steals.  That it came against John Wall is a nice bonus and it looks like the arrangement to have Cole start and Mario Chalmers (eight points, four rebounds, four assists, one steal, one three) come off the bench is going to stick. 

The two players have their preseason minutes projections swap, and both guys are going to have a healthy amount of minutes to try and establish themselves in fantasy leagues.  Though Cole’s assists were down I’d have a hard time not taking a flier on him, and I wouldn’t rule out holding onto Chalmers either.  Who knows what’s going through that guy’s head after being a high profile scapegoat for LeBron and Wade for years, and it wouldn’t be drop-dead shocking if a slow start gives way to something that opens up his upside.  For now, in his current role, he looks good to put up numbers similar to past campaigns. 

As for James Ennis, there are going to be 29 teams that regret passing up on him.  He was raw in college but the athleticism was on full display last night as he chalk-outlined Rasual Butler in the dunk of the night.  He worked hard on his game in Australia, led his team as ‘the man,’ and he’s going to continue expanding his role as guys get hurt.  Erik Spoelstra might hold him back early on and I’m not saying he’s worth adding, but I’m glad I had him in the Honorable Mention section of the B150.  I just wish I had him higher and I’d restrict him to 16-team leagues at this point. 

 

THE EARLY RETURNS ARE GOOD

 

Normally if you shoot 50 percent from the field and nearly 60 percent from deep you’re going to win in the NBA, but the Hawks saw the Raptors march to the line 33 times and make 27 of them, which was the difference up in Toronto.  The takeaways were that Al Horford (12 points, 6-of-15 FGs, 13 rebounds, three assists, one steal, three blocks, 31 minutes) is on track, DeMarre Carroll (10 points, two threes, three boards) starts the season looking clipped as many expected, Jeff Teague (20 points, eight assists, 8-of-12 FGs) looked like a guy that will probably beat his ADP, and Kyle Korver (20 points, six threes) can still shoot. 

Mike Scott scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting with four boards, but he needs to do that about 10 straight times before standard league owners should buy into his fantasy deficient stat-set. I wasn’t expecting much out of Kent Bazemore (11 minutes) after a summer of rehabbing his foot injury, but the 17 minutes for Thabo Sefolosha definitely caught my eye.  The Hawks look like they’re running the same cut-and-dry rotation featuring their starters at above 30 mpg, which is an indicator that the added wing depth won’t touch Korver much, at least early on.  If that holds true then I will have ranked Korver too low. 

 

RAPTORS ROLL

 

It was a good night for Toronto fantasy assets as everybody found food at the table, with Jonas Valanciunas’ 17 points and eight boards serving as a nice plate of comfort food for his owners.  He hit 9-of-10 freebies and added a block in just 21 minutes, which in a bubble is distressing, but he’s got all sorts of upside with his solid percentages pushing him up the ranks quickly.  Terrence Ross got in on the action with 13 points, three treys, three boards, three assists, one steal and one block.  I wouldn’t expect that every night but he’s certainly taken a step forward this offseason.  Whether that can translate into fantasy consistency is the next question. 

Amir Johnson went for 16 and 10 with four blocks and fell very far in drafts due to the logjam at power forward, but he’s still the owner of a nice fantasy stat-set and as long as he’s relatively healthy he’ll be a threat for mid-round value if everything breaks correctly.  DeMar DeRozan hit just 4-of-16 shots but did that thing that great fantasy players do when they don’t have their shot – he blew up for 11 rebounds, three assists and six steals to go with his 15 points.  As my 27/48 ranking (8/9 cat) indicates, I have very high expectations for him this season. 

 

THAD THE IMPALER

 

As far as likely basement teams go, the Wolves will be entertaining and athletic with guys like Ricky Rubio, Thaddeus Young, Andrew Wiggins, Gorgui Dieng and Zach LaVine running around.  Young scored 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting with two threes, four rebounds, four assists and two steals to immediately justify his low ADP.  Dieng left briefly due to a thumb injury and returned to finish with six points, eight rebounds and three blocks in just 19 minutes. Owners that aren’t overly penalized for stashing guys need to hold tight all year long.  He’s a lottery ticket waiting to happen and his floor might even end up being startable. 

I think it’s going to be a long year for folks that burned a mid-round draft pick on Wiggins, who is bound to be brought along slowly in a rotation that has plenty of guys that can carry weight.  He played 19 minutes in his start last night, scoring six points with three rebounds, two steals and a three.  Shabazz Muhammad went for 13 and seven with one steal and one three in 23 minutes, and after losing all that weight this offseason owners in deep leagues will want to keep an eye on his follow up effort.  Nikola Pekovic hit just 2-of-9 shots for five points, eight boards and one block, and the matchup wasn’t great against the bruisers of Memphis, but he’s going to find his minutes clipped if this becomes a habit. 

 

GASOLINE

 

After a solid preseason Marc Gasol wasted no time rewarding owners, scoring 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting with nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.  It says something that Zach Randolph also went off with 25 and 13 to go with a steal and a block in the same game – namely that the Wolves didn’t bring it last night – but I think in the case of Gasol that he is primed to have a big year.  I wanted to rank him higher than No. 30 but it would have required a bigger leap in production than I was willing to give him after a down year – both before and after the injury – but he’s looking the part and owners shouldn’t be thinking sell-high at all. 

I did something rare the other day and drafted a low-upside guy with my last pick in a deep draft, who was Courtney Lee, and it was because he was going to get solid minutes and if he didn’t fall off a cliff he’d be solid a late-round value.  He wasted no time making me feel good about that strange move, scoring 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting with two threes, three assists, two steals and one block. 

 

KUNG PAO

 

The Bulls manhandled the Knicks and that’s all that owners really need to know, but if you bought the Pau Gasol stock you have to feel great after his 21 point and 11 boards in 29 minutes.  Sure, he did his damage against cardboard cutouts of NBA basketball players, but he’s on the right track.  My concerns for him have lied in his potential for low peripheral numbers, and that he won’t have the volume in popcorn categories (PTS-REBS-ASTS) to push him up the board.  And after a preseason of inflated block totals that weren’t even correct in some cases, he went without a steal or block last night.  I don’t want to declare any of my rankings a failure or success after one night in most cases, but I still don’t see him finishing in the top-50 this year.  We’ll see.   

Derrick Rose saw just 21 minutes in the blowout win, scoring 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting (7-of-8 FTs) with three rebounds, five assists and two steals.  He didn’t hit a three, but like Gasol he’s going to need to have huge volume to offset his low peripheral numbers too.  The Bulls are very deep this year and I just don’t see it happening at an elite level. 

Taj Gibson enjoyed the blowout win with 22 and eight with a steal and block, so owners probably already know that those numbers are augmented by the opponent.  Joakim Noah started off slow with three points, six boards, two assists, and three blocks in 20 minutes.  It’s obviously way too early to panic and at the same time expectations were a bit down for him this year, too. 

 

NO WAY WITHOUT JOSE

 

The Knicks are a bad enough basketball team to expect some off nights even for a guy like Carmelo Anthony (14 points, 5-of-13 FGs, four rebounds, three assists, one steal, 29 minutes).  It’s one of the reasons I had him lower than most, as the game could end up getting pretty hard for him by virtue of his surroundings.  Look for things to improve significantly when Jose Calderon (calf) returns.  Outside of Samuel Dalembert (six points, four rebounds, three blocks) as a low-end center and Calderon when he returns, there’s not a surefire fantasy asset on the squad. 

 

SHOT ACROSS THE BOW

 

The big number for Detroit last night was 20, which was the number of minutes that Brandon Jennings (four points, 2-of-4 FGs, four rebounds, two assists, three turnovers) played.  Even Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who went approximately 3-of-3000 from the field, wasn’t put in a box like that.  Of course, Stan Van Gundy has given a number of indicators that he’s unwilling to watch Jennings gamble on defense or take bad shots, and we’ve been told that the Pistons tried to move him during their pursuit of Isaiah Thomas but couldn’t find a taker.  D.J. Augustin logged 28 minutes and put up 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two threes, doing what he was brought into to do as the backup plan and leverage in the event Jennings didn’t play to SVG’s liking. 

The dust hasn’t even settled yet on last night’s game and on a 12-game Opening Night I haven’t had the time to go back to the tape, but the takeaway is that his minutes aren’t guaranteed this season.  There could be an injury we don’t know about, too.  A buy low offer to Jennings’ owner could be sneaky good right now in 8-cat leagues, but wait until next game when he posts semi-regular numbers so the owner feels like they’re not selling at the bottom of the barrel. And if the slump continues you’ll know to stay away. 

Josh Smith got all of the power forward minutes and finished with 25 points, five rebounds, one steal and two blocks.  He hit just 9-of-22 shots and also missed all three of his treys, so none of the offseason talk about cooling it from deep is valid, and this represents a great chance to sell high. 

 

MANIMAL ON THE LOOSE

 

The Nuggets had just two games this week so owners may have passed on some guys, but hopefully one of them wasn’t Kenneth Faried who went off for 22 and 17 with four assists.  Timofey Mozgov stepped into his starting center role with relative ease, scoring 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting with 11 rebounds and two blocks in 25 minutes.  He has proven to be a solid low-end asset with fewer minutes in the past, and I just don’t see the Nuggets going away from him this year. 

If there was a surprise for me it was the 40 minutes out of Arron Afflalo, who finished with 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, two threes, four rebounds and one steal.  Unless he’s working with a huge usage rate and minutes like this he’s likely bound to a late-round ceiling, but the fact that he pushed Randy Foye into a 15-minute role was both eye opening and a little bit funny after Foye talked all summer about possibly starting.  And after carrying the Nuggets for stretches last season he probably has the right to be a little pissed, but who knows what is going on. 

Danilo Gallinari logged 18 minutes and hit just 1-of-8 shots for seven points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.  Remember how Rajon Rondo struggled last year when he returned to action?  That’s got Gallinari written all over it.  I’m staying away.  Ty Lawson didn’t do anything to quell the growing anxiety about his season, hitting just 1-of-7 shots for three points, zero rebounds, five assists and no defensive stats.  And it wasn’t like he had great defenders lined across from him in Brandon Jennings and D.J. Augustin.  One of his various maladies is probably still acting up and owners will want to pay attention for absences and the like. 

 

BEVERLEY SPILLS

 

Patrick Beverley left last night’s game with a hamstring injury and didn’t talk to reporters about it, and any replacement if he misses time will have the same issue of James Harden hogging all of the touches.  I wouldn’t drop Beverley just yet since he’s a strong bet to eke his way into late-round value at the least and he even has some mid-round upside if this thinner Rockets squad experiences injuries.  Terrence Jones hit some foul trouble and that limited him to nine points, three boards, two blocks and a three, Dwight Howard went for 22 and 10 with a full line, and Trevor Ariza had a nice night with 20 points, five boards, two steals and four threes in the Rockets’ 104-93 road win over the Jazz. 

 

DO YOURSELF SOME FAVORS

 

Trey Burke got the Patrick Beverley treatment and still finished with 15 points and four assists, which is a big win in my book.  Burke looked solid and confident at summer league and Dante Exum is a zero percent threat this season.  If you didn’t notice by my rankings I wasn’t a huge Alec Burks guy this year, which is less a referendum on his reality value than it is on his deficient stat-set, and that pretty much played out with his line of 18 points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one three. 

Enes Kanter played 22 minutes with 10 points and five boards, while Rudy Gobert was quiet with two points, three rebounds and one steal in 20 minutes off the bench.  Quin Snyder complained about the defense after the game and that will probably be a growing theme in the Kanter-Gobert minutes battle, and owners simply need to treat Gobert like a stash until he forces his way onto the court.  I know it’s going to take some serious lack of progress for me to part with Gobert, who has elite blocks and rebounds capability. 

I wasn’t as bullish on Derrick Favors as the other guys around here, but maybe I should have been.  He put up 16 points with seven rebounds, three steals and four blocks against a quality Rockets squad.  He did deal with a hip injury throughout last year, so maybe his lack of progress overall can be traced to that.  One thing is certain – Snyder is an intriguing young coach and a guy with a cerebral approach to the game.  Busting Favors loose was probably high on his list of to-dos so my low ranking (50/47, 8/9 cat) might be in jeopardy this season.  Again, it’s Day 1. 

 

TODAY IN RUBBERNECKING

 

If you sit in your car for six hours on an L.A. freeway this winter, it’s probably because the train wreck Lakers are imploding in a Staples Center sized vat of gasoline lit by Kobe Bryant infused dynamite.  Holy expletive are they terrible.  I did pick them to finish last in the West but they have a real chance to win less than 20 games if Kobe gets hurt and/or strangles somebody. 

For starters, he scored 31 points on 11-of-25 shooting and had serviceable numbers elsewhere with four rebounds, three assists, two steals, two threes and a 7-of-7 mark from the line.  His usage was 150 percent higher than the last year’s league leader, and that’s obviously a trend that can’t continue for a number of reasons.  At some point somebody’s gotta step in and develop a more balanced attack because Kobe isn’t making anybody else better and teams are more than willing to let him chuck up 50 shots a game because they’re not going to be efficient.  Nick Young’s return will help this team more than anybody would ever imagine that Nick Young could help a team. 

I sensed that there is a lot of Jeremy Lin panic out there after his six points, two rebounds and one assist in 21 minutes, and this all goes back to Kobe moving more toward facilitator rather than scorer.  He desperately wants this season to mean something and eventually he’ll relent and try to get guys like Lin going, so it’s way too early to give up. 

Ed Davis is a must-own player in my book and last night he put up 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.  He’s simply better than his teammates, including Carlos Boozer and his four-point, four-rebound, eight-turnover potential.  Another name to watch when he gets healthy will be Ryan Kelly.  I know Byron Scott doesn’t like threes but Kelly is active on the floor and the Lakers need competent bodies at this point. 

 

THE PIZZA GUY DELIVERS (AS USUAL)

 

It was borderline hilarious that the Kings looked exactly like they did last season but Isaiah Thomas wasn’t around to blame because he was too busy dropping 23 points in 20 minutes on the Lakers, who yes are terrible.  I bought heavy on the Pizza Guy this year not just for his solid sixth man role, but because he’s a top-30 asset if anything happens to Goran Dragic or Eric Bledsoe.

Marcus Morris made the most of his start for P.J. Tucker (suspension), hitting five threes and finishing with 21 points.  He didn’t do much besides that and minutes are tight, so I’m not moving on him in standard formats.  Just file the development as signs of an improving player and be ready to jump when the situation improves.  Gerald Green (four points, one steal, 2-of-8 FGs, 22 minutes) had a high ranking out of me (100/87, 8/9 cat) and couldn’t get it going last night, so expect to see him pop up on waiver wires.  He profiles well in percentages and had a solid preseason, but if he can’t get on track soon I wouldn’t be opposed to dumping him for a guy with higher upside. 

 

SLEEPWALKING

 

The Warriors looked like they rolled out of their beds and onto the floor last night, making a Kings team that looked as bad as they ever have look competitive throughout the first half.  Draymond Green got a start with David Lee out and showed why we’re all so hyped about him, as he put up 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with two threes, 10 boards, three assists and a steal.  He did have five turnovers and I actually didn’t get in on too much Green action this year, as the hype pushed him up the board pretty high and somebody else would take the plunge before I could get around to it. 

Andre Iguodala looks like dead money and had a slow-like-Lloyd Christmas line of two points, three rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes, but he did have three steals so maybe he’s telling us there’s a chance. 

 

I’D HATE TO BE MIKE MALONE’S CARDIOLOGIST

 

The Kings have a number of issues with their roster and they all seemed to bubble up at the same time last night.  If DeMarcus Cousins, who is going to rain terror on the league like it’s nobody’s business, faces a burly set of centers as he did last night in Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli – then he’s probably going to struggle with efficiency.  He hit just 4-of-14 shots for 20 points, 11 rebounds and six turnovers, and going to the line 18 times (hitting 12) owners have to be giddy that this qualifies as a bad night. 

Rudy Gay has predictably morphed back into bad Rudy Gay with the team relying on him for more offense in the wake of Isaiah Thomas’ departure.  He hit 5-of-15 shots of ill-repute and finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, one steal and one block.  That field goal percentage is going to depress his value.  Ben McLemore took the worst shot I’ve seen in some time, standing three feet behind the line with 16 seconds on the shot clock on a 0-fer night.  He’s not going to last long at that rate with rookie Nik Stauskas (nine points, two threes, nothing else) looking like a fluid offensive player at the NBA level.  Defensively, both were targeted relentlessly and I’d slow the roll before saying either did a good job on Klay Thompson, who had a bad night from the field. 

Darren Collison (13 points, four rebounds, eight assists, five steals, one block, one three, 36 minutes) played well but he’s not going to get Steph Curry’s bad defense every night, nor will the games be this sloppy – at least on the other side of the floor.  I like him as a solid late-round value and I like him even more after watching Ramon Sessions struggle with simple point guard things as he did last night. 

 

GODZILLA

 

I’m feeling pretty good about Russell Westbrook at the No. 3 slot in 8-cat leagues after his 38-point night against the Blazers.  He hit 11-of-26 shots, 15-of-16 free throws, one three and added three points, six assists and three steals in his 33 minutes.   I also like that Scott Brooks is cooling it with his minutes.  It’s a marathon and not a sprint.  Now some of the no-offense lineups that Brooks put on the floor?  Let’s just say the man likes him some defense.  Jeremy Lamb and Reggie Jackson can’t get back soon enough for this squad, and I’m not buying into any of the spare parts they’re trotting out there in the meantime. 

 

GOOD ENOUGH FOR A WIN

 

The Blazers finally dispatched the Thunder’s C-team and did so behind LaMarcus Aldridge’s 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting (including a three).  Aldridge added one steal and two blocks but had just three rebounds in what I like to call, reasons that LaMarcus Aldridge won’t be able to beat his No. 30 ranking in 8-cat leagues last season. 

Damian Lillard was shut down for 10 points, five assists and two threes on 3-of-10 shooting, and owners shouldn’t be worried in the slightest.  Wes Matthews got hot for 22 points and five threes as one of fantasy’s perennially underrated players, and Nicolas Batum looked aggressive en route to 16 points, five rebounds, six assists and an otherwise full line.