The Daily Dose: Dose: Shady Records

(MIL 95 @LAL 113)

I don’t like the Bucks. At. All. As someone who tracks NBA news 24/7, no team makes my job more difficult. Whether it’s the shady business of making multiple players be healthy scratches, their awful team Twitter account tweeting some of the most drivel-filled stuff you could imagine, their flimsy rotations, or their ugly offense. It’s always something that is just annoying. I really don’t publicly bash any other teams, but the Bucks are just too much. No team cares less about its public image to the hardcore fans, which is odd because the NBA is trying to grow its hardcore fanbase with all its heart.

Well, Tuesday night was another case of why they are the worst team to follow for diehard NBA fans. Center Greg Monroe was scratched at the last minute with a knee injury. There was absolutely no red flag on Monroe, he didn’t look to be get hurt on Saturday, no word of him missing practice, and he really didn’t have any knee issues before Tuesday. Still, the Bucks held him out without any sort of hint. Total Bucks move and it’s really not a surprise. I’d bet they just rested Monroe on the front end of a back-to-back set because they have a tougher matchup against the Clippers. There was a report of Monroe banging knees in practice, but it did not pop up until after he was announced as out. The Bucks should spend less time on their lame Twitter, less time on their uniforms and more time on informing the public of their team’s injuries. This would never, EVER happen with the Lakers, Knicks, Hawks, Celtics, Clippers or Warriors.

To take it a step further, Greivis Vasquez had surgery Tuesday morning and it wasn’t announced until after it was done. WHAT? Any other team would have announced it was scheduled for a specific day or something like that. Bucks, you suck. Do better.

As for their game on Tuesday, no. They lost, so good for karma. This won’t be a regular thing about sounding whiny, but I’m not even going to comment on the Bucks because of their devious ways. I haven’t owned a Buck in the past two years in fantasy because they’re so shady. Thankfully, the Bucks lost to one of the worst teams in the NBA.

Hey so Kobe Bryant is pretty good? Wait, what? In his last five, Bryant averaged 18.2 points, 5.0 boards, 4.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.0 treys on 47.2 percent from the field and 86.7 percent from the line. What??? He’s actually put up third-round value in that span, which is pretty crazy. He’s still likely going to fall apart and even guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Thornton, Corey Brewer and Raymond Felton are in his neighborhood for his last five, too.

Besides Mamba, not much happened. D’Angelo Russell continues to get better, scoring 19 points with four rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two 3-pointers. He’s a nice stash and is really trending up — he’s probably more than a stash right now. Julius Randle was also very good off the bench with 14 points, 14 boards and one assist, so he’s a fine hold. Jordan Clarkson returned with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and one 3-pointer. He should be a fine mid-round guy.

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Perhaps the most interesting game for fantasy was the Nuggets at Wolves game. Both teams have a lot of young talent and both have a lot of questions in their rotations. The Nuggets were able to pull out the road 112-100 win.

Well, we have a change coming for sure with one team. Coach Sam Mitchell said there are going to be changes coming to the starting lineup. He did say “changes” to the first unit, but you’d think it’s probably only one spot.

If I had to guess, it’s going to be Zach LaVine starting at shooting guard. LaVine is playing some terrific ball right now and had another good game, scoring 20 points with four rebounds, five assists, one steal, one block and one 3-pointer in 25 minutes on Tuesday. He also had 28 points on Sunday against the Suns.

You might be surprised to know the Wolves have succeeded in their 70 minutes with LaVine next to Rubio. They had a 116.7 offensive efficiency rating and just a 99.3 defensive rating in that time, so it was really working. All that said, LaVine hasn’t really been great with his minutes at shooting guard, so I wouldn’t expect him to bust out. If I owned LaVine, I’d look to deal him at an inflated price once the lineup news was announced — I could be wrong, too.

Besides that, it raises the obvious question of what happens with Gorgui Dieng. Up until about Thanksgiving, a Dieng lineup with Karl-Anthony Towns just wouldn’t happen. Now? Dieng has played 43 of his last 240 minutes next to Towns. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s a massive improvement from earlier this year. Plus, the Wolves have a net rating of 16.1 in that playing time, too. One would think that number rises, so that means Dieng is on the upswing after a horrible start. Besides, the Wolves have a net rating of minus-11.7 while Dieng is off the court, which is the worst on the team.

So who loses? You’d think Kevin Martin (two points in 22 minutes on Tuesday) and Nemanja Bjelica (two points in 17 minutes) lose some run. Bjelica has been a lot better on defense, but he’s actually been a lot better.

KAT should still be awesome. Check out these highlights:

The Nuggets went with a much bigger lineup than usual. They were going small a ton, but they played Will Barton at the two much more than usual. Check out their lineup combos from Tuesday:

The big difference from Tuesday is that they played Danilo Gallinari for just five minutes at the four. Gallinari had a pretty good game with his 15 points, three rebounds, five assists and one 3-pointer. That’s not really the story even though he did look healthy.

Will Barton did get his minute because he was slotted into the SG spot a ton, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and one 3-pointer. He is totally safe and should be a top-60 player. I also loved this pass:

Randy Foye also had the stealthiest revenge game of the year with his 19 points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and five 3-pointers. He earned extra minutes, which shouldn’t continue and he’s probably on the block.

With Foye going off and Barton getting run at SG, that was bad news for Gary Harris, who played just 24 minutes with four points and two rebounds. Harris is still a hold and he did play 42.0 minutes per game in his previous two.

As for the frontcourt, Kenneth Faried was great with 19 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and three blocks. He’s trending up. Joffrey Lauvergne scored 11 points with seven rebounds, one assist and one trey in just 16 minutes. The Nuggets don’t really seem comfortable unleashing him and he’s even more lost than Nikola Jokic on defense — at least to me. Jokic has also played more clutch minutes for the Nuggets in their close games, so he still looks like the guy.

Speaking of which, Jokic had a decent game with six points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. His upside is delicious and I would have a tough time cutting him.

Jameer Nelson was a letdown with 10 points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals and two 3-pointers. He should be better for a short-term value.

King Me (HOU 97 @ SAC 107)

The Rockets are a total mess. There are some reports of Dwight Howard not being happy, but he did shoot those down after the game – Howard had four points with four rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Terrence Jones is also reportedly on the block, which stings even more because he scored just one point with four rebounds and one turnover in 13 minutes. He’s really just a stash right now, which stinks for such a high-upside guy. Donatas Motiejunas scored just four points in the starting lineup with three rebounds, three steals and one block. I wouldn’t be too eager to add either, but I’d probably rather have Jones for his upside and the chances of him moving would likely help his value. Clint Capela wasn’t good either with four points, nine rebounds, one steal and one block. Unless you don’t care about your free throw shooting, he’s not a hot property either.

James Harden had a bad game with 33 points, seven rebounds, six assists, one steal, four 3-pointers and seven turnovers. He’s fine. Trevor Ariza (10 points, six rebounds, two assists, three steals and two treys) and Patrick Beverley (14 points, one assist, three steals and two treys) were also solid. Both are solid holds and Pat Beverley is vastly under-owned..

Rajon Rondo got his one-game suspension for Tuesday, so that allowed Darren Collison to put up 14 points, seven rebounds, 13 assists, one steal, one 3-pointer and eight turnovers in 41 minutes. He’ll move to the bench over the weekend, so there’s no need to react here. Collison moving back to the wing also means Ben McLemore (eight points in 24 minutes) and Marco Belinelli (nine points in 27 minutes) will play less upon Rondo’s return.

Rudy Gay had a career-high six steals with 17 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, one block and two 3-pointers. DeMarcus Cousins was great with 26 points 12 rebounds, two steals, one block and two 3-pointers. Gay had a SLAM on Pat Bev, too:

Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die (CLE 89 @ BOS 77)

Mr. Montoya was not a true Cavalier, but the Cavs had revenge in their eyes. Kevin Love had a bad injury at the ends of Kelly Olynyk and J.R. Smith has beef, too. Beef aside, the Cavs have themselves at a respectable 16-7 after a win in Boston on Tuesday. They really counted on their defense, so it was really just a two-man game. LeBron James scored 24 points with seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block and six turnovers. Kevin Love was terrific with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one steal, two blocks and three 3-pointers. Love is coming off a horrible three-game run with just 10.3 points per game in that span.

With Kyrie Irving (knee) set to return on Thursday, it won’t be affecting LeBron, but it could affect Love and there’s no doubt it will affect the guys like Matthew Dellavedova, who scores just two points. He’s not worth owning. J.R. Smith wasn’t great in his return with nine points, six rebounds, one steal and one 3-pointer in 36 minutes. He is probably more immune to the Kyrie stuff than most. There’s no way anyone should own Iman Shumpert, even though his hair is pretty cool.

The Celtics are a mess. You know how horrible that movie Celtic Pride was? Imagine that movie transformed into an NBA frontcourt rotation. Of course, this one is a little less predictable. That rotation would be the 2015-16 Celtics. No real stars, a plot that isn’t compelling and a bunch of other stuff that makes you wonder what is going on — if you haven’t seen this movie, don’t.

Anyway, there wasn’t a lot to like from the Celtics on Tuesday. Kelly Olynyk was coming in with a lot of momentum, but he managed just five points, two rebounds, one steal and one 3-pointer in 22 minutes. The good news on Olynyk is that he’s seen at least 20 minutes in each of his last five games, averaging 15.4 points, 3.8 boards, 1.6 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.8 blocks and 1.6 treys. Even with the low minutes, that’s worth owning in most leagues. However, if he is still sitting on the wire, I probably wouldn’t pick him up in a shallow league yet.

The Celtics really struggled overall, which isn’t a surprise against a stout frontcourt in Cleveland. No big man scored more than five points, so we can pretty much just throw that out.

The wings and backcourt struggled, too. The Pizza Guy didn’t deliver either with Isaiah Thomas scoring just 12 points with three rebounds, four assists and nothing else. It was his worst game with a 3-of-15 shooting line. Avery Bradley scored a team-high 17 points and even attempted 10 shots from deep. His breakout is real and he’s grown so much as a catch-and-shoot player. Jae Crowder was pretty solid with 14 points, three rebounds, one steal, two blocks and four 3-pointers. Crowder was a steal.

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