NBA Roundtable: Roundtable: Disappointments
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the NBA Roundtable. Every year there are several players who fail to live up to all the offseason hype, and this season has been no different. I gathered the Rotoworld hoops crew together again to discuss their most disappointing players to own in fantasy so far this season. This should be good…
Jonas Nader (@JonasNader)
Danny Green– As I’m sure you will all agree, Green has been nothing short of a disaster this year. I’ve been preaching patience to his owners long enough, but at this point even I’m ready to move on. His playing time is on a steady decline with an average of 21.4 minutes over his last five, and he is shooting just 36.5 percent from the field over the course of the campaign. He was the 24th best player in fantasy last year…
Terrence Jones– He has really been fantastic in his last two games, but that’s what makes him so frustrating. Jones has been a ghost for most of the season, and it’s no secret that has the strangest injury history in the league. I mean, the guy was sidelined twice for a scratch to his eyelid! To make matters worse, no matter how well Jones plays moving forward, coach J.B. Bickerstaff is basically Clint Capela’s agent, biggest fan and mentor now, so a move to the starting lineup isn’t likely. Terrence, why can’t I quit you?
Anthony Davis– I’ve never seen a player get as much offseason hype as Davis did, and I think there was a different quote each day from coach Alvin Gentry about how he was going to turn The Brow into an offensive superpower. Well, that hasn’t happened yet. Davis’ numbers are down across the board and he has proven once again that he can’t stay healthy. If you’re made of glass, it’s probably not a good idea to jump into the third row of the stands for a loose ball. To make matters worse, the Pelicans are all but out of the playoff hunt and could look towards the draft lottery, so the potential for Davis to be shut down is very real. I don’t think I could draft him in the top-3 next season, as I’d rather go with Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant.
Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher)
Danny Green – I’d be shocked if he wasn’t on everyone’s list here. Green had less competition for minutes this year, he just got a contract with the Spurs, they lost some 3-point shooters and he was coming off a terrific year. Well, now he’s losing minutes to Jonathon Simmons. There is still hope, but he’s been awful.
Victor Oladipo – That rotation change from Nov. 25 to last Wednesday killed his value. His numbers were a disaster in those 20 games, averaging 12.1 points, 3.8 boards, 4.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.7 blocks and 0.8 treys on 39.2 percent from the field. The move to the starting lineup has helped him turn it around and maybe he can keep it going. He only has seventh-round value on the season.
Nerlens Noel – He is really starting to come around, but it took close to two months for him to get it going. Did Ish Smith save the day? Maybe. He’s been a second-round player since Smith arrived, but chances are teams will figure out how to defend the Smith-Noel PNR a little better. He’s still disappointing to this point because he only has eighth-round value, but it’s a start.
Rudy Gobert– Obviously the knee injury hurt his value, but Gobert is still only putting up fourth-round value per game this year. He is coming back around now and is a nice buy-low player.
DeMarre Carroll – Another guy who was playing terribly, but now he’s likely out for another two months. He probably won’t even be worth picking up un shallower leagues upon his return.
Jared Johnson (@JaredJ831)
Well, I guess I have to start this list with Mr. Terrence Jones, who is not having anywhere near the season I thought he’d be having. He’s actually been solid when given the minutes this season, but him actually getting meaningful playing time is not something that has happened nearly enough this season. The talent is there, so I’m still hoping he gets traded, but I’m kind of done with owning him as a member of the Rockets.
On the season, Danny Green is connecting on just 29.3 percent of his open looks and 36.1 percent of his wide-open looks. However, he has shown major improvement through six games in January, hitting a much more respectable 45.5 percent of his open looks and 53.8 percent of his wide-open looks. Unfortunately, he’s still not really stuffing the stat sheet at all like he was last season, and at this point I’m doubting he can be anything close to the guy he was last year.
Goran Dragic – The Dragon was finally starting to reward me for my patience, putting in solid averages of 15.3 points, 4.1 assists, 1.6 three-pointers and 1.0 steal per game on 53.0 percent shooting from the field over the past two weeks, and then boom; he has a calf strain and is set to miss the next three games (an entire week of fantasy hoops). Ugh.
Steve Alexander (@docktora)
1. Danny Green – Both Mr. Bruski and I were pretty high on Danny Green coming into the season and since I’m in a ton of leagues with Bru, I found myself targeting Green as a fifth-round pick in many of my leagues, trying to get the early jump on my colleague. Given the fact that Rotoworld blurbs (which I help write) call an 8-point, 5-rebound game a success for Green, tells you just how bad he has been. I cut him across the board a couple weeks ago and have never slept better. Especially after he scored zero points just a few days ago, after supposedly ‘heating up.’ Yes, he may burn me/us later, but the only thing I wish is that I would have cut him two months sooner.
2. Anthony Davis – No, Davis hasn’t been a bust. But when you’ve got a guy of his stature rated as the No. 1 overall pick, and then have to sit and watch Stephen Curry run circles around him, it’s painful. And with the Pelicans sitting on just 12 wins, and getting beaten by the Lakers the other night, I truly wonder when the shutdown starts. And that’s not just for AD, but all of the Pelican studs. It may have started with Tyreke Evans (knee) on Wednesday night, and sadly, Davis may not be far behind. He’s a big, ol’ soft marshmallow and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to trust him any time soon.
3. Kyle Korver – I didn’t trust Korver from the word go and didn’t draft him anywhere. But I know a lot of people did and he’s just been awful. He hasn’t looked right in almost a year, was a disaster for the Hawks in last year’s playoffs, and hasn’t done anything worth mentioning this season. Turn the page.
Ethan Norof (@Ethan_Norof)
Al Jefferson: In a contract season after the Hornets added 3-point shooting to benefit Big Al, Jefferson has been a massive disappointment because he hasn’t been able to stay on the court. With Cody Zeller stepping up and the team investing a top-10 pick in Frank Kaminsky, those who drafted Jefferson would have been better going after someone like Greg Monroe or Reggie Jackson.
Ty Lawson: I know it’s just shocking that a ball-dominant point guard hasn’t paired well with James Harden. Lawson was regularly drafted ahead of J.J. Redick, C.J. McCollum and Rajon Rondo. Ouch.
Danny Green & Kyle Korver: These two guys who were drafted to play very specific roles, and neither has come close to fulfilling their intended purpose. Kemba Walker and Danilo Gallinari had lower ADP’s than Green, while Korver was regularly selected in front of all of them. Need I say more?
Matt Stroup (@MattStroup)
At the top of my list is Anthony Davis. Obviously it’s a different kind of disappointing because Davis is still great, but his scoring, steals, blocks and percentages are all down from last season, and he has already missed five games (and played less than 10 minutes in two others). Anyone who drafted him over Stephen Curry — as I did in 30-Deep, the 30-team expert league — is not pleased.
Danny Green: Things just aren’t getting better. He has hit double figures in points one time in his last 10 games.
Jeff Teague: Given his draft position, a big disappointment. Scoring, assists, steals and FG percentage have all taken a hit from last year.
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