NBA Fantasy Trends: Stats: Fly Pelican

Well, the Brow is back. Anthony Davis is having a huge February, averaging 30.7 points, 9.2 boards, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks and 0.6 treys on 56.3 percent from the field. He also boasts a 32.0 usage rate to go with a 60.7 true shooting percentage. Obviously that 59-point, 20-board game helped his averages, but he has been top notch on offense the whole month. Check out his shot chart:

Corner 3s are overrated anyway. Getting to the rim for 30.2 percent of his shots and making 77.6 percent of those definitely helps while he is also taking 8.9 free throw attempts per game this month, too. Davis was only hanging around 69 percent at the rim before February, so that’s the difference in his efficiency.

Another cool thing is he is doing more in isolation and his assisted buckets are down. We saw on Sunday that Brow’s low-post game is really in a good rhythm while he is scoring facing up a lot, too. Although, he has a 85.7 effective field goal percentage when he’s wide open, so it’s not all him just dominating in isolation. Jrue Holiday has also been a huge help for AD. Off Holiday passes this month, he’s posted a 70.5 eFG% with those 3.4 dimes per game.

Assuming he stays healthy, AD looks like the man again. The days of getting him at a DFS discount look like they’re over.

Holiday Styles

Jrue Holiday has also been a fantastic option for the Pelicans. In February, only Kobe Bryant has a higher usage rate among players with more than 10 minutes this month. Holiday hasn’t been the most efficient guy at just 47.9 true shooting percentage. More impressively, Holiday has 7.4 assists per game to go with averages of 18.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 steals, 0.4 blocks and 0.8 treys in 30.7 minutes. While AD has been a monster at 1.34 fantasy points per minute this month, Holiday is still in Davis’ neighborhood at 1.22.

A lot of both Jrue and AD blowing up has to do with Tyreke Evans (knee) missing the season due to his knee injury. Expect both to have strong finishes.

Unfair for the payor, but not for the payee

Stephen Curry is also having a pretty solid month. Here’s what his shot chart looks like this month:

Who takes long twos anymore? He’s having his best full month ever from 3 based on his 5.6 makes per game. The Bucks and Wolves don’t even average that number per game on the year.

Curry is already at 260 treys on the year, which already ranks sixth all time for a single season. He is now responsible for four of the top six seasons for treys. Can we call him the best shooter of all time yet?

Feb-ewwwwwwwwwww-ary

Not everyone is having a good month, of course. Here are some of the worst guys for efficiency in February.

Dion Waiters isn’t exactly playing well right now. In February, he’s managed to post an 30.2 eFG%. His shot chart is something else:

Yeah, not good. Who would have thought OKC would miss Andre Roberson (knee)?

The Bulls only have one backup point guard and it’s Aaron Brooks. The added opportunity has led to a severe dip in production. He’s put up a horrific 29.6 TS% this month and isn’t passing the ball well either. The Bulls really have no choice on playing him now, so he has to snap out of it. Brooks can’t be used unless Derrick Rose misses time.

Trey Burke is also having a rough month. In February, he put up just a 34.1 TS%. His playing time is obviously in jeopardy now with Shelvin Mack in the fold. Mack was great in his debut on Sunday, scoring 16 points with three rebounds, six assists, one block and one 3-pointer in 24 minutes. Burke hasn’t been a great fit with the Jazz since the development of Rodney Hood. Mack isn’t exactly the best fit either, but a change from Burke could be a good thing. The former Hawk will have to stay hot, but he could have more minutes headed his way. Return of the Mack?

Aaron Gordon is actually having a rough go since he was thrust into a regular role. In February, he’s made just 34.7 percent from the field with averages of 8.0 points, 10.5 boards, 2.1 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.1 blocks, 0.4 treys and 0.8 turnovers. Besides the efficiency, Gordon has been very good, especially with those defensive stats. Here’s what his shot chart looks like:

No bueno. He was just 17.2 percent on shots outside of the paint. It’s really just about him missing shots, though. On his shots from beyond 10 feet, he’s open on them 82.1 percent of the time. The shots will start falling eventually for the should-be dunk champ. He’s not going to be Curry-like on his Js or anything, but he should at least get closer to 35 percent.

He’s also been bad at the rim, which is odd for a dunker like AG. In fact, if you take the dunks out of the mix, he’s just 34.6 percent at the rim. That’s a problem.

This is really just a worst-case scenario for Gordon. Check out what his shot chart looked like in January:

Even with the awful shooting, Gordon is still a top-70 player this month. Expect him to trend up even more.

We’ll have the podcast up shortly!

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