Sunday Stars
D’Angelo Russell had ice in his veins during Sunday’s 116-104 win, recording his first double-double in a Nets uniform (and the fourth of his career) with 16 points (6-of-13 FGs, 3-of-4 FTs), 10 assists, seven boards, one steal, four turnovers and one cold-blooded triple in his 29 minutes of floor time. Not only was Russell deadly on the offensive end, but he also did an excellent job locking up Dennis Schroder, who finished the game just 5-of-22 from the field. D-Lo is a perfect fit in Kenny Atkinson’s run-and-gun system, and he clearly has the confidence of his coach, as evidenced by his top-5 clutch time usage rate of 46.3. Overall, he’s seen a 4 percent jump in his usage rate this season (30.7) and looks all set up for a career-year as the focal point of Brooklyn’s rebuild.
The bank was open late for Andrew Wiggins on Sunday evening, who drained the game-winning bucket on his way to 27 points (10-of-20 FGs, 5-of-8 FTs), seven boards, four assists, two triples, two steals and just one turnover in 39 minutes in the 115-113 win over OKC. He’s been lighting it up through his first through games of the year, working with a team-high 28.2 usage rate to go with averages of 24.7 points, 2.7 triples, 5.7 boards, 1.7 dimes and of course just 0.7 steals per contest. It does appear that the 3-point shot will be larger part of Wiggins’ game this season, as he’s currently jacking up a career-high 6.3 triples per contest and connecting on what feels like an unsustainable 42.1 percent of them, but he’s just never going to be a guy who brings many defensive stats to the box score. Still, he’s performing much better than initially anticipated while working alongside Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns, and if he can keep up the 3-point shooting he could be in the top-50 conversation this season.
Russell Westbrook did Russell Westbrook stuff during Sunday’s narrow loss to the Timberwolves, racking up 31 points, 10 assists, five boards, five trey-bombs, one block and just two turnovers in 37 minutes. You could say he’s fairly adept at basketball.
Steven Adams posted a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double in the loss, adding three assists, one steal, two blocks and two turnovers in 35 minutes. He’s been a pleasant surprise this season and looks to be in a much better position to produce with Enes Kanter no longer a part of the equation. The scoring will come and go, but Adams should be a nice source of boards, field goal percentage and defensive stats this season.
Jrue Holiday finally had a nice game during Sunday’s easy win over the Lakers, tallying 14 points (6-of-11 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), five boards, six assists, four steals and four turnovers in 38 minutes. The game does come with somewhat of an asterisk, as opposing point guards have been lighting up Lonzo Ball and the Lakers regularly this season, but maybe this is a sign that’s he’s ready to start moving in the right direction.
DeMarcus Cousins just missed a triple-double, finishing with 22 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, one 3-pointer, two blocks and six turnovers; and Anthony Davis continued his impressive play with 27 points, 17 boards, one triple, three assists, four steals, three blocks and three turnovers. These two, also, are very good at basketball.
Lonzo Ball struggled with his shot on Sunday night, finishing just 3-of-13 from the field for eight points, but he made up for the bunk shooting with 13 dimes, eight boards, one steal and five turnovers in 36 minutes. This is more or less what I’d expect from Ball moving forward, plenty of lame shooting nights with a bunch of peripheral stats. The turnovers and lame shooting percentages will probably limit him to late-round status in 9-cat formats, but he gains quite a bit of value in 8-cat and points settings.
Time to Panic?
Gorgui Dieng logged a season-low 12 minutes off the bench during Sunday’s win in OKC, finishing with just seven points, three boards, one assist, one 3-pointer and one turnover. So is it time to panic? Well, sort of. His minutes have been trending in the wrong direction since his nearly invisible, 14-minute opener and it’s even more disconcerting that Minnesota has rallied off two straight wins with Dieng not really being a part of the formula at all. This was the fear when Tom Thibodeau brought in his former pupil Taj Gibson, and at this point, it’s looking like it’ll take an injury to Gibson or Karl-Anthony Towns for Dieng to become relevant. It is worth noting, however, that Thibs has a bit of reputation for running his guys into the ground, so it’s not completely removed from the realm of reality to suggest that the 32-year-old Gibson may be at risk for injury in Minnesota, which is something Dieng owners will need to continue to remind themselves as he posts ineffective stat lines with the second unit. I can’t really get behind the idea of cutting Dieng just yet, he’s had slow starts before, so, for now, his owners should treat him as a stash.
Jimmy Butler again failed to reach the 20-point mark during Sunday’s win, going 7-of-17 from the field on his way to 15 points, six boards, six assists, one 3-pointer and one turnover in 39 minutes. So, time to panic? Naw. Sure he’s had a slow start to the year, and his usage rate (20.1) is down, but an adjustment period was to be expected; particularly with the shortened training camp and preseason. Keep in mind, Jimmy Buckets was able to establish himself as a first-round stud last year despite having to go through that “Three Alphas” experiment, so I don’t have any doubt that he’ll figure out how to get things going sooner rather than later. Plus, he only needs roughly a 26.5 usage to produce elite value. Now would be a good time to try and buy low on Buckets.
Kawhi Leonard (quad) will not play Monday and remains “out indefinitely.” Time to panic? Well, he’s struggling to walk up stairs, so yeah. Unfortunately, with a guy like Kawhi, who likely cost you a first or second round pick on draft day, all you can do is sit and wait for official word out of San Antonio, but it doesn’t seem like he’s close.
Julius Randle had another fairly ineffective outing in 24 minutes off the bench on Sunday, ending his evening with just 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting (1-of-3 from the stripe) to go with two boards, one assist, one steal, two blocks and two turnovers. The king of this summer’s muscle watch has lost some serious ground to impressive rookie Kyle Kuzma, and unfortunately, it’s looking like it’ll be Larry Nance Jr. in the starting lineup leaving Randle on the fringes fighting for a 25-minute role. I’d give him another few games before officially making the cut, but if the ineffective play continues, he won’t leave owners with much of a choice.
On the Radar
Marco Belinelli scored 19 points on 5-of-13 shooting during Sunday’s loss to Brooklyn, adding three 3-pointers, two rebounds, three assists and one turnover in 31 minutes off the bench. He’s not the most consistent guy, but he could have some more minutes headed his way if Dennis Schroder (ankle) is forced to miss time, giving him some deep league appeal as a 3-point specialist.
John Collins registered his first career double-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, one block and two turnovers in just 21 minutes off the bench. Atlanta opening the year 1-2 should be viewed as a good thing for Collins, as the losses will only accelerate the teams desire to focus on their rookie’s, and there will be less and less of an incentive to start Ersan Ilyasova. I see Collins eventually usurping Ilyasova in the starting five ala Dario Saric last season, and I could see him having a top-75 second half. Collins is loaded with upside making him one of the more attractive stashes out there.
DeMarre Carroll did a little bit of everything during Sunday’s win over his former team, tallying 17 points, two 3-pointers, three rebounds, two assists, two steals, two blocks and two turnovers in 28 minutes. He’s locked in as a starter in Brooklyn and looks like a great fit in Kenny Atkinson’s ball-movement system, so it looks like The Junkyard Dog could be back to being a top-50 player in fantasy hoops pending health. He’s currently owned in just 50 percent of Yahoo! Leagues, which is silly given he’s opened the year with averages of 14.7 points, 6.7 boards, 2.0 assists, 1.7 steals, 2.0 triples, 0.7 swats and just 1.7 turnovers per contest. Let’s get that ownership percentage up!
Caris LeVert moved into the starting lineup on Sunday and finished with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting (6-of-9 from the stripe) to go with six boards, four assists, three steals and four turnovers in 30 minutes. Allen Crabbe seems to play much better when he’s working in a sixth man role, so LeVert might be Brooklyn’s new starting two-guard with Jeremy Lin (knee) done for the season. As you can see, LeVert is a guy who can bring a little bit of everything to the box score, so he’s worth a speculative add in most settings.
Jarrett Allen played well in limited minutes off the bench on Sunday, finishing with four points, four boards and four blocks in just 15 minutes of floor time. All four of his blocks came during a six minutes stretch in the first half, and he looks like a guy who is destined for big minutes sooner rather than later. Timofey Mozgov is not the answer for Brooklyn at center, and Quincy Acy has been spending more time at the four, so Allen really doesn’t have much at all standing in his way to real fantasy value. While he’s not quite there as a standard league guy, Allen is someone to strongly consider stashing away as a shot-blocking specialist in deeper formats.
Kyle Kuzma logged a season-high 30 minutes off the Lakers bench on Sunday, registering 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go with six boards, two triples, two assists, one steal and two turnovers. Kuzma also was a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in this one, giving him a sterling 67.8 true shooting percentage to accompany his 23.5 usage rate, and it seems as though the Summer League star has perhaps forced his way into the rotation in Los Angeles. Give him a look if you’ve got someone to cut.
Injury Report
Dennis Schroder suffered what looked like a pretty bad left ankle during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game in Brooklyn and did not return. He was in some very obvious pain, and unable to put any pressure at all on his left foot on the way back to the locker room, so he’s basically guaranteed to miss Monday’s game in Miami, and perhaps a lot more than that. We should have an official timetable after his MRI on Monday, but Malcolm Delaney figures to log heavy minutes as a starter while Schroder is out, so he’s someone to consider swooping up in deep leagues.
Milos Teodosic was diagnosed with a plantar fascia injury and he is being listed as “out indefinitely,” making him a cut-candidate just about everywhere. Lou Williams, Austin Rivers and Patrick Beverley should all split his minutes, but I just can’t get behind recommending Rivers as an add in most formats.
Cody Zeller (knee), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (personal) and Michael Carter-Williams (knees) will not play Monday vs. the Bucks, which will result in Dwayne Bacon earning another start and an uptick in minutes for Frank Kaminsky.
Dennis Smith Jr. (knee) is questionable to face the Warriors on Monday, as is Devin Harris (personal), while Seth Curry (leg) and Josh McRoberts (leg) have already been ruled out. If DSJ and Harris can’t give it a go, expect Yogi Ferrell to log heavy minutes with J.J. Barea earning another start.
Markieff Morris (hernia) was able to get in some full contact, 1-on-1 work on Sunday, and he remains on track to return to action in a few weeks. Unless you have an IR-spot, Morris isn’t really worth stashing, but his eventual return will crush Kelly Oubre’s value.
Wayne Selden (quad) will miss Monday’s game against the Rockets.
An MRI revealed a sprained left ankle for Jonas Valanciunas and he is being listed as day-to-day. He will miss Monday’s game in San Antonio, but he’s traveling with the team on their six-game road trip, and they’ll be evaluating him on a game-by-game basis. For now, Lucas Nogueira looks like a nice deep league, speculative add, as he could be a nice source of boards and blocks if he’s inserted into the starting five.
Omri Casspi (ankle) is probable to play Monday vs. Dallas.
Bogdan Bogdanovic (ankle) is expected to make his regular-season debut, Monday vs. Phoenix.
