Welcome to the opening-day Daily Dose! There are just two games tonight, featuring the Pelicans at Raptors at 8 p.m. on TNT, and then the Lakers at Clippers, also on TNT at 10:30. Follow me on Twitter by clicking here!
The big news of the day on Monday was that Zion Williamson had meniscus surgery on his knee, presumably to remove it. He’s going to be out anywhere from 6-8 weeks, but I’ve heard a lot of chatter about him not playing at all this season. Of course, that’s just speculation and I am of the belief that he’ll miss 30 games and then start playing, but it’s a tough blow for anyone who drafted him this season. I took him at 16 in my 30-team league just before the injury was announced and had to replace him with Gorgui Dieng, lol.
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Unfortunately, without seeing your league’s waiver wire, it’s impossible for me to tell you who to pick up in his stead. But I think guys like Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday, Derrick Favors and J.J. Redick will all benefit quite a bit in New Orleans. There just isn’t likely to be a stud PF just sitting out there are your waiver wire who can fill Zion’s large shoes. Hopefully you drafted a couple other PFs and can just stash Zion on your bench, or better yet, into an IR spot. Maybe Rui Hachimura, Zach Collins or Kevon Looney went undrafted in your league, and I’d recommend keeping a close eye on Nicolo Melli on Tuesday night, just in case he steps up. The best advice I can give Zion owners is to be bold on the waiver wire if someone steps up between now and Sunday who qualifies at PF and was undrafted. But the bottom line is that if you drafted Zion, it’s not going to be easy to find someone to keep you afloat while he’s out. It’s simply a tough blow on one of the most exciting players we’ve seen come into the league.
As for the Pelicans @ Raptors game, I envision Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday, J.J. Redick, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Brandon Ingram and Derrick Favors all putting up solid numbers. And if NAW went undrafted in your league, he’s a player I’d consider making a move on sooner than later. Unfortunately, he was drafted in all of mine.
For the Raptors, Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka should all put up decent numbers, while one of their small forwards is going to have to emerge. OG Anunoby is the best bet, and the only one I trust (Stanley Johnson, Malcolm Miller and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are the others).
Looking at the Lakers @ Clippers, we’ll be looking for big things from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, obviously, while Avery Bradley, Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard could all be sneaky plays.
For the Clippers, Patrick Beverley (calf) should be good to go, but Paul George (dual shoulder surgeries) will miss at least the first 10 games of the season. That means more goodies for Kawhi Leonard, while Montrezl Harrell should have a big night. JaMychal Green, Moe Harkless and Landry Shamet are all worth fliers for the opener, but there’s risk in using any of them. Shamet might end up being the big winner for the first few weeks with PG-13’s injury. He should be worth owning, at least until George is healthy and ready to go.
We had a draft on Monday night featuring nine Rotoworld basketball writers, another Rotoworld co-worker, and a couple Rotoworld readers. It was a snipe fest and most of us could predict who would be picked next. The league is super deep and Matt Stroup’s Wednesday podcast will touch on some of the things that happened in that draft. Jonas Nader took Luka Doncic right in front of me at 14, I reached for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, knowing that Mike Gallagher wouldn’t let him get back to me, and Gallagher swiped our guy Caris LeVert before he could get back to me. Good times!
My first 12 picks in that league were Trae Young, Deandre Ayton, LaMarcus Aldridge, SGA, Marvin Bagley, Josh Richardson, Danilo Gallinari, RJ Barrett, Serge Ibaka, Dwayne Bacon, J.J. Reddick and Justise Winslow. I made a classic rookie mistake by thinking it was a two-center league, like most of my other Yahoo! Leagues, but it isn’t. Otherwise, I would not have taken Aldridge. But when you’re in as many leagues as we are, just showing up for drafts and making it happen is half the challenge, settings aside.
This column will generally recap what happened in the previous night’s games, keying on hot pickups, hot takes, playing time issues, and everything else related to fantasy hoops. Since there were no games on Monday, the column’s a little light today. But that will all change on Tuesday.
Welcome to another season of fantasy hoops! And here’s to hoping that your teams live up to your expectations in a short Week 1!
Lastly, Jonas Nader is taking over the Waiver Wired column this season and he’s already pumped out the first one, even though the season hasn’t started. If you own Zion, or any other injured players, you should go check it out right now!
