Rodney

McGruder

Gay and McGruder faced long odds to make the Warriors’ opening night roster, as both were with the team on training camp deals. According to reports, the Warriors plan on going into the season with 13 players under contract, likely adding a 14th to the roster within the first few weeks. The exits of Gay and McGruder will not impact fantasy basketball.

McGruder has spent the last three seasons playing a minimal role for the Pistons. Now, he’ll have a chance to earn a spot on the Warriors in training camp. Since McGruder won’t be playing much of a role if he makes the team, the more interesting story here is if there will be any notable interactions with Klay Thompson, after Thompson dissed McGruder while participating in a broadcast during his extended injury absence.

McGruder will be sidelined for the fourth time in Detroit’s last five games, and the one appearance was a cameo that lasted less than a minute. Fellow vet Cory Joseph keeps plugging along, but the Pistons’ priority otherwise has been to get their younger players on the court as much as possible.

McGruder will missed a fourth straight game, which will allow Isaiah Livers and Eugene Omoruyi to dominate the minutes on the wing. Livers should remain in the starting unit, though Omoruyi did play 28 minutes on Wednesday.

McGruder sat out Monday’s loss to Milwaukee, and Isaiah Livers was the biggest beneficiary, logging 34 minutes. Eugene Omoruyi - who had been coming on as of late - saw the fewest minutes of any Piston with just 14 off the bench. There’s no clear streaming option to target in Big Rodney M’s place, but Livers and Cory Joseph should see extra run once again. Omoruyi is a risky option for deeper leagues.

McGruder sat out Friday’s loss to Toronto, and both Isaiah Livers and Eugene Omoruyi logged 30 minutes. Neither produced monster stat lines, but both are worth streaming in deeper leagues.

McGruder was one of the veterans held out of Friday’s loss to the Raptors, which freed up minutes for multiple players, including Eugene Omoruyi and Isaiah Livers. Both would again take on expanded roles if McGruder remains sidelined.

With McGruder sidelined against Toronto, Eugene Omoruyi and and Isaiah Livers - probable due to a hip injury - are expected to take on expanded roles.

All four Pistons guards who saw action in Sunday’s game scored in double figures. In addition to Hayes, who recorded his sixth double-double of the season, Cory Joseph (16/3/2 with three 3-pointers), Rodney McGruder (15/9/3/2 with two 3-pointers), and Jaden Ivey (11/4/5 with two 3-pointers) all scored at least 11 points on the day. The issue for Hayes and Ivey was turnovers, as they combined for seven, with the former responsible for a team-worst four. With the Pistons only playing two games in Week 22, road games against the Hawks and Raptors, fantasy managers may want to part ways with a few of these guards in order to add more active players.

Does McGruder have fantasy relevance? Well, due to the Pistons’ many injuries, that was the case. Rostered in 3% of Yahoo leagues, the veteran guard has been a top-100 player in 9-cat formats. The injuries have led to McGruder moving into the starting lineup, while fellow vet Cory Joseph (13 points, two assists, and three 3-pointers in 31 minutes) is playing consistent minutes off the bench. The only negative for both players is that the Pistons only play one more game in Week 21 and two in Week 22. So there isn’t a major need to add McGruder or Joseph at this point, but the period of relevance was fun while it lasted.