Paul Reed, the Thompson Twins, Fred VanVleet and Onyeka Okongwu all made it into the Dr. A Mailbag column this week. Keep the questions coming at @docktora! Let's go.
Thoughts on Memphis bigs with Xavier Tillman going to Boston? Do I drop Luke Kornet in my 20-team league? - Ken K-Train Crites (@KenCrites)
My main man, K-Train! Thank you for reminding Luke Kornet was still a thing. The Memphis bigs situation doesn't really change much in my mind, as Tillman wasn't playing much anyway. I'm still very worried about a Jaren Jackson shutdown which should mean that, if healthy, Santi Aldama, GG Jackson and David Roddy should be the guys down the stretch. Aldama, given his experience, might also be a shutdown candidate, but for now those are the three bigs I want to roster in Memphis. I'd put them in that order, but would not argue with anyone who would rather stash GGJ over Aldama. As for Kornet, I'm thinking you can live without him.
What's going on with Paul Reed? Will he become an NBA player again? Does Clint Capela start if he's traded? - (@iqueaf10223)
He's been sick and he's also Paul Reed. It seems like almost every time he's supposed to blow up and save our teams he lets everyone down, although he does have that 30-point, 13-rebound game against Denver on Jan. 27 to hang his hat on before five games of, um, crap. I still think we need to
Paul Reed, the Thompson Twins, Fred VanVleet and Onyeka Okongwu all made it into the Dr. A Mailbag column this week. Keep the questions coming at @docktora! Let's go.
Thoughts on Memphis bigs with Xavier Tillman going to Boston? Do I drop Luke Kornet in my 20-team league? - Ken K-Train Crites (@KenCrites)
My main man, K-Train! Thank you for reminding Luke Kornet was still a thing. The Memphis bigs situation doesn't really change much in my mind, as Tillman wasn't playing much anyway. I'm still very worried about a Jaren Jackson shutdown which should mean that, if healthy, Santi Aldama, GG Jackson and David Roddy should be the guys down the stretch. Aldama, given his experience, might also be a shutdown candidate, but for now those are the three bigs I want to roster in Memphis. I'd put them in that order, but would not argue with anyone who would rather stash GGJ over Aldama. As for Kornet, I'm thinking you can live without him.
What's going on with Paul Reed? Will he become an NBA player again? Does Clint Capela start if he's traded? - (@iqueaf10223)
He's been sick and he's also Paul Reed. It seems like almost every time he's supposed to blow up and save our teams he lets everyone down, although he does have that 30-point, 13-rebound game against Denver on Jan. 27 to hang his hat on before five games of, um, crap. I still think we need to hang onto him until he's healthy and see if he can hold off Mo Bamba and become a fantasy force. But, for the record, I have zero shares of Reed and lose no sleep at night as a result. He simply has to be better, right?
Is there a chance that Onyeka Okongwu can hold the starting job over Clint Capela after the All-Star break? - Illgobbo (@Illgobbo)
Absolutely. Capela could easily be traded or the Hawks could decide they like what Okongwu's doing and bring Capela off the bench. The fact the Hawks are 4-1 over their last five games works in Okongwu's favor and they need to make at least one trade, if not two or three. I'm holding on to Okongwu, who has been a Top 25 player over the last week, for dear life and hoping he continues to start at this point.
Fred VanVleet is injured with an adductor strain. What is your approximate return date and who benefits from his absence fantasy wise? - Illgobbo (@Illgobbo)
What's your take on Fred VanVleet? Is Amen Thompson a pickup? - Edwin Gohhey
Jalen Green has been ballin' and Amen Thompson has looked great, so they're both winners for as long as FVV is out. His targeted return is Feb. 14 but I could see him being out a bit longer, as these types of injuries are easy to aggravate. Additionally, Houston has mostly fallen out of the playoff race so they will hopefully pull the plug on the season and let the kids play. I'm all about picking up both Thompson Twins right now.
Top 3 waiver guys to stash in preparation for the trade deadline? - KemitKyrie (@KemitKyrie)
GG Jackson, Thompson Twins, Onyeka Okongwu, Corey Kispert
What Hawks trade would you like? Surely one of Saddiq Bey or De'Andre Hunter are moved, but I think Dejounte Murray stays. - Stephen (@FunbagsStephen)
I'd love to see a blockbuster type of deal where Clint Capela, De'Andre Hunter, Saddiq Bey and Dejounte Murray all get shipped out of town. That means Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu and whoever they bring in would all potentially blow up. Bogi Bogdanovic would also see a big boost but my guess is he's going to be moved as well. I doubt most of this happens, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't mind seeing all these guys go.
Coaches you'd hire if you ran an NBA team? - Lex (@Lex997929967679)
I'll give you three I love and three I hate, in terms of fantasy.
Jason Kidd - He plays his guys consistently and gives them the minutes that we fantasy managers need. You know Luka and his mates are going to play the minutes that we need them to play every night.
Steve Clifford - He plays Brandon Miller every single night and he's going to make a run at Rookie of the Year.
Michael Malone - Denver's stars get run every night, Nikola Jokic doesn't take nights off and he lets them roll.
Coaches I don't like:
Jacque Vaughn - He's stifling Cam Thomas and ruining him and he keeps playing guys different minutes randomly. He drives me nuts and will go down as a coaching disaster.
Darvin Ham - The Lakers hate him, LeBron hates him and I don't like how he's managing the team. It's a bleep show in L.A. right now.
Monty Williams - He's getting all that money to coach the Pistons and he's trying to win now with a team built for the future. The fact he's ruining Ausar Thompson and Jaden Ivey in favor of guys like Killian Hayes, Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic is a joke. Let the kids play, bruh.
Bonus - Nick Nurse - Yes, he's no longer ruining Chris Boucher's prime, but he's still annoying and now he doesn't have Joel Embiid to throw around night-to-night. I will never get over his hatred, or misplaying, of
Boucher, ruining the prime of his career.
Better trade deadline stash: Paul Reed or Ausar Thompson? 12t-cat - AdmiralNeeda
Paul Reed is the answer here, as much as I don't like it, but I'm more about stashing Ausar than Reed, simply because Reed always lets us down and Thompson is all upside. Even Monty Williams can figure that out, right?
Should I pick up Joel Embiid in my league ? Someone dropped him. He's being reevaluated in 4 weeks and I'm 14-1, he could help a lot in the fantasy playoffs obviously. - SideEyeMuppet
Yes, pick him up and stash him on your IR if you can. If he comes back, you might win your league. And if he struggles, you just leave him on your IR and roll along. But he's worth stashing just in case, as he was the leading MVP candidate before the injury.
