This article is part of our Rebound & Rant series.
Can we be honest? Seriously, can I be really, really honest? Because, darn it, this is the Honesty Edition of the R&R! Honestly, I sometimes struggle setting winning DFS lineups. I'm an old man, living in EST, who is generally having dinner with my family instead of checking last minute NBA lineup changes. This has burned me a few times. Regular DFS players should look here for DFS NBA advice, as my occasional DFS observations may not be worth your valuable time.
It feels good to get that off my chest. Also, my second toe is longer than my "big" toe. It's creepy. My kids call my second toe my "ET toe," as in "ET says ouch:"
Maybe that's too much honesty? Let's get back to basketball…
LeBron James
Hey-hey, things sure are getting chippy with The King and Sir Charles Barkley!?! I love Charles and frankly tend to agree with him during this ongoing feud with LeBron. Here's what Sir Charles said:
For the record, Charles called LeBron "great" about 3-4 times, as well as "the best player in the world." Also, he never got personal, outside of rather harmlessly calling him "whiny." And his "highest payroll in the league" comment is a legit point.
Here is how LeBron responded:
LeBron ended Charles Barkley this morning: pic.twitter.com/E6ITRWN3Bs
— Sports Nation Ohio (@SN_Ohio) January 31, 2017
Did Charles really go after his "legacy"? I don't think so.
Charles shot back on ESPN radio. Yes, he called
Can we be honest? Seriously, can I be really, really honest? Because, darn it, this is the Honesty Edition of the R&R! Honestly, I sometimes struggle setting winning DFS lineups. I'm an old man, living in EST, who is generally having dinner with my family instead of checking last minute NBA lineup changes. This has burned me a few times. Regular DFS players should look here for DFS NBA advice, as my occasional DFS observations may not be worth your valuable time.
It feels good to get that off my chest. Also, my second toe is longer than my "big" toe. It's creepy. My kids call my second toe my "ET toe," as in "ET says ouch:"
Maybe that's too much honesty? Let's get back to basketball…
LeBron James
Hey-hey, things sure are getting chippy with The King and Sir Charles Barkley!?! I love Charles and frankly tend to agree with him during this ongoing feud with LeBron. Here's what Sir Charles said:
For the record, Charles called LeBron "great" about 3-4 times, as well as "the best player in the world." Also, he never got personal, outside of rather harmlessly calling him "whiny." And his "highest payroll in the league" comment is a legit point.
Here is how LeBron responded:
LeBron ended Charles Barkley this morning: pic.twitter.com/E6ITRWN3Bs
— Sports Nation Ohio (@SN_Ohio) January 31, 2017
Did Charles really go after his "legacy"? I don't think so.
Charles shot back on ESPN radio. Yes, he called LeBron "whiny" again. But he also added:
Charles Barkley adds that LeBron forgot a few insults about him, like that he finished last on Jeopardy.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) January 31, 2017
I don't think Charles pretends to be an angel. James gets tons of accolades heaped on him? Why does Barkley's honest assessment make him so defensive?
Well, this is a painfully long way to also point out that if you own James in season-long fantasy teams, now might be the time to deal him. I'm confident the Cavs will essentially have the no. 1 seed locked up in the East with many weeks to go. That means he'll get plenty of rest over the last two to three weeks before the season ends. Plus, he's only ranked no. 23 on Yahoo ("Season (total)"). Deal him for lesser-loved Kyle Lowry, DeMarcus Cousins or Draymond Green, especially if your league counts turnovers.
Rick Carlisle
Big ups to Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle for being brutally honest:
The Mavs are a sh*t team. So now is the time to keep an eye on Seth Curry, Justin Anderson and Dwight Powell. Those three are the relative youngsters who may or may not be valuable NBA assets. It's time to find out. Dallas will not learn anything rolling out hobbled Deron Williams. And, boy, that Wesley Matthews contract ($70 million for four years, signed in 2015) is looking pretty painful. Look for Curry, Anderson and Powell's minutes to continue creeping up. Over his last 10 games, Curry averaged 15.2 points, 2.5 made threes and 1.5 steals from 32 minutes per game. Let him play, coach!
King Cake Baby
This is terrifying. It's even scarier than Anthony Davis' supporting cast. Can someone from New Orleans please explain this?
The first 8,000 fans that attend the @pelicansnba vs @washwizards will receive a King Cake Baby mascot bobblehead! @pelicansKCBpic.twitter.com/quEs9jWttU
— Morris Bart (@MorrisBartLLC) January 28, 2017
Derek Fisher
On Sunday, Bleacher Report posted a somewhat bizarre, overly honest interview with former Knicks coach Derek Fischer. You can read that here. But here's a quote about Fisher and Phil Jackson that drives me crazy:
Forbes values the New York Knicks at $3 billion as of January 2016. So, naturally, put two men in charge who don't "know exactly what" they are doing. What!?! OK, I give Fisher credit for being honest, but this interview screams "don't hire me!" Here's another odd one:"We both didn't know exactly what we were doing. Being the head coach is not like playing. Being president is not like being the head coach. That's one of the reasons why we didn't quite complete our meshing and blending of talents and thoughts, because those two positions are not always aligned.".
Much further along? The Knicks were 23-31 last season when Fisher was fired. They are 21-28 now. To me, this sounds like a man anxious for attention; attention he is not currently getting from NBA leaders."We were able to take a team that wasn't as talented as the team they have now, and we were much better and much further along than this group is that they have now, because the foundation was being laid."
Fantasy-wise, what do we do about the Knicks? Will they deal Carmelo Anthony? I doubt it – who wants an aging, slow-the-ball-down, doesn't-always-play defense small forward? I'd love it if they gave 27-year-old Lithuanian rookie Mindaugas Kuzminskas more minutes. His current per-36-minutes stats are 15.1 points, 4.5 boards, 1.3 steals and 2.1 trifectas – imagine how that would improve with some more seasoning. Should the Knicks actually dump Mello, Kuz is the guy to grab.
It's also time to take rookie Willy Hernangomez seriously. The 22-year-old Spaniard has averaged 8.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 0.4 blocks per game over his last five. It would be fantastic if the Knicks could deal Kyle O'Quinn to a contender to free up minutes for the blossoming Hernangomez.
Jeez, being honest is tiring! I need a nap. Did I mention I'm old? Well, passengers, this crotchety fantasy train has hit the END OF THE LINE! CHOO-CHOO!!!
PS – For a more thorough review of the LeBron versus Sir Charles beef, Rachel Nichols does a great job here on ESPN:
