Obviously, written somewhere in NBA mythology is the dictum that the Chicago Bulls may not have all five starters healthy at once, because after not even one half with the first five guys, Jimmy Butler went down with a shoulder injury. Sigh. There was some joy for some fantasy owners, as James Harden continued his role as the Houston Rockets. Let's look at all that went down, including a couple of trades.
CHARLOTTE BECOMES A MO TOWN
Continuing on his run as a fill-in player for injured starters, Mo Williams was shipped off to Charlotte, now that Ricky Rubio is back healthy in Minnesota. Williams will likely fill the starting point guard role while Kemba Walker is out and heads to the Queen City along with Troy Daniels, traded already once this season, in exchange for Gary Neal and a second-round draft choice. While the deal looked a little lopsided in favor of the Hornets, consider that this move opens up minutes for rookie Zach LaVine and it also allowed them to make a second trade, with the Atlanta Hawks, for rookie Adreian Payne, sending a first round pick the other way. By sending out two players for one to Charlotte, a roster spot was opened up for Payne, where Minnesota also used their trade exception gained in the Kevin Love deal to be able to acquire Payne without matching salaries. What does it mean for fantasy?
Well, Williams, in his 19 games as a starter this season, has averaged 16.3 points, 2.2 three-pointers, 2.9 rebounds, and 7.6 assists and although the dramatic drop in pace comes into play, he is now a must own for at least the next five weeks while Walker is out. For guys like Daniels and Neal, it's doubtful their value changes much at all, but one guy to look out for, particularly in deeper leagues is Payne. If Minnesota is committed to moving out their veterans, Thaddeus Young could be on his way, opening up minutes for Payne alongside Anthony Bennett and Gorgui Dieng. I grabbed Payne in a 20 team league when the news was announced and while you can go a little shallower, I wouldn't get too excited about the move. It's just something to keep an eye on, as Payne can be a floor stretcher and is a fantastic rebounder.
M.I.A.
These guys all sat out Tuesday's action, for one reason or another.
- Pistons
- Caron Butler (back)
- Hornets
- Bismack Biyombo (knee)
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (hamstring)
- Kemba Walker (knee)
- Mo Williams (traded)
- Troy Daniels (traded)
- Kings
- Derrick Williams (ankle)
- Darren Collison (hip)
- Bulls
- Kirk Hinrich (toe)
- Rockets
- Terrence Jones (illness)
- Dwight Howard (knee)
- Suns
- Alex Len (ankle)
- Nets
- Sergey Karasev (DNP-CD)
- Grizzlies
- Vince Carter (foot)
- Nuggets
- Jameer Nelson (Achilles)
- Lakers
- Ronnie Price (DNP-CD)
- Jordan Hill (hip)
FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT
Do you need me to tell you that James Harden had the fantasy line of the night? I doubted it. Harden had 40 points (13-23 FG, 3-7 3Pt, 11-14 FT) with 12 rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and one block in 43 minutes and is very close to being the number one player in fantasy, if he's not already there. Harden is now averaging 36.3 points in his last four games and is literally doing everything else as well in that time frame. How does 3.3 three-pointers, 6.8 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks on 51 percent shooting from the field and 80 percent from the line strike you? Amazing.
ROTATION NOTES AND QUIRKS
Jodie Meeks managed 28 minutes, compared with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's 27 minutes, one of the rare occurrences that the free agent acquisition has gotten more court-time than the sophomore. Meeks had 18 points with three steals, but give the way the season has panned out, I don't see much appeal from either guy in standard 12 tam formats.
Jeff Taylor got another start for the Hornets and played 31 minutes this time, scoring 12 points with two three-pointers. That's two straight starts for Taylor in place of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, but there's not a huge urgency to add him, unless you play in a deep 20 team league like I do. Lance Stephenson played just 20 minutes off the bench and it's hard to find a player that is hated more by his team than what Stephenson is right now. He has no business on a standard league fantasy roster.
Rudy Gay returned from his one game absence and played a whopping 40 minutes for 24 points with seven rebounds and five assists. He can be deployed as usual. That forced Omri Casspi back to the bench. Ramon Sessions played just 22 minutes for three points and two assists, while Ray McCallum got 26 minutes, scoring 11 points with four assists. With a coaching change all but set to occur in the next week, George Karl will have to decide on a lot of things with this team and some roles could be up in the air, none more so than the point guard position.
With Butler down, Tony Snell stepped up to play a massive 41 minutes off the bench, scoring a career-high 24 points with four three-pointers. Snell was an adept shooter in Summer League, but has done a little more than nothing this season. I'm not rushing to add Snell with Butler hopefully missing minimal time, but in a deeper league, Snell's recent play may allow him to carve out a much bigger role moving forward. He does have to compete with Doug McDermott and Kirk Hinrich though, with the latter currently out as well. Mike Dunleavy returned from his injury, and started, playing 24 points for a modest five points.
Donatas Motiejunas battled fouls, garnering five in 17 minutes, meaning Josh Smith, Joey Dorsey and Kostas Papanikolaou shared the minutes in the front court with both Howard and Jones sidelined. Off that trio, only Smith is useful and had himself another big game scoring 20 points with six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. He is a must-own in head-to-head leagues.
Eric Bledsoe made his return from paternity leave, to lead the Suns with 32 points, adding four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Isaiah Thomas returned the bench, but still played 30 minutes for 14 points and six assists. With Alex Len still out, Miles Plumlee got another start and played 17 minutes for two steals and four blocks, while Brandan Wright, curiously, played just 10 minutes, less than what he was playing when Len was healthy.
Jarrett Jack got himself injured, suffering a kick in the hamstring and although it ruled him out of the rest of the game, it doesn't appear like it will be a lengthy layoff. Surprisingly, Kevin Garnett played, albeit just 14 minutes, in the second half of a back-to-back, leaving Brook Lopez on the bench. Lopez played just 23 minutes for 12 points and four rebounds as the curious decisions keep piling up for Lionel Hollins.
Once again, Jusuf Nurkic was limited by his propensity to foul, racking up five in his 19 minutes, but still giving us glimpses, blocking four shots and grabbing five rebounds in that time. His value is capped by the fouls, but the upside is palpable.
Once again, the Lakers' rotation is a mess, with the starting frontcourt of Tarik Black and Robert Sacre failing to combine for 40 minutes.
BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES
Rookie P.J. Hairston hit four triples off the bench for 16 points in 27 minutes and he is taking advantage of MKG's absence as well, but his fantasy relevance is low, while Lance Stephenson added just three rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes. Gerald Henderson was good again, scoring 17 points with five assists, but his recent uptick in dimes may be reduced with Williams coming on board.
DeMarcus Cousins had a horror shooting night, going 5-for-15 from the field and 5-for-10 from the line, but still added 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol were fantastic for the Bulls, with Rose adding 23 points and seven assists. His numbers look appealing, but in the grand scheme of things, they aren't as good as you may think for fantasy purposes, and I still think selling him is the prudent move. Joakim Noah played just 17 minutes due to his five fouls, allowing Taj Gibson to play 34 minutes, accumulating three steals and two blocks in that time.
Patrick Beverley had himself a solid night, going for 15 points with six rebounds, six assists and three three-pointers and is a continually underrated fantasy option. No-one is taking minutes from him, but keep in mind that Harden is this team's point guard in all but designation.
Like Beverley, P.J. Tucker is underrated and he scored 17 points with three triples. For solid rebounds, three-pointers and steals, Tucker is a great shooting guard eligible player.
Alan Anderson scored 15 points with 28 minutes, but despite his recent big minutes, I don't think he's someone that anyone outside of deep leagues need consider.
Six members of the Grizzlies scored in double-digits, including bench players Tony Allen and Beno Udrih. That's not something that is all that reproducible, so don't get too excited.
Kenneth Faried followed up his big night with an absolute stinker of two points and five rebounds in 22 minutes. Good ol' Brian Shaw. Ty Lawson was able to put up big numbers though, adding 16 assists to his 32 points.
A big night for Carlos Boozer, who scored 21 points with 10 rebounds in 30 minutes, and Boozer is someone who has been relatively consistent this season He gives you barely anything apart from points, rebounds and field goal percentage, but that can useful, even in standard leagues.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Points
- James Harden, G, HOU, 40 points
- Ty Lawson, G, DEN, 32 points
- Eric Bledsoe, G, PHX, 32 points
Rebounds
- Pau Gasol, F, CHI, 16 rebounds
- Mason Plumlee, C, BKN, 14 rebounds
- James Harden, G, HOU, 12 rebounds
- Greg Monroe, F, DET, 12 rebounds
Assists
- Ty Lawson, G, DEN, 16 assists
- James Harden, G, HOU, 9 assists
- DeMarcus Cousins, C, SAC, 8 assists
Steals
- James Harden, G, HOU, 3 steals
- Mason Plumlee, C, BKN, 3 steals
- Zach Randolph, F, MEM, 3 steals
- Jodie Meeks, G, DET, 3 steals
- Taj Gibson, F, CHI, 3 steals
- Mike Conley, G, MEM, 3 steals
Blocks
- Al Jefferson, C, CHA, 4 blocks
- Jusuf Nurkic, C, DEN, 4 blocks
- Miles Plumlee, C, PHX, 4 blocks
Three-Pointers
- Tony Snell, G, CHI, 4-6 3Pt
- P.J. Hairston, G, CHA, 4-9 3Pt
- James Harden, G, HOU, 3-7 3Pt
- Goran Dragic, G, PHX, 3-4 3Pt
- Patrick Beverley, G, HOU, 3-10 3Pt
- P.J. Tucker, F, PHX, 3-6 3Pt
- Anthony Tolliver, F, DET, 3-6 3Pt
Minutes
- Ty Lawson, G, DEN, 45 minutes
- James Harden, G, HOU, 43 minutes
- Tony Snell, G, CHI, 41 minutes