Newsletter

We kick this week off with the least surprising painful news of the season: AD is out for at least a month. The most logical pickup for us is Damian Jones, but Ham might try to get crafty considering there’s no one on the roster (or arguably in the league) who can replace AD. Regardless of who he puts in the backup role, Thomas Bryant is a hot commodity now (shouts out Peanut; enjoy it while it lasts) but unfortunately an expiring asset. ‘Cause there’s no way in hell they’re rushing AD back. Have yourself a month, Thomas!

Moving quickly past that shitty update, let’s talk about my hobby team: the Pacers.

Having watched entirely too much of Indiana this year, I can tell you they are going through it right now with lineup changes. As of late they have dropped Jalen Smith for Andrew Nembhard. That’s a 6-inch height difference and a radically new style. So Jalen Smith is eligible for us. In the second twist of the night, Carlisle has been going with Oshae Brissett for some (and sometimes most) of Smith’s minutes. So while Smith is eligible, he’s spotty. And you may be thinking: “Oh no, I have Nembhard. Is he still eligible?” Well, Cody, we’ll just have to wait and see. Because…Enter Chris Duarte, who just tonight came back from a 21-game injury stint. Duarte made the all-rookie first team last year and was a quasi-starter at the beginning of the year, although he was losing minutes to the Pacers insane two-guard/wing depth (Hali, Buddy, Benny, TJ, Nembhard, Nesmith) even before the injury. With Duarte healthy and eligible, the ramifications for TJ, Benny, and Nembhard owners could be deadly. Luckily that’s just me and Cody, haha. But wait, there’s more Pacers talk! With the switch to smaller ball, Isaiah Jackson has been either getting DNPCDs or putting up 40. What it comes down to is this: if you want to pay attention to the heights of a guy’s opponents on a nightly basis, grab a Pacer.

Now that that’s done, let’s get into my free agent picks for the week

1.     Nickeil Alexander-Walker – It was only a matter of time before NAW wormed his way into the Jazz rotation, and dammit he’s flourishing all of a sudden. His last six games, in fantasy points: 38, 25, 32, 41, 21, 24. And only two of those were injury starts. That’s certified production

2.     Damian Jones – While he’s been quiet (and by quiet I mean nonexistent) for most of this season, take heart from his double-double in 25 minutes against Toronto last week

3.     Zach Collins – Over the last five games he’s missed one due to injury but has put up over 20 points in the other four. Get him before Isaac does

4.     Jalen Smith – A starter for the first quarter of the year, he’s moved firmly to the bench. He’s only getting about 13 minutes a night, but he’s been pretty consistent with his production

5.     Chris Duarte – He was highly-touted last season, and while he’s in a crowded backup backcourt, Carlisle’s in the midst of shaking things up. If he shoots it well, he’ll get serious minutes

And now, some people I need to add to the Trade Tower

Instead of resending the whole Tower, I’ll just tack in these newbies and let you know where they fall:

#22 Kelly Oubre Jr – He’ll get higher if this one-game stint on the bench is for real, but the way the wind’s blowing I’d rather have him than Jalen McDaniels. Tsunami Papi’s been playing his ass off this year, and I can’t think of any good reason moving back to the bench will hurt that at all

#32 Shake Milton – With Maxey nowhere close to coming back, Milton’s still getting huge minutes and making the most of it

# 33 Victor Oladipo – He’ll be load managed (or full-blown injured) and that puts a cap on his production. But he’s come back like he never left, snagging steals like he understands they’re worth 4 points apiece

#51 Kemba Walker – While Luka won’t miss enough games for him to get 50 with any kind of regularity, he’s getting minutes and he’s such a delightful teammate that Kidd kind of has to play him on this dreadful to watch Mavs team

Bonus Stars!

The I Owe You An Apology, I Wasn’t Really Familiar With Your Game Bonus Star goes to Trendon Watford for hanging a 60 (fantasy) point game on the Old Man Team this week. By proxy, this is a Peanut shoutout

The It’s…Alive! Bonus Star goes to Terance Mann for giving us three out of four games with 20+ fantasy points this week, and one of them a 59er. Cody can finally stop relying on the Arian Market

And finally, the James Brown “I’m Back” Bonus Star goes to Victor Oladipo for putting up back-to-back (if you don’t count the one in between where he sat for injury management) 31 (fantasy) point nights he gave the Old Man Team this week. OMT has another legit trade asset!