Alex Barutha 🏀

🚨 Fantasy Basketball Mid-Week Schedule/Streaming Guide 📅 Thu Oct 29 – Wed Nov 4 🔖 Bookmark this thread for reference 🏆 Best teams to stream: ATL, CLE, MEM, NOP, POR, SAC ✅ Best days to stream: Thu (3 games), Sun (4), Sat (7) ❌ Skip: CHI, DAL, DEN, DET, MIA, NYK, PHX, WAS 📊 53 games this week, and 3 of 6 game nights are low-volume (fewer than 10 games). No games Tue (Election Day).

Onyeka Okongwu

Just tuned into Kings/Pelicans and it's clear the Pelicans smell blood (a team more dysfunctional than them)

📊 Fantasy Basketball Stock Market: Buy, Sell, Hold Drop ✍️ Mid Week 2 Report 📈 Buy 📈 - Trey Murphy (Rank 138, 98%): Yes, you're buying into dysfunction. Maybe that's bad on principle. But we also know Murphy is better than this, and there were rumors that the Pelicans are trying to trade Dejounte Murray, Jordan Poole and Herb Jones. Right now, Murphy's assist-included usage is down 6%, which is massive. He's also not shooting the ball well, and the defense isn't there. I at least want to see if the Murphy manager is freaking out and will give him to me on the cheap. - Matas Buzelis (Rank 158, 92%): Believe it or not, Buzelis' assist-included usage is up 1% this season. His shooting percentages are down, and the blocks need to catch up. But clearly in the two games he saw 30+ minutes, he looked good. I think this is a buy low, obviously depending on what you're giving up. But Buzelis ranked 75th last year in 29 minutes, and I doubt he'll rank significantly worse than that this year. - Derrick Jones Jr. (Rank 67, 13%): A tale as old as time, Derrick Jones Jr. is a good add in category leagues when he's hot. Right now, he's shooting 58 FG% and is averaging 1.8 STL. - Keaton Wagler (Rank 95, 29%): Tragically, Wagler is shooting 20% on 2-pointers, but he's hitting 39% of his 3s and getting to the free-throw line a ton. Don't be scared off by the FG% -- he's got 25% USG and is seeing 27 MPG. - Jaxson Hayes (Rank 89, 19%): If Hayes is going to play 30+ minutes, he just has to be rostered -- at least in 14-teamers. He can easily be top-100 in that workload, and JJJ is not coming back anytime soon. - Ja’Kobe Walter (Rank 70, 34%): We just got updated news that Kawhi is likely out for 3-4 weeks. Walter becomes an even easier add. 📉 Sell 📉 - Rudy Gobert (Rank 284, 91%): The correct sentiment is "never sell low". But also, Gobert wasn't even a top-100 player last season per game. Now he looks washed. If someone in your league is a believer, I think I'd just take any top 100 player for him. - Julian Champagnie (Rank 65, 33%): Hopefully you sold high after 26 points two games ago, because Champagnie crashed back down to 6 points. My opinion on Champagnie is people think he's better than he actually is for fantasy because he has massive games here and there. But he ranked barely inside the top 200 last season in the same amount of minutes. He's a sell instead of a drop because so many people like him, and you might get something interesting back after 1-2 big games. - Zaccharie Risacher (Rank 96, 29%): Sort of like Champagnie, there are Risacher fanatics out there who probably want him. So if he's on your roster, see what you can get. He'll shoot better than he is right now, but he's also not going to keep getting 3.6 STK in 30 MPG. Also the 30 MPG may not hold considering the Mavs missed a combination of Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving and Naji Marshall over the past 3 games. ✅ Hold ✅ - Onyeka Okongwu (Rank 169, 95%): It hasn't been great for Okongwu, but I think it'll be better. He's struggling shooting from 3 and at the rim, but that should improve. His steal and block rates should also normalize/improve. They need him too much for me to abandon ship. - Donovan Clingan (Rank 147, 97%): Clingan's per-36 numbers are very similar to what they were last season. It's a 3-game sample, and he was in foul trouble in Game 2. - Kel’el Ware (Rank 170, 90%): The minutes aren't ideal, but Ware is also shooting 20% from three (he's better than that) and blocking just 0.8 shots (he's also better than that). It's probably just going to be annoying again, but it's a long season, and Myles Turner isn't exactly Wilt Chamberlain out there. Ryan Rollins (Rank 200, 91%): Let's break this one down a bit. Rollins' usage rate is the same as last season, but he's shooting 34/29/60 -- that will undoubtedly improve. He's also cutting the mid-range out of his game and has been attacking the basket more. His steal rate has declined, but I also think that's going to bounce back considering the career sample size we have. The minutes aren't what you want, but it's 29 MPG if you take out yesterday's blowout, and Taylor Jenkins is probably not going to lean on him if he's struggling offensively. Maybe I'm coping, but I'm still optimistic about Rollins this year. - Zach Edey (Rank 135, 89%): It's been 3 games, and the Grizz are easing Edey along coming off his ankle issues. He also got in foul trouble on Monday. The biggest concern for me is that his assist-included usage is down 6%. He's also getting fewer shots created for him this year (82% assisted shot rate last year compared to 57% this year). The rebounds are also down, which is probably a function of playing next to Boozer. On the plus side, Edey's blocks are actually up. I'm not expecting the heights we hoped for, but there's still minutes upside we haven't seen. - Josh Giddey (Rank 154, 98%): Giddey has been better the past 3 games. I will say, though, I think he's just as much of a sell as he is a hold. There's reason for optimism since he's been top-45 the past two seasons. But his assist-included usage is down 8% (which is massive), and it's a brand new coach, with brand new players, and Norm Powell and Caleb Wilson are taking a ton of shots. I'd field offers at least and see what someone is willing to give you. - Kris Dunn (Rank 33, 48%): Dunn came back down to earth yesterday but I wouldn't drop. If you picked him up, you're doing so for defense and assists. I don't see those things changing anytime soon. - Grayson Allen (Rank 84, 36%): Unsurprisingly, Allen was dropped in some leagues after his single-digit scoring performance. But look, we have no good updates on Kon and Coby. You just hold Allen. Dennis Schroder (Rank 143, 25%): Like Allen, just hold Schroder until we get Coby/Kon updates. - Duncan Robinson (Rank 75, 44%): Robinson is launching from three and hitting a sustainable percentage. Just don't buy the 1.6 steals. - Bobby Portis (Rank 92, 31%): Portis has a stable role and can flirt with top-100 value in sixth-man minutes. He's also a great insurance policy for the health of Giannis and Bam. ❌ Drop ❌ - Mikal Bridges (Rank 289, 84%): Bridges' assist-included usage is down 4% this season. He'll be better, but not better than anything you can stream. - Andrew Wiggins (Rank 195, 76%): Wiggins has been better the past 2 games, but he's just not involved enough. The upside just isn't there to keep holding in standard leagues. - Day’Ron Sharpe (Rank 188, 78%): Sharpe is somewhere between a hold and drop for me, but I'll put him here because I think it's fine to bail in 10-team leagues, and I'd still definitely hold in 14-teamers. He's been in bad foul trouble, but I also get the feeling Jordi Fernandez doesn't trust him. His assist-included usage is down 4%, and he's turning the ball over A TON. They're also having him shoot threes, which I just don't get. It's just not a great sign when a great offensive rebounder is spacing from 3. - John Collins (Rank 165, 82%): This is similar to the Sharpe case. I think Collins is a 10-team drop and a 14-team hold. I thought he might be more involved in the offense, but he's just not. There's certainly upside because of Duren's absence, but the rest of the Pistons guys are collectively doing more. - Neemias Queta (Rank 209, 63%): I didn't understand the Queta hype in the first place so he's an easy drop to me. He was barely top 100 last year and now he doesn't have the minutes.

🔥 MOST ADDED Players on Yahoo Today (Oct. 29) #FantasyBasketball 🏀 🔴 Rob Williams, POR 🔴 ✅ Must Add: 16+ teamers 🌊 Stream/Soft Add: 12+ teamers 📅 Schedule: THU/SAT/MON/WED 📊 Similar in points leagues ✍️ With just 3 games today, most adds are streaming related. That's the case for Williams, but he's also undoubtedly playing well. In 18 MPG, he's posted 9.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.7 STK. As always with Williams, he's rosterable in 14-16 team leagues, but he just can never stay healthy. As a result, he makes for a great streamer in standard formats. 🟣 De'Andre Hunter, SAC 🟣 ✅ Must Add: 20+ teamers (maybe? probably not) 🌊 Stream/Soft Add: Literally just for today 📅 Schedule: THU/SAT/MON/WED 📊 Probably similar in points leagues. I don't know. It's not worth checking. ✍️ It's the perfect storm. Hunter scored 24 points last game and today is a low-volume day in the NBA. He makes sense as a stream today, but I'm expecting his more typical 10 points considering that's what he's averaging this season on 47 FG% and 53 3P%. Hunter also did most of his damage against the Spurs in the 3rd and 4th quarters when it was already a blowout. 🔴 Jrue Holiday, POR 🔴 ✅ Must Add: 14-16 teamers 🌊 Stream/Soft Add: 10+ teamers 📅 Schedule: THU/SAT/MON/WED 📊 Worse in points leagues ✍️Since the Game 1 blowout, Holiday has played well, posting a total of 34 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in 56 minutes. I still doubt he'll be a top-100 player this season, but he's a great streaming add and should be rostered in deeper formats. I think we're getting 25-30 mins on any given night with decent all-around numbers. 🏀 Rest of Top 10 4. Pelle Larsson 5. Kingston Flemings 6. Peyton Watson 7. Terrence Shannon Jr. 8. Jaylen Wells 9. Jeremiah Fears 10. Ja'Kobe Walter

What were your biggest fantasy basketball wins and losses from tonight's 12 games? Who's got you panicking? Who's got you hyped?

Also......playing 35 minutes on the second night of a B2B coming off an Achilles tear. Maybe not wise.

🔥 MOST ADDED Players on Yahoo Today (Oct. 28) #FantasyBasketball 🏀 🔵 Terrence Shannon Jr., MIN 🔵 ✅ Must Add: 14-teamers 🌊 Stream/Soft Add: 12-teamers 📅 Schedule: WED/FRI/SAT/MON 📊 Significantly better in points leagues ✍️ Anthony Edwards is undergoing knee surgery and will likely be out 2+ months. Minnesota already had a thin depth chart behind the starters. Shannon has already been seeing 22 MPG, averaging 13/3/3. He should see more usage without Ant, though half his minutes this season already came without Ant on the floor. Assuming 30-33 MPG and some extra usage, there's a path to Shannon being a top-100 category league asset, though he's heavily bent toward being a points and threes guy. Assists are TBD, defense is non-existent, and the efficiency is also a question in an increased role. For those reasons, he's a significantly better points league player. It's hard to call him a true must-roster because Dosunmu, Kuminga, LaMelo and McDaniels are also going to absorb a lot of usage, but Shannon is at least worth adding to a streaming spot to see what happens. Minnesota is on a 3-in-4, so that makes him an easy stream. 🔴 Ja'Kobe Walter, TOR 🔴 ✅ Must Add: 12-teamers 🌊 Stream/Soft Add: 8-10 teamers 📅 Schedule: WED/FRI/SUN/MON 📊 Significantly worse in points leagues ✍️ With Kawhi Leonard out "weeks" with knee swelling, Walter should step into the starting five and see significant minutes, likely 30+. Already this season, he's shown off some improvements, including a career-high assist rate, more self-created shots and career-best defensive rates (not to mention a career-high 3-point rate). I think there's a path to Walter being a top-100 category league option in as few as 26-28 minutes, and upside to be top-75 if he sees 32 MPG -- much less so in points leagues. Maybe Kawhi comes back in two weeks and Walter turns back into just a streamer, but do you trust Kawhi to stay healthy? I think we add now and figure it out later. 🟣 Mo Bamba, UTA 🟣 ✅ Must Add: 14-16 teamers 🌊 Stream/Soft Add: 10-12 teamers 📅 Schedule: WED/SAT/MON 📊 Similar in points leagues ✍️ With Jaxson Hayes out Monday, and then both JJJ and Markkanen going down, Bamba ended up seeing 29 minutes. He posted 14/7/1/0/4. JJJ will be out about two months with an MCL injury, Markkanen is questionable today, and Hayes is questionable today. Given the situation, Bamba is a good streamer even if Hayes plays and a great streamer if he doesn't. I'm probably less optimistic on his medium/long-term viability than others. I think his true upside is splitting center minutes 50/50 with Hayes while JJJ is out. But the reality is -- Bamba has only ever seen more than 24 MPG in a season once (17 MPG career average). In that one season (26 MPG), he ranked 77th in category leagues. The Jazz are also bringing Kyle Filipowski along after back surgery, and I bet we'll see some Tony Bradley too -- someone who has been serviceable in spot situations like this. Small-ball 5 Markkanen for a few minutes here and there would also not shock me. Again, not trying to rain on the parade. I'm good adding him today into a streaming spot to scout out the role, but it'd be hard for me to drop a useful, stable player for him. 🏀 Rest of Top 10 4. Moussa Diabate 5. Jared McCain 6. Ace Bailey 7. Kris Dunn 8. Paul Reed 9. PJ Washington 10. Rob Williams

Not really sure what the situation is here