It’s only six games. People say this everywhere. Small sample size must be trademarked. But there are real trends, dear readers. If you wait, you’ll miss them. Here are some early trends that savvy readers like you can take advantage of…
Cooper Flagg is being abused and will have a tough time this year. I saw 30 Duke games last year. Cooper Flagg is a great prospect and should be a perennial all-star and all-league candidate. But not at point guard. Jason Kidd, you’re a buffoon. He takes his elite off the ball and turns him into a confused floor general.
I had a high score on Flagg for everything except point guard skills. The only thing he didn’t excel at was creating bounce against stout defenders. Just look at the end of their games they lost against Kansas, Kentucky, Clemson and in the Final Four. He’s not a point guard and this isn’t going to be a good season for Flagg. Horribly mismanaged by the Mavericks.
Josh Giddey, on the other hand, looks like a first-round pick no matter where you draft him. The Bulls run a cutting-based attack that fits Giddey’s game perfectly. How has he performed? 22 points, 9 boards and 8 assists good enough? I know it’s not a nice watch (except for the hair that somehow never moves). You don’t have to look at him though. If anyone who has it isn’t in, go ahead and get it. He’ll be a first-round value, especially with a three-and-steal average, unless you can’t stomach the 3.3 turnovers. The Bulls have a perfectly tailored attack for Giddey to continue putting up big numbers.
Chet Holmgren has great numbers per game but will miss time due to a back injury. I love Holmgren. He’s a statistical unicorn. The knock on his arrival, however, was the health risk. He’s already missed one full season due to a foot ailment since he was drafted, and he played just 32 last year with a hip injury. This year it’s a back? And Oklahoma City won’t be rushing anyone back all year in their quest to be healthy in the playoffs. I’m promoting the numbers and buying it for someone who has a larger number of numbers. He’s really good at basketball; his health issues are extreme and he will likely be limited to 28 minutes in the future.
Mikal Bridges is underrated in nine category competitions. Not that he’s a star, even though Hashtag basketball ranks him in the top 20 and we here at Razzball have him in the top 50. Don’t look for him in points leagues. Do the categories, where he participates everywhere and doesn’t turn the ball over. If you take him as a stabilizer in the middle rounds, well done. If not, see if the owner who has him is understating his numbers and take advantage of his overall contributions.
So there are two positives and two negatives here. Isn’t that what they call a healthy balance? I’ll be back later in the week with rotations.
By the way, do you know what is really real? The Yahoo competition. Your boy is in sixth place and competing, but not really competing. Sixth place, right in the middle. Here’s a look at who was added and removed from this competition last week:
Add trends: Guys cycle through wings looking for threes and stock production. Most of these added guys are streamers; the one I’m most interested in is Jake LaRavia, who like a complete dope I cut before he had a few breakout games. Some other drops and additions are minutes related; Kyle Filipowski, for example, is someone to watch out for if he gets more minutes.
Trendon Watford, Jake LaRavia, Luke Kennard, Derrick Jones, Jr., Jerome Tyson, Jamal Shead, Jalen Smith.
Drops: Jordan Clark, Peyton Watson, Brook Lopez, Dalton Knecht, Kyle Filipowski, Bryce Sensabaugh, Jayden Walker, Javon Small.
Do what you will with this, these are the ones adding and dropping the industry guys in a 12 team category competition.
Thanks for reading and have fun! I’ll be back later with more rotation chaos.
#Early #takeaways #count