Nick Whalen is joined by Brandon Kravitz to discuss all of the latest fantasy basketball news and headlines. The guys discuss Nikola Vucevic, the Pistons’ record-breaking loss, another Grizzlies win, Jaime Jaquez and more.
0:00: Intro
3:30: Pistons make history
10:50: Andre Drummond + Vucevic injury
14:05: Jaime Jaquez
17:00: Orlando Magic + Anthony Black, Wendell Carter
23:15: Jalen Johnson’s return
24:45: Aaron Gordon bit by dog
30:15: Lakers, Suns concerns
32:30: James Harden back to an elite fantasy asset
35:10: Nick Richards, Pat Williams, Jalen Smith
36:40: Fantasy trade grades
39:40: Vucevic injury
40:55: DLo vs Podziemski
42:10: Ivey vs. Exum
43:35: Cole Anthony, Markelle Fultz
44:05: Valanciunas, Jaren Jackson
45:35: Melton vs. Podziemski
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Welcome in to a Wednesday edition of the Roa wire fantasy basketball podcast Nick whan back with Brandon Kravitz we are presented to you by Underdog we’ll let you know about Underdog right off the bat Underdog fantasy is the number one platform for NBA best ball and DFS or
Pickup contest if you have not tried Underdog yet new users over at Underdog you’ll get a firsttime deposit bonus up to 100 bucks and a free six Monon subscription to Roa wire all you got to do is use the promo code R WNBA that’s R WNBA go to Underdog fantasy.com or
Download the underdog app today and again use that promo code R WNBA to claim your free Roa wire subscription and that deposit bonus it’s free money Brandon I don’t know why you wouldn’t do it if you haven’t signed up at underdog now is the time
I can tell you I you know I’ve been in the Weeds on Underdog I got back into it last night took a couple days off around the holiday didn’t want to be sweating out bets you know while opening up gifts at my my parents house but what yeah
Part of the holiday very big of me I thought in a lot of ways to um you know be the bigger person and and not bet the NBA on Christmas Day we got right back into it last night I had I had Moses Brown props going I had Jabari Walker
Props going uh you know got him in late had to had to really go heavy on that that Portland Sacramento game last well that game delivered too so there were a bunch of Oddball names that you could have uh scored some wins on Via Underdog but I’m I’m just shocked to
Hear that you’re not betting on NBA Christmas it’s like I mean that it’s it is akin to opening your stocking this is not I know this is part of the process I know look I’m not saying while people are trying to talk to you is the like
That that’s the art that we should perfect at this point look it’s on me all right I need to be better I had plenty of irons in the fire on the NFL action on Christmas Day I didn’t feel like I need to double down at this point
Uh but yeah we’ll be back into it this week I’m not worried about that already got some things fired up for tonight uh no roadwire NBA show by the way if you are listening to that on Sirus XM NBA we’re off this week uh we will be back
Starting after the new year but good to be back with you Brandon I know you were sick uh last week hopefully you’re recovered I know you’re you’re still in the latter stages of that Illness but you sound pretty good me uh yeah it would uh it took me out I have a
Four-year-old he brings home all sorts of uh nasty germs thankfully he got sick too he’s all right um and it’s taken me tomorrow will be a full week since I got sick and I still don’t feel like I’m at 100% but I’m close enough to talk some
NBA Hoops so this is actually the first bit of like real on air work I’ve done since I got sick so this feels good to get the juices going I got my cup of tea here I’m ready to talk some basketball love we’re high energy you know normally
We’re doing this POD at like 9:30 a.m. my time so you I got I gotta like Mainline some coffee I I got to really get into the Zone but doing this middle of the afternoon uh a bit more bit more energy and yeah so we we’ll be going for
About 45 minutes here uh we got a hard out around 3:30 PM Eastern so keep that in mind if you’re listening live and get those questions in if you have any fantasy questions you any players you want us to talk about teams uh you know start Sid anything like that just throw
Those in the chat we will hit those over the second half of the podcast thanks to those who’ve chined in already uh limbo boredom hello hello to you Paul hello uh glad to see you guys in the chat and again get those questions stacked up we’ll hit those rapid fire style in the
Second half of the Pod Rand we got to talk Pistons uh we’re not even gon to talk fantasy when it comes to Detroit because we had a a record broken last night I was on on Siri XM doing our football show with Jeff last night gotta
Be honest had a pretty tough time paying attention there were a couple times where he he would ask me something I’d be like wait what oh oh yeah yeah sorry I’m glued to Nets pistons on League Pass yeah this uh this is a tough one to stomach far from fantasy this is very
Much a reality that the Pistons are dealing with a league record 27 losses in a row and it just doesn’t matter who they’re going up against or even what their guys do the fact that Cade Cunningham was as dominant as he was last night dropping 41 points this man
Is doing everything he can to drag this team out of the doldrums and they just don’t have a real NBA roster we like some of the names that are on this team we certainly like Kade Cunningham but man they have so much work to do and it
Starts up top I mean I blame the players partially for the losing streak that they’ve gone on but they’re not the guys that put this team together that’s the front office U Monty Williams I think his head should be on the chopping block here we fire coaches for a whole lot
Less than this and uh 27 losses in a row that’s just tough to stomach heads need to roll well the problem is they paid Maji Williams like what almost 80 million yeah he’s one of the highest paid coaches in the league I think he’s got to be the highest paid coach right I
Think would start with Monty Williams I’m just saying he should be part of the conversation he should look if you lose 27 in a row I I think everything is on the table right I I don’t think there’s anybody who’s who’s safe here uh maybe other than Kate Cunningham and I know
There’s there’s been some chatter of look do they just go like full Mega reset and you know even trade k Cunningham which I don’t think they would do uh he’s still on a rookie contract I I think he’s been good enough that you you view him as a foundational
Piece and I don’t know that he’s necessarily complicit in this uh you know certainly he he played one of his best if not maybe the best second half of his career last night trying to will them to a victory but really man I mean it’s it’s Kade it’s bogdanovich you know
Having Jaylen Duren back you know has certainly helped them I think that’s kind of raised their level they’re not they’re not just getting like completely housed every single night like they were a couple of weeks ago they’ve been more competitive but you know guys like Isaiah Stewart Jaden Ivy they’ve been up
And down you know the bench unit really for Detroit that’s where they get killed right you look at some of the starters like even Isaiah Stewart who didn’t play well last night he was still a plus 12 you know Kate Cunningham plus five Jaden Ivy plus 12 the bench unit every single
Night you know they they were up 22 to eight last night in the early going they put up 31 points in the first quarter I mean it was basically a best case start by piston standards and then you bring in the you know Kevin Knox James wisman
Alec Burks men Thompson unit and those guys immediately blow the lead I mean that’s that’s teams don’t have depth we know that but I I think that’s really what separates this Pistons team from teams like you know Washington and Portland and Charlotte and San Antonio not that those teams have great depth
But the Pistons are basically rolling out g- Leaguers coming off the bench yeah and I would I would throw back to those people that say oh you got to blow this thing up when you’re already at Rock Bottom how do you bottom out I don’t understand what you could really
Do from here this is a team that um that is still going to have it’s not like they’re spending a ton of money they’ll probably trade bonovich but we’ve been saying that for a year I just don’t understand what you can do other than make better decisions and that’s not a
Bottoming out process they’re going to have one of the top picks in the draft whether they trade a couple of their key pieces or not they’ve lost 27 in a row with the guys that are on the roster if they want to lose they’re doing just
Fine at accomplishing that uh so I don’t I don’t really see how hitting a reset on an already Rock Bottom roster is really going to help you here you got to identify I think up piece two at the most and then just figure out how you can start to just to rebuild around
Those guys or or if you’re gonna trade Kade don’t do it under the guys of we’re blowing it up do it because you don’t want to ruin this guy’s career do it at do it out of Charity it’s the giving season let’s find somewhere else for
This guy to play basketball he is a treat and I know I think at this point do we all want to see the Pistons win are we in are we in agreement are we cheering for Detroit we want to see this continue yeah I want to see it continue
I don’t I don’t really have a whole lot of sympathy here I feel bad for Cade obviously but you know there there I think there’s some humors here with Detroit right I mean Troy Weaver was talking pretty confidently about this roster this off season and I think I
Think they thought they were going to be way way better than they’ve been and to me that that kind of adds to the comedy element here it’s a good point to bring up though because you know they had this three- game stretch and they’ve been staring it down for a couple weeks where
It’s like all right that Utah game felt like the won and obviously they let that one slip away everybody expected them to lose on Saturday in Brooklyn they did uh and then you know put forth a good effort but obviously couldn’t get it done last night so they they have the
Record I guess at this point I don’t care if they win I I just think if it’s rare to have a team even in position to set a record like this so I wanted the Nets to win last night just because we were so close to history and it might be
Another like decade before we have another chance at this so the fact that the record has been set you know maybe I’ll back off but I mean they play at Boston tomorrow they’re not winning that game so that’s going to push the streak to to what 28 after that Toronto Houston
At Utah maybe maybe at Golden State at Denver Sacramento and then they are home for the San Antonio Spurs on January 10th so I think you’re you’re circling the Utah game you’re circling the San Antonio game as the possibilities they do play Washington in mid January as
Well so I I don’t I don’t think this is a streak that we’re still talking about like at the end of of January they’re they’re going to find an opportunity here that like I said they’ve been playing more competitive basketball over the last couple of weeks but man I mean
This could this could easily stretch into the 30s uh I mean with this West Coast Road Trip coming up yeah and um I mean the Detroit Pistons now are you know they’re etched in history with what they have uh lacked to accomplish here I think what we’re looking at here is like
A second wave of an inseason tournament where you don’t want to be the team that they end up beating so every game they enter into is like a oneandone tournament because you don’t want to be the team that that allowed them to get that vict Victory and yeah you could you
Could look at the schedule say Utah would be the most likely we know how this works it’s going to end up being one of those teams like a golden state you know one of those teams that should obv I don’t think Boston they’re too fully formed but um it’ll be one of
Those teams that they’re not supposed to beat and they’ll end up taking that that Squad down and it’ll cause chaos within the room of whoever it is they defeat yeah you’re right I mean I think with each loss it becomes increasingly more embarrassing if you’re the team you know
Against whom they they stap that streak I think it was Dron sharp last night for the Nets who said that postgame he’s like yeah man obviously we did not want to lose this game he’s like when I was out there I’m going hard I think he said
He was going 110% when he was on the court last night because you don’t want to be the team that loses um we’ll talk about some other you know fantasy Fallout from these last couple of days obviously we had a a robust Christmas Day slate we had a bunch of games last
Night as well uh you know I I made a critical error in one League Brandon I I was at a funeral yesterday you I was running around driving all over Wisconsin the last couple of days got to be honest was not like Mega locked in uh on my my fantasy rosters getting
Everything in order before uh you know Monday’s games so I kind of already missed by window I did not start Andre Drummond I did not get him in my lineup and Andre Drummond had the game last night 24 points 25 rebounds three steals two blocks even threw an assist hit both
Of his free throws 11 of 13 from the field I feel like this is going to be the turning point in that League where I look back and say man if I had just started Andre Drummond during week 10 man I would have won the league uh but
We’re looking at a nice little window here for Andre Drummond who I guess I’m glad that I have him on a roster like he’s somebody that especially in deeper formats you know at this stage in his career like this is a 16 Team league you’re never gonna feel great about
Rostering Andre Drummond you might get some Chuckles for people in your league when you go pick him up but um you know these are the opportunities when Nicole Lovich Now set to miss some time where you know even these last few seasons when he’s moved into this you know
Backup role he’s playing like 12 minutes off the bench he still has games every now and then where he’ll he’ll put up like eight points 15 rebounds in like 14 minutes and kind of remind you that he’s he’s a permanent monster and the Bulls are saying Nia vich out at least a week
You know I think it was jams or W you said it could be seven to 10 days uh you know we’ve already kind of been down this road with Zack LaVine uh this is a legitimate injury for vich I don’t think they’re just holding him out but for a
Team that you know could go in any direction really as the trade deadline approaches you know I’m not saying you know grab Andre Drummond and start him the rest of the way but this could be a nice like two to three week uh window for Drummond if this vich thing ends up
Being more than a week yeah especially if his matchups are as favorable as they were last night the Hawks aren’t a team that’s Chuck full of size so he was able to get a bunch of easy rebounds and kind of rack up his stats doing that uh Andre
Drummond it it it was awesome that he was able to turn back the clock the way that he was this is not a player that is in the thick of his prime uh when we when we saw Pistons Andre Drummond that was a guy that could do something like
This like once a week he is 30 years old by the way so like statistically he might be in the thick of his prime but like he doesn’t look like it you know like he he feels like Andre Drummond’s best days are behind him uh I saw the
Stat on sports center today that flashed the players in league history that have the most 20 point 20 rebound games in their NBA careers and he’s on a list of names that are like hakee elijan and Wilt Chamberlain and like those kind of guys um hey that’s who he is by the way
Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t on Dwight Howard was on the list Shaquille O’Neal oddly enough was not but Andre Drummond one of those guys so uh maybe he can give you this one more time but I’m not I’m not exactly sipping the the Andre Drummond Kool-Aid and we know that he’s atrocious
From the line too yeah yeah that’s the thing I mean he doesn’t take that many anymore thankfully um but you know if you’re throwing him out there in a weekly he’s doing this hacka Drummond will become a thing again yeah I know I know that’s that’s the that’s the rub
Here I want to back up to Christmas Day Brandon and we we gave more shine to haime hakz than I would like to think any other podcast in the the NBA space my goodness man he keeps pouring on no Jimmy Butler no Joel embiid you know
Some of the luster had worn off of this this Sixers heat Showdown Miami ends up getting a 119 113 win but 31- 10 for hakz with with two Steals and an assist 11 of 15 from the field eight of eight at the free throw line uh I mean this is
This is very quickly to me you know developing from oh you know fun story landed in the right spot we’ll see how it turns out to like a guy that you absolutely have to be rostering and I know it you know Jimmy Butler being out of the lineup for the last three games
That helps but he has played so well that even on a team that is so deep and has like three or four guys on the wing that you never really know what the roles are going to be I I think he has he has locked down a major major spot in
This rotation going forward and it still feels like we haven’t seen them fully formed because as soon as hero and adabo come back then Butler goes out and um you know there’s going to be some ups and downs for hakz but this has been incredible man like I was watching the
Highlights um or you watch part of the game and then watch the the full hakz you know YouTube highlights it doesn’t make sense like it’s almost it’s almost Luca likee to me like he doesn’t play like donic I’m not saying that but when you watch LCA you’re like what is it
About him like why is he able to get by guys he’s not fast he’s not quick like he just it just works and haakas has kind of that same like Mystique to his game yeah he does um this is a guy that knows exactly the type of player that he
Needs to be in order to be successful he’s incredibly efficient and and I do think even though it’s been overused so much to this point already the fit is such a big factor in all of this because he really is the perfect Miami Heat player and this is a team right now
Where where I’m gonna buy haime hakz stock because this is a team that’s not exactly all that deep uh and you know you think of Miami as this team that always has this great bench look at some of the guys on roster this is not a deep
Miami Heat team they lost a lot of pieces last year Caleb Martin hasn’t exactly picked up where he left off in the postseason last year so I would expect this to continue for haime hakz and I think he can be a star in his role whatever that role might be for the
Miami Heat moving forward yeah worth noting uh you know Cliff brings this up in the chat thanks Cliff that calea Martin did get banged up um he is doubtful to play tomorrow night uh so that is that’s something to monitor uh Duncan Robinson’s on the injury report
As well Jimmy Butler you know he’s questionable we don’t don’t really know when he’s going to be back in the mix but that’s that’s the thing with Miami and and you know part of the reason that I you know during draft season at least like kind of stayed away from a lot of
Those depth pieces for the heat was it was just like I don’t know how this is going to work out like are they each going to play like 18 to 22 minutes it’s going to be really frustrating but it’s actually kind of been a gold mine for
Fantasy because one of these guys at least one is always injured and you know it feels like if you’re if you’re riding the the hot hand at the right time you’re you’re kind of getting a free ticket to like 30 to 35 minutes a night and that’s what it’s been lately for
Haime hakz um yeah we get to some questions in the chat in a bit uh thanks everybody for chiming in there keep those coming uh we’ll go rapid fire through the those questions over the second half of the podcast um Brandon we we saw your team in action last night
The Orlando Magic taking care of business on the road at Washington Orlando now 18 and 11 on the year uh nice night for fron vogner nice night for Palo van Carol both of those guys have been carrying this team saw Anthony black you know have I would say arguably
The best game of his career pretty clearly statistically last night 23 points six boards four steals did have five turnovers but nine 13 from the field four of six from three uh thoughts there I I I assume you know we’re going to get a decent amount of questions on
All right do do I rush out and grab Anthony black yeah it was great to see um and it’s not like he can’t do it again but I I would not expect that sort of shooting performance they left him wide open all all alone on an island
From those Corner spots where he likes to shoot his threes I see him at the uh nowall Kia Center man that’s going to take me a minute to get used to um see he practices that shot incessantly I mean the guy’s a workaholic uh so it’s
Not a it’s not a shock to see that it paid off in a one game scenario teams are still going to Sag off of him and let him have that shot because he is a good finisher at The Rim he can get teammates involved but that shot it’s
Not broken um but it’s not something that really he can rely on but it’s one of those things that you’re a pro NBA player if guys are going to leave you wide open you have to take the shot and uh and eventually you got to make him
Pay he was finally able to do that with this statline um but what I like more than anything else is the Steals and the rebounds like the fact that he’s getting those to me are more repeatable and that that sort of stat line can stick more than anything else but the three-point
Shooting you know if you take that away it was a it was a good stat line nothing great would I rush out to go grab him on the waiver wire probably not but um he’s going to get starter minutes for um however long it takes for Marquel folz
To come back which by the way I still have no idea when that’s going to happen I mean it was what five weeks ago that we started this conversation about fults like yeah could be any day now and here we are I mean this is this was something
That I think initially were like all right maybe one to two weeks and there I mean have you are you privy to any real updates are they still taking this game to game is he being evaluated frequently is it just kind of hey tell us when when
The swelling and the pain goes down situation I mean you know I I’ll put it like this if I were given real good solid behind the-scenes information I wouldn’t be able to share that but I have not been given any of that so I can tell you that that is not there’s
Nothing I I’m even holding back from you um the we’re just not getting any information and I think that that speaks volumes because it’s not like he reinjured his knee that’s the thing I keep going back to he didn’t have a moment where he got banged up again you
Know I think a lot of people are removed from this situation further than I am that they just assume well he had a knee injury and it must have happened somewhere this is just a swelling issue from a knee injury that took place Nick in 2021 so yeah we it’s almost 24 Brandon
You know it is couple days happy New Year everybody so this feels like a chronic issue is he going to come back at some point yes uh but I I’ve no confidence at this point that he’s going to be able to stay on the basketball court because he’s not able to get back
Onto the basketball court and he never even reinjured his knee let’s stick with Orlando for a moment and talk about Wendell Carter uh we got a lot of questions about him these previous weeks you know should I grab him he a lot of people dropped him early in the season
You know only played I think five games at the beginning of the year didn’t look great in those five games and then you know missed a month and a half uh with the injury he’s now been back for four games he was immediately reinserted into the starting lineup a week ago against
Miami he started all four games since returning the production’s been pretty underwhelming man uh you know decent rebounding numbers I guess that’s that’s about it if you’re trying to find a positive there but despite starting you know he’s still basically playing like you know 18 to 21 minutes most nights
You know he’s never never been a super high volume shot blocker that hasn’t really been there he doesn’t give you steals decent passer for his position but again not something that you’re really zeroing in on as an impact for Fantasy but do you see his role
Increasing like is it still a ramp up process or are we just talking about somebody that we can ignore for the time being in most fantasy leagues yeah I would lean towards ignore uh and it’s not because he’s not a good player I’ll lean on a Brandon and Nick classic he’s
A better real life player than he is a fantasy player I think it has more to do with the guys around him than him himself uh he is in a three-man center rotation right now how many guy how many teams around the league can say that they’re running an effective three-man
Rotation with their Five Spot uh and the magic feel equally as good about all three of these players so I see no reason why they would get away from that Wendell Carter Jr is the most o uh the most skilled overall of the bunch Mo vodder brings a sense of effort and
Tenacity that you kind of need you need that nasty on a basketball team and you know to to bring that sort of attitude he is the guy that that instills that goab baz is the best defender of the three of them and if you look at the
Plus minus the net rating for The Magic when goo is on the floor far exceeds the other two so you can’t get him away from uh the basketball court but you’re not going to stop starting wend Del Carter Jr so it’s a three-headed monster this is the fantasy football version of
Having three running backs and you don’t want to start any of them yeah I think in this situation it’s it’s like the Baltimore Ravens and I think wendo Carter it’s like justice Hill uh where where it’s like even even though like there there might be some weeks where he
He might get get the most carries he’s not really doing a whole lot with those carries I mean we saw we saw Vagner and baz outplay him in like half as many minutes off the bench last night right I mean I I’m not really touching Wendell
Carter I went and picked him up a couple weeks ago in one league and I’ve already dropped him there I I just don’t I don’t really see it um I want to talk about Jaylen Johnson real quickly he made his return for the Atlanta Hawks was right
Back in the starting lineup 10 points nine boards four assists uh last night against Chicago played 29 minutes uh good timing for DeAndre Hunter to get hurt you know I think we’d be having the Johnson hun sadique Bay debate right now but DeAndre Hunter is going to miss at
Least two weeks undergoing what feels like a pretty minor knee procedure but this is one of those things Brandon we’ve seen this so many times somebody who’s been injured in the past he’s dealt with lower body injuries would not be surprised you know if he remains out
Beyond that twoe time table so either way I mean Jaylen Johnson to me played so well you know outplayed Hunter outplayed Bay early in the season like he was a guy that I’m comfortable throwing back into the lineup but should have a really nice Runway here now with
Not DeAndre Hunter for a few weeks yeah and and you nailed it like the guy that he was before he left with that injury is somebody that you want you want shares of um I love what I saw from Jaylen Johnson earlier in the season
It’s just one game back is it a statline that blows you away no uh 10 points nine rebounds four assists not bad by any means um but I think better days are ahead before he left uh he was averaging close to 18 points per game for about a
Five-game stretch so this is guy that can be really effective in an offense that you know outside of Trey young they they might feature him from time to time and he’ll have his opportunities to fill up the stat sheet moving forward no doubt about it uh in other strange news
Uh we somebody brought this up in the chat thank you limbo uh Aaron Gordon gonna miss some time you know we had the Andrew Wiggins slamming his hand in a car injury a couple of weeks ago I think this has supplanted that as the strangest injury so far on the season
Aaron Gordon had 21 stitches to address lacerations to his face and his right hand which as you know he is a right-handed player uh after getting mauled by a dog over Christmas so I totally missed this story coup hours ago yeah just came out a couple hours ago um
I don’t know exactly when this happened obviously in the last day or two I mean he played on Christmas day um so it had to be in the last like 36 hours at 16 10 in 32 minutes yeah this is is this is why I’m not a huge dog guy man you know
Like I like dogs and I don’t want a dog of my own I don’t want to be worried about being attacked muled in my own home um we have no no reports as to the name of the dog the the type of dog the make and model that we’re dealing with
Name of the dog I don’t think that’s going to be the first bit of info to fly out yeah his name was Phil yeah that do that what you will yeah hopefully it’s not some sort of uh like intimidating name but you know I assume this is a pretty serious dog regardless Aaron
Gordon’s going to miss some time again we have no idea how long uh kind of reminds me of like the the David and joku fire injury that we were dealing with in the NFL earlier this season obviously he played through it um but Aaron Gordon is going to miss I would
Imagine at least a week you know looking at their upcoming schedule uh they play a Thursday Friday back toback against Memphis and OKC got to imagine he misses at both of those games uh they play four games next week including New Year’s Day against Charlotte they’re at Golden
State then Orlando and Detroit uh so you could be missing out on a four game week for Aaron Gordon uh they don’t have another four- game week until I think it’s not until like February so a bit of a light schedule for Denver through the month of January but uh you know the
Question came through in the chat you know is there is there an ad here uh is there a way to to capitalize this for Fantasy I I’m I’m not really sure you know Aaron Gordon did miss four games earlier in the season and they they went with Justin holiday in the starting
Lineup uh for for some of those games you know not really somebody to Target in my mind um you know Zeke Nai is kind of the name that comes to mind um but it’s it’s not like he saw a notable increase you know I’m looking at those
Box scores right now he was still you know kind of hanging around pretty pretty minor minutes off the bench um I I don’t I I don’t know if there’s really an obvious pivot right I mean they the nuggets have some young players who I think are going to be interesting as
They mature and as they they see more minutes you know STW Christian Brown guys like that um you know pton Watson I guess is the guy who you know positionally would would seem like maybe he could he could step into more minutes he didn’t really see a tangible boost
When Jordon was out uh in late November but he’s also been playing you know around 20 even close to 25 minutes in a lot of games lately so if you have to pinpoint one guy who I think benefits most from a minutes uh perspective it’s probably pton
Watson yeah but I mean Aaron Gordon was is like the fifth option on this team right um and and he just he gets his just based on being in the right spots he’s an NBA veteran and he’s a talented player so nobody is going to step in and just automatically get his statline
Because they’ll just ignore whoever it is that’s on the floor in place of Aaron Gordon I’m not really interested and I I just see a boost in all the guys that are already rostered more so than a natural replacement for Aaron Gordon yeah you know I’m looking at we
We have a good you know onoff differentials page over at roadwire you could find that in our our NBA stats section and you know it there’s just no there’s nobody that really jumps out right um you know I think Zeke I per 36 is the guy that sees the biggest boost
But really really it’s D yic you know his usage you know jumps pretty significantly like he’s averaging eight more points per 36 uh two more assists per 36 with Aaron Gordon off the floor this season uh you know you see a mild increase for for kcp see a mild increase
For guys like Reggie Jackson and holiday and even DeAndre Jordan who you know maybe sneaks in a few more minutes if they they want to go big or you know maybe they they kind of go with a smaller lineup and and sneak DeAndre Jordan in there as a backup when yic is
Off but yeah the nuggets are are a unique team and I think you’re right to bring up that you know Aaron Gordon is not a guy who’s hunting shots right he he subsists on you know Cuts Like I mean he’s his career has been completely changed by playing with Nicole yic and
You know he’s an offensive rebound guy he’s an energy guy it’s not like you’re saying all right you know here’s like five three-point attempts and 16 shot attempts that are now off the table um I I know it’s appealing from a minutes perspective because you know that is 30
To 35 minutes that you’re taking out of the rotation um so in a deeper League I I think maybe you take a look at pton Watson but there’s nobody that I’m really excited to go and add I saw this question uh on the I think it was on the
Chat that said Julian strawther I know he was a guy that got us all excited for a minute in preseason kind of a similar build possible yeah I mean St is such a different player right I mean he’s he’s kind of a three-point Marksman you know
Kind of more of a I would say true shooting guard small forward whereas you know Gordon feels like he’s really solidified as a four I know early in his career they tried to you know get him as more of a ball handling type you know I
Think maybe develop him as as like what Palo banero basically has become and I just don’t think that was ever his Niche you know to me he’s just I think he’s like he’s like a junior version of like Shawn Maran right that’s kind of what you’re asking are very important that’s
Exactly who he is yeah yeah um all right let’s let’s talk a little Lakers real quickly I don’t I don’t have a lot to say here I was discussing this with Alex on the XM show last night and you know I think weirdly the Lakers and the Suns to
Me are are like having parallel Seasons you know Lakers lose on Christmas to Boston they’re now 16 and 15 they have cratered since the inseason tournament that felt like it might be kind of a galvanizing win for them it has not been uh suns are now 14 and 15 after losing
To Dallas pretty handedly on Christmas you know both of these teams Phoenix especially is is in a bad spot right now obviously they’re under 500 they’d be out of the playoffs they’d be out of the playin right now if the season ended but they’re only a game behind the Lakers so
It’s not like they’re out of this both of these teams like obviously they need to get into the tournament Zone more than anything and I think they will um um but they’re they’re tough teams to evaluate for me in the regular season because we we saw it with the Lakers
Especially last year right I mean they were to me they were more of a disaster in the regular season than they’ve been this year and they still clearly have that switch right I think deep down is is even though they say the right things and and they want to win as many games
As they can they are a get us to the playoffs and then we’ll show you who you are type of team and I’m starting to feel the same way about Phoenix I mean that the question is do either of these teams have deep rooted enough issues that you’d actually worry about them not
Making the postseason field I don’t worry about them making the playoffs but I would worry about them being early outs in the playoffs and I think Phoenix is my bigger concern because they’ve already pushed all of their chips to the middle of the table they don’t have any
Other moves that they can make I think the Lakers could still fine-tune some things around LeBron James and Anthony Davis they still have pieces that can be shipped off and turned into a different type of asset for this team I don’t know what Phoenix could do other than moving
Off of The Big Three that hasn’t really even played together right so they would be hitting aort on a project that hasn’t even started yet uh I worry more about that because those guys can’t even get on the floor together and and the idea of bringing Durant and Booker and Beal
Together is we don’t need a bench well now when those guys are out you do and you don’t have one um and so they think that’s the reason they’re struggling the Lakers it’s more of an age thing and they need that third piece D’Angelo Russell can be that sometimes Austin
Reeves is showing that he can’t be that quite enough uh they need to find that other guy and um they still have the ability to find that via trade the other La team the Clippers uh they’re 18 and 12 they’ve been on a on a heater over
The last few weeks got an easy win over the Hornets last night that was with no kawh Leonard uh but I’m looking at the fantasy rankings eight cat per game over the last month kawh Leonard number four overall James Harden up to number five uh did you see this coming for Harden
Like were you buying in on him you I know like I was doing some drafts like the last week before the season started I want to say James Harden went 58th in in in my nfb KC and I was I was ready to
Pop him I I I wish I would have uh got him in a couple of leagues at a discount um I I thought he was being wildly undervalued obviously there was concerns about sitting out games things like that um but you know I think Harden has always been that guy like where wherever
He’s ended up even if the team has cratered even if his his reputation has taken a huge hit like he has always always always been a fantastic fantasy player arguably a better fantasy player than he is a real life player and he’s a great real life player uh but did you
Think he would reach this kind of ceiling in La no I didn’t and and you I mean credit to you because you were touting that all the whole way through I was uh was pretty down on on James Harden just figuring that at some point his his attitude his lack of what from
From afar it’s like I know James Harden and his work ethic personally but it just seems like his lack of commitment to the game of basketball and really just wanting to be a lifer and be out there and play no matter the circumstances I felt like that’s some
Point that was going to catch up with him and with his talent starting to deteriorate just slightly I thought that maybe it would be now uh but I jumped the gun on it he’s still the exact same guy at least in the fantasy world I’m having a hard time separating the two I
Think playoff James Harden has um has has definitely at a certain memory in my brain but James Harden is a guy I’ve got no shares of uh and I’m just sort of watching it from the sidelines but credit to you you you were on that from
The beginning that this is a guy that uh even in landing in La where with these three guys healthy there only one ball to go around that he would still be able to put up a good stat line night tonight all right I promise I didn’t bring that
Up just for just for you to praise me for being in on James Harden who I did not even enough well you deserve it all right we got about 10 minutes left let’s hit some listener questions uh if you’re if you’re watching live on YouTube or on
Twitter fire some of those in the chat we will hit as many as we can before we head out uh we got a question from limbo he says would you add Nick Richards or Pat Williams tomorrow he’s in a Yahoo points League uh Jaylen Smith and Vince Williams are interesting picks too um
Obviously you know Mark Williams is banged up for Charlotte so you’re looking for replacement there Pat Williams maybe see us some more minutes when ni Lovich out of the mix LaVine still out obviously all these are are pretty relatively unappealing you know you’re you’re likely in a deeper league if
You’re making some of these decisions but you know if you’re just looking to stream uh for for one game or for the rest of the week do any of these options really jump out to you Brandon I think I want to tail what I’m seeing with
Chicago because I I A lot of people are going to get really excited about Andre Drummond they’re probably going to start playing some of his props and all of that there’s no chance he backs up this performance with with another one where he scores 20 nope 0% chance you heard it
Here first but they play the Indiana Pacers and there are always stats to be had going up against Indiana so I would go Pat Williams I’m going Nick Richards if Mark Williams misses that’s that’s the big thing you know he’s he’s more day-to-day at this point obviously we
Know vich is is going to be out for at least seven to 10 days uh whereas Mark Williams has been day-to-day but uh you know to me Nick Richards is the Clear Choice here uh if Mark Williams misses another game you know he’s now started
Eight in a row uh during that span you know he’s averaging nine points nine boards one and a half blocks that’s about all you can ask from a streaming spot and he’s been even better over these last two games back toback double doubles at three blocks against Denver
Before Christmas so that’s where I would lean on that one uh all right Paul asks these have been my three trades this year can you please rate them so he has traded marinin kosma and Melton for Tatum and shenon tus Jones and haime hakz for Kobe white Shaden sharp and
Chris STS porzingis for Paul George and Brook Lopez so we’ll start with the the Markin in Tatum shenon one I would give that one an a A+ you got you got Jason Tatum and alperin shenon that feels like a major win and now all a sudden they’re starting to uh they’re starting to
Distribute the production with the Washington Wizards we’re seeing tyus Jones play much better basketball would you agree with the grade yeah absolutely I mean Markin in really good player obviously I think K has been a lot better in fantasy Than People realize and you know Melton had a
Nice run for a while as well but I I think you got the two most Dependable pieces in the trade and you got the single best player in Jason Tatum and I you know kind of worry about marketing as the season comes to a close if they
You know end up pulling back on his minutes or arresting him later so um yeah B plus or an A minus for me on that one um you know the Kobe white thing people keep asking us you know do I sell high on Kobe white it’s like I’m riding
This out man and you know I I think depends when you made that trade you know especially if you got him you when tyus Jones was not playing well um or you know before hakz had had truly broken out I think that looks even better um but Kobe White’s not somebody
I’m trying to sell like if I could acquire Kobe white for basically two role players and as much as I love hakz he still ranks outside the top 100 on the year he’s been awesome but you know he’s not carrying you in your league whereas Kobe white if you if you drafted
Him you know late or you picked him up early or you traded for him early I mean he has been you know a borderline League winning type of player so I think you did really well on those first two how about sharp and porzingis for PG and
Lopez that feels like a like a c I don’t know man I well no I yeah I I don’t know I’m I’m I’m always way too high on shayon Sharp now he’s dealing with injuries so I’d bump it up to a B I would give that one a B plus honestly I
Mean Shaden sharp was was awesome early in the season when he was playing like 45 minutes a night um but like you said he’s injured his his production has gone down since Simons came back uh you know scoot had had a nice double double last night he’s starting to to play a little
Bit better um and with porzingis like he’s been great when he’s out there always worry about the injuries you could say the same thing to some degree about Paul George um but he’s you know consistently been a much better fantasy player than porzingis and you know Brook
Lopez I know he’s cooled off like over the last month I think he ranks outside the top 60 but always kind of a weird player to evaluate uh I don’t know that the algorithm is all that kind to him because he doesn’t rebound he’s not like
A big-time scorer um you know fairly low percentages for for a big man because he takes so many threes but he’s leading the league in blocks so I I think you did pretty well there so nice work all around uh by you Paul reshaped the entire lineup with that one yeah I I
Wish I was in leagues that were doing more trades I I I’ve been sending out trades left and right in the stake league and just haven’t been getting too many bites uh Cliff says is there a possibility the vo injury could linger onto him being traded uh do I pick up
Drummond we’ll definitely pick up Drummond for now we we talked that through earlier in the Pod absolutely go get him um like you know like Brandon said you’re not getting 24 and 25 every single night but you know he’s GNA he’s probably going to average easily a
Double double as long as V is out I think the bigger question is could you see this lingering you know toward the trade deadline yeah I mean he’s a trade candidate we’re not that far away from it uh but this is only supposed to be a
Onewe injury so I’m not going to go overboard on that I I don’t think they hold him out that long uh it’s not like he he’s not exactly a problem child Vu is like the easiest guy in the world to get along with so I don’t think um
That’s going to be an issue if and you still want to drive up that trade value keeping the guy on the bench is not a good way to do it I also just don’t know how many teams are going to be interested in V like I think there’s a
Lot of teams that would like to add him it’s just like how many teams are like all right we need like the worst defensive Center in the league to to push us to the playoffs right it’s like I worry I worry that if he gets traded
It would be into like a smaller role you know where he’s kind of being used in spots for for a better team like I think he’s almost in a best case scenario for him right now where he’s at in his career with Chicago would you drop D’Angelo Russell for Brandon psky uh who
We’re referring to as airpods I like that um you will note that I do not have my airpods I that sort of a sore subject guys right I got them right here I opened them up as I always do right before the Pod there’s only one airpod
In here I don’t know where the other one went so I’m going back to these these lame uh wired pods but yeah I would do that right now I think I would I mean it we we kind of always knew that the Lakers were going to sour on d’el
Russell at some point um got off to a great start you know if you got like two good months out of it great I mean he was fantastic through the first like three or four weeks especially but I mean he’s they’re kind of Russell West Brooking him right now I
Mean he’s played 35 total minutes off the bench over the last two games if you extrapolate out to the last 30 days pmy ranks like almost 50 spots higher than him in eight8 cat league so I would I would go psky I completely agree I mean he’s been
One of the few bright spots of this Golden State team outside of the obvious candidates and they need as much as that as they can possibly get Draymond Green is out who knows how long uh and and they’re going to need more pimpy minutes I like the way he’s playing even when
Draymond Green comes back it really seems like they’ found something in him all right we’ll hit a couple more here uh nerdy nerd says Ivy or exom rest of season he is in a nine cat 12 Team league uh strangely fair question nerdy nerd shouldn’t be but it is yeah I mean
Obviously I think there were a lot of people that didn’t even know Jay uh Dante X was in the NBA until like two weeks ago uh he has obviously played better than Jaden ivy on balance um you know rest of season I I hate to say it I I think I
Would maybe still lean Ivy obviously exm has benefited with no Josh green and and more importantly no Kyrie I think not knowing when Kyrie is coming back that’s the biggest thing if you know if if if we could say Kyrie’s coming back next week then I would say Ivy but if this
Extends you know another month which who knows with with Kyrie um then I think exm is the guy I want in the short term but I do think rest of season there’s probably a little bit more there with Ivy I have no interest in putting Jaden
Ivy in my starting lineup at this point so if you need help now Dante exom has to be the guy um and we’re looking at tonight I haven’t seen the latest injury report I know Luca donic was questionable I think he’s still questionable going into tonight um so
He’s somebody that could help you out immediately if if Luca is not playing I would expect XM to put up a pretty good stat line I would say the good thing about Ivy is he’s not killing you in percentages like he was last year so like even if you go that route and
Obviously there’s going to be some ups and and a lot of downs he’s shooting 46% from the field he’s at like 80% at the line so I think you can live with it more than you could in years past uh is Cole Anthony a keeper in a category
League uh will folz cut into his value thanks guys thank you ant for the question I’ll defer to you on this one quick I don’t think Marquel folz cuts into his value Cole Anthony is pretty solidified as what he is he’s a microwave Off the Bench so if that’s
Something that appeals to you as a um I don’t know your keeper situation but I would say yes if you like what you’re seeing out of Cole Anthony now it’s not going to change all right couple more and then we’ll be out uh asking for a friend she
Got offered Valen shess for her jiren Jackson but she wants to counter that to get Austin Reeves with Valen junis what would you guys do yeah I would not trade Jared Jackson straight up for Val junis I know they ranked fairly close on the year um you know jiren Jackson’s been a
Disappointment he’s still the better player he was a way way better fantasy player last year there’s still a lot of value there in terms of the blocks I would yeah I would you got to get an attachment if you’re making that deal and you know I think Austin Reeves makes
That more fair I still I don’t know if i’ really want to make that swap but definitely don’t do it straight up we don’t get enough asking for a friend questions here on the podcast that’s great yeah I love that um but but how about by the way you and I have not
Discussed this with each other John Morant and his injection into this Memphis Grizzlies lineup has just I can’t remember the last time I saw a star reinserted into a lineup so seamlessly yeah where they’re right back to what they were the last time we saw johnar with the Memphis Grizzlies it’s
Truly amazing yeah four and0 they beat the Pelicans twice they beat the Pacers they beat the Hawks big one against the Denver Nuggets on the road tomorrow I think that will be maybe the first real test and you know they do have Marcus smtb back as well that was something we
Didn’t mentioned he came back last night uh right back in the starting lineup I think you know he’s not nearly as important to this team as johnar but you know some of the fillings that they were having to throw big minutes to over the last couple of months obviously um
You know Marcus Smart goes a long way toward toward sewing that up all right last one and we got to be on our way out Melton or psky in a points league so we already said we would take psky over D’Angelo Russell how about Melton I think I’m still going psky I am
Feeling the buzz I like what I’m seeing right now in Golden State and like like we said they they need somebody else to step up and become a bigger part of this offense and he’s doing that for them uh I think Steve Kerr is really gonna lean
Heavier into this guy yeah I’m on psky as well uh you know the thing with Belton is he’s so value in C in category leagues because he’s you know like 1.6 1.7 steals per game that diminishes a little bit in points leagues you know obviously you still get still get um you
Know points for the steals but it’s not um not quite as useful and you know psky has been great in that area as well you know you look at his last 10 games he’s at 1.9 steals per game he’s got a steal in nine Straight had five Steals on
Christmas Day against Denver so even if you just break it down to that category I don’t think there’s really much of a drop off there at all um and with psky you know the percentages have been pretty good so far for a guy who takes a
Lot of tough shots 40% from three 46% from the field um but in a points League I think I like him even more you know I think there’s a a higher floor there so I would lean I’d lean psky over Melton and I would take pky over Russell as
Well all right we got to get out of here Brandon I know you got family stuff to attend to enjoy you know the rest of your your time away from your your full-time radio obligations I got to get to a dinner in a couple hours here got
Some NFL stuff to pound out so uh we’ll end it here we will have a a pod tomorrow we’ll have the usual waiver wire pod on Friday as well and then coming back from the new year we’ll be back in full swing with five episodes per week so thanks to everybody for
Tuning in thanks to those of you who threw questions in the chat Brandon and I will be back next Wednesday
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It was a Rottweiler
Add Jacob poetl over shaedon sharpe? points league