Nick Whalen and Brandon Kravitz discuss the top news items of the day coming out of a busy Tuesday night, including the Suns’ come-from-behind win in Denver, the Mavericks’ struggles and a huge night from Alperen Sengun. The guys also talk Victor Wembanyama, late-season pickups, Jakob Poeltl’s injury, Giannis’ injury and the Play-In picture in the West.
0:00: Intro
0:30: Top news from Tuesday night
0:45: Suns hang on to beat Nuggets in OT
5:00: Mavs fall at home to Indy + Daniel Gafford
9:50: Sengun’s huge night
11:50: Wembanyama’s immense fantasy upside
18:15: Jakob Poeltl injury + Raptors ROS
23:45: Brandon’s PrizePicks leans for tonight
25:10: Giannis questionable tonight
26:00: Jordan Poole on the rise?
27:55: Evan Mobley injured — Paul Reed vs. Dean Wade
31:00: Dealing with multiple key injuries
33:05: Chances the Bucks beat the Celtics in the playoffs
36:25: Reath vs. Reed vs. Drummond
38:30: More likely to be shut down — Simons or Cunningham?
40:35: Scoot vs. Keyonte
42:45: Nesmith for Wendell Carter?
44:20: Wiggins, Bogdanovic, Trey Murphy
45:50: Micic, Reath, Gafford
48:10: Advice for joining a keeper league
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Welcome in to the Roa wire fantasy basketball pod Nick whan Brandon Kravitz we’re here with you it is Wednesday March 6th Brandon busy night in the association last night uh thankfully we don’t we don’t have like a ton of pressing fantasy news you we had some injuries coming into the week uh you
Know Trey young last week Scotty Barnes over the weekend Devin Booker over the weekend we saw the Suns go on the road to Denver and and pull off a pretty impressive win in some ways uh without Deon Booker this is a game that I mean Phoenix ended up winning by 10 in
Overtime but I was watching this one live Brandon and for a while it’s like all right this this is just a weird performance by Denver shots aren’t going down you you don’t really see the Nuggets no show like this very often uh and then the Nuggets roared back and you know outscored
Phoenix over the final two quarters 52- 37 including holding the Suns to just 12 points in the fourth quarter yeah the funny thing is Denver didn’t play that well in the fourth quarter at least offensively I mean defensively you got to give him a lot of credit you also got
To worry a little bit about what we saw from the Suns on offense I mean it completely broke down uh and that’s points in the fourth quarter like that’s almost hard to pull off with the talent they have it it is and you know again shots were going down I think Durant at
One point like missed AER eight or nine shots in a row so you know sometimes those nights happen but I thought Denver you know especially looking back what happened in the overtime period Durant basically just took over I thought the Nuggets had a pretty good chance to just
Close this game out in the fourth and they missed wide open shot after wide open shot uh you know Michael Porter especially you know had himself a decent night but if just one of the like four wideopen threes that he missed in the fourth quarter Goes Down Denver probably
Pulls this out nonetheless I I think this was a huge win Brandon for the Phoenix Suns because they’ll be without Devon Booker for at least a few more games you know this could be you know the the the initial timetable seven to 10 days could be more than that um but
They’re in a tough part of their schedule they they do have a very winnable game at home against Toronto tomorrow after that though Boston Cleveland Boston so I think banking this win in Denver where at least I going into that was like all right this is probably a loss you know good luck
Winning that one without Booker getting this one is huge because you know Phoenix is still in that zone right now where they’re going to have to fend off the Lakers they’re gonna have to fend off the kings that win last night you know pushed them o the playin Zone at
Least for now yeah I think when you look at the Eastern Conference it’s not going to be as problematic for some of these teams that end up in the the playin tournament because the the Bulls and the Hawks are probably going to be involved so you should be able to uh overcome
That hurdle the western conference is a completely different story you do not want any part of being in the play in this is like uh this is like being in the final four of March Madness like you could end up in a one-off game against Steph Curry and the Golden State
Warriors so you need to avoid that at all costs if you want to get yourself a playoff series that six seat is huge in the Western Conference you’re right that win was big uh was clearly not Denver’s best game usually they’re able to score more than 107 at home especially uh I
Thought Nicole yic a little bit out of character yesterday still put up great numbers but seven total turnovers yesterday that’s really unlike him he’s a much more efficient player than that yeah I mean I I thought the same thing you know especially early on I’m like
This is like maybe the worst yic game I’ve seen all year and he still gave you 256 and five right I mean that’s that’s where jokic is right now he is very clearly and he’s been at this level for a while uh but I think that is the mark
Of not even a superstar but like one of those Next Level you know like top 20 25 guys ever is that there are no truly bad games right like obviously LeBron got to that point Durant got to that point Curry got to that point at his Peak
Where you know you just don’t have those nights where like oh he just went two for nine and had seven points it’s like no the the bare the bare minimum is still a pretty huge statistical game and that’s what we saw from jic last night I
Thought he was more willing to shoot him he took seven threes right that’s not really something that he loves doing hit four of them a couple of them were just ridiculous High arcing shots had one just before the half um but the overarching point here is you know it’s
Going to be tough sledding in the short term for Phoenix without dein Booker but banking that win is massive uh you know Dallas took another loss last night at home to the Pacers I had that one going on the the far-left TV Brandon uh we we
Had a we were watching the a farle TV game I don’t know that one that one felt like a center TV game well my uh you know my my my living roommate swife was watching a documentary on the 2000s on the far right TV uh which was really
Interesting actually I I love stuff like that it was very that Center TV potential too yeah so Suns nuggets got the center and then you know we we were switching between League Pass games on the far left this was and I I know this happens
In a lot of Pacers and mass games this was comically poor defense by both teams comically poor I I at one point Daniel Gafford had three straight dunks on just wide open passes from from Luka doic it’s not a coincidence that Daniel Gafford was seven for seven from the
Field last night because every single one of them was a dunk or a layup uh interesting on Gafford I do want to note because we we got questions on him on Monday you know he had been playing he had some games where he’s playing like seven minutes eight minutes he did play
21 Off the Bench last night now yeah Lively got in a little bit of foul trouble they only played him 16 minutes you know CA had three fouls as well so I I I don’t know that we’re just all of a sudden back in on Gafford but he had 16
1610 and three so something to monitor because a ton of people dropped Daniel Gafford over the weekend and if I remember correctly last week we told you not to panic on this that it was going to be an EB and flow situation when it came to the bigs with the Dallas
Mavericks and look at Derek Lively 16 minutes played uh you know obviously was not all that effective scored zero points but I think Miles Turner had 20s something by halftime he actually finished with 20 points so I’m not exactly sure what happened there because he went off I think all of that
Production was in the first half this was the game that I turned on after obviously if you listen to this podcast weekly figure this out at this point that I work with the Orlando Magic and so I had magic Hornets on last night but the moment that game ended it was over
To this one and I actually live bet the under at because they had they had hiked it up to 266 and a half and I’m like there’s no way this I I understand that there was no defense being played laughable but at some point somebody is going to Crater offensively and you just
Have to sort of cross your fingers and well it did happen Dallas scored 18 points in the third quarter that was that was the only reason that I hit that live bet uh but that first half they were both into the 70s by the halftime
Break so it did seem like you know they were well on their way to another Pacers 300 point total game I I’m worried about Dallas defensively um you know coming out of the All-Star break I was all over this team they had one six in a row
Going into the break I love the additions I mean this I’m telling you man go back and watch the fourth quarter like this was alarming really alarming and the Pacers were doing a lot of this with their bench unit I mean they they went deep into the fourth with you know
Obi toppin and you know TJ M McConnell like this was not you know halton’s numbers look great this wasn’t like a halberton takeover game you know mathine played well Ben Shepard played well like this was for the most part a lot of reserves for Indiana just dicing up this
Dallas defense over and over and um I was you know kind of poking around MAV Twitter last night there was uh you know somebody who’s pretty plugged in who said he’s hearing some Mike botin holer rumors as a potential coach for next season uh which would I believe be the
Second time that he has ousted Jason kid from a job so you know we’ll see obviously a rumor at this point but um you know the Mavs they’re in the playing zone right now they’re the eight seed right now in the Western Conference and you know we there’s there’s now a pretty
Huge golf Brandon between the Lakers uh the Mavs the Warriors and then you know teams like Utah and Houston you know they’re they’re five and a half five games back uh we pretty much know who the top 10 teams are going to be in the west and like you said earlier if I’m
Sacramento if I’m Dallas you know could be Phoenix could be New Orleans in that that seven and eight spot I know the Lakers and the Warriors have not been consistent whatsoever I know they’ve proven they can lose to just about anybody on any given night I still don’t
Want to be in a winner go home scenario against LeBron James or against Steph Curry no no thank you no part of that yeah we we know who the teams are going to be we have no idea what the seating will be because even the the top spot
Held by Minnesota they’re only one game up on the three seed the Denver Nuggets they’re three games up on the LA Clippers who for the most part um outside of their last game have been playing some really good basketball so we really have no idea how this thing is
Going to shake out the last month of this season is going to be huge in terms of seating and I think that is a big part of this entire equation it does seem like just based on where we are the two teams at the bottom of that top 10
The Lakers and the Warriors are going to have to play their way in but it is everybody else that has to scratch and Claw their way out of having to play against Steph Curry or LeBron James in a winner go home situation it it really is
Fascinating and uh tip of the cap to Adam in the NBA because what they have set up is a far more interesting postseason because of possibilities like this that are on the horizon all right let’s hit a few more news items from last night uh keep stacking up questions in the chat guys
We will hit those over the second half of the Pod as we always do you guys always give us great questions we love that interaction so keep throwing those in the chat uh we got to talk about alred and shenon and I guess with him Victor web minyama I mean my goodness
Man this this was another game I was in between on league pass I I I would argue the best game of shanon’s career certainly his best game of the season best game of late 45 points 16 boards five steals three assists uh he actually had six steals at one point there was a
Stat correction as someone who now rosters shenon in the Roa wire stake League uh I was keeping a close eye on that so somebody at the NBA stats department is gonna have to answer for why he lost one of those steals doing that against wanyama man um I mean you
Could argue wanyama is is in that inner circle of you know best defenders overall certainly best interior defenders in the NBA uh you know Alex barua actually gave out web Yama to block at least seven shots which was six to one six to one that is a crazy number
I told him on the show I’m like yeah I could see him doing it but like you got to get me better than six to one for a guy to get to Seven blocks and he had three blocks in the first 10 minutes uh Houston gets blocked more than any team
In the NBA if you look into some of the metrics so it was not a great a great game for wanyama you only had 10 points uh 11 boards seven blocks you know which now goes down as like an average game for him his blocks and steals props
Every night are now five and a half which is ridiculous like no one else is in that range yeah I was I was gonna give that one out the uh the NBA prop plays that I give out on Roa wire social media accounts every day that was one of
The I usually end up with like four picks that I really like and then I got to whittle it down to two just for the video purposes and that was one that that was on the chopping block and I looked back at the end of the night just
Kicking myself because he did and it was exactly that it was the Steels plus plus block stat that was that was set at five and a half and he did it all he didn’t need a single steal didn’t get one still hit the over on that unbelievable yeah it’s unreal man I
Every every with each passing day you know I know we’ve talked a lot about like you know is he going number one next year I’m taking him number one I’m taking him number one I don’t care I I I know you know you can argue there’s a
Little more safety with yage you know even I think SGA is now like in that discussion at least you know there still might be people who go back to if you trust the health you know in some formats maybe Giannis makes sense I get
That but man I I just I just don’t know that anybody else can match that kind of upside you know like two seasons ago you know when jic was like The Runaway best player in fantasy basketball where it was like almost an unfair advantage to
Have him I like I yo yic I think has kind of come back to the pack a little bit or maybe more accurately the pack has caught up to him because of some of the crazy counting stats that guys like Luca and SGA are putting up but I I
Think in a best case scenario wanyama it returns number one pick value and maybe jumps like a full tier ahead of that group right like if he’s given you it’s totally possible like you see a lot of great players make that year two leap right where like you know LeBron’s
Always the example I throw out you know went from like 20 points a game as a rookie to like 27 his second year like obviously Victor way minyama could do that especially if they jack up his minutes into the 35 36 range where he
Should be I mean he could be 25 133 four or five assists two two to two and a half steals I don’t know and like four four and a half blocks I mean nobody’s matching that yeah he’s got to get there as far as consistent scoring but the
Thing he’s giving you that those other guys at the top are not are those counting stats on the defensive side and he is so big and uh lanky and athletic he’s basically a lock for a couple of blocks of game you can already bake that
In to your score I I do think that we are in an era of fantasy basketball where there there just isn’t a clear-cut one you have it’s you’re kind of in a Zone where if you have a top five pick next year you’re just kind of good no
Matter who you end up with because they all do different things exceedingly well nobody’s giving you across theboard stats points rebounds assists assists like Nicole yic nobody right now especially playing guard is giving you the efficiency and some defensive stats like Shay Gil just Alexander um and just
The and the monster scoring numbers that you get from Giannis on top of the other things that he does really well and he does a lot of it around the basket which means his percentages are booed as well but nobody’s blocking shots in that group like Victor wanyama so yeah I feel
Like it’s a little bit it’s a little Baskin Robbins like just pick your flavor because you’re gonna end up with something that nobody else in the league is able to produce I I think I would argue in a category League though that wanyama like lapping the field in blocks
Is more valuable because if he stays healthy he’s basically guaranteeing you you know maybe you don’t win the category depending on what you do with the rest of your roster but like at worst you’re going to be like top five in blocks in your league right like
There’s just no way if he stays healthy that you if he’s giving you 4.5 blocks per game that you’re not up there like you I’m looking at the last 30 days we have a great tool on Roa wire where you can look at um you know each player’s
Value over a given time frame you can select which categories you want and then you can look at you know what we call a zcore for each category his his zcore in blocks is 6.1 right now which is in incredibly high like really good in in another category
Would be like 1.5 or two he’s twice as valuable as the next most valuable player in shop blocking which is Anthony Davis who’s at like 3.1 and Davis is averaging 2.8 blocks per game in the span that I’m looking at last last 12 games which is exceptional and Victor
Weany is twice as good so you know if you look at the last 30 days he’s the best fantasy player in the NBA in eight category leagues um you know there’s just no real weakness right now like he’s giving you 1.8 steals obviously we talked about the blocks you know I think
He could be a five six assist per game guy next year field goal percentage is good despite you know being a little bit shaky as a shooter and the free throws I that was the big question mark with W minyama was you know yeah the free throw percentage has been decent overseas you
We’ll see how that translates 82% for for a 7 foot5 rookie is fantastic I mean that’s better than Luka donic it’s better than than Anthony Davis um you know it’s basically the same as as Nicole yic uh you know sga’s actually down in the the low 80s this year that
Was a big thing for him in years past he was closer to 90 I’m taking him number one I’m taking him number one that’s all I’m saying you know the beauty of it is that one thing that you just sort of threw in there the big question mark was
The free throw shooting the big question mark too that we aren’t even talking about is health is this guy gonna be able to stay on the floor and like you’re right and not bringing that up as a question because it kind of feels like it’s already been answered it it doesn’t
Seem like that is an issue we’ve seen this guy take hard fall Falls this year we’ve seen his minutes increase through over the over the course of the Season he plays a style of basketball that for his size he’s a little bit finessed but it works for his game because he’s got
Those finesse sort of abilities he’s unbelievable and I’d have no problem I’m certainly not laughing anybody out of the room if they draft wiim Bama first overall I’m still not there yet but I’m not far away from it um and certainly have no issue if with anybody that
Decides they want to go in that direction we’re drafting players later in the draft that can do one thing yeah that Victor wanyama does across the board if if you had a guy that blocked shots like wanyama you’re you’re targeting him he’s Walker Kessler you know like he’s Walker Kessler plus Shay
Plus Giannis plus donic and yeah he he’s in he’s incredible and you’re certainly not going to regret it if you end up taking him at the top of the draft yeah last thing I’ll say on this is you can look at the overall zcore his is uh 1.42
On our site and you can find this on the ratings page on Roa wire.com the implication is that what he’s given you over the last 30 days is basically the same value as like if you combined like the 18th and the 19th best fantasy player like he’s given you two top 20
Players and the weight you know the it’s outsize waiting in terms of of what he gives you in blocks so you know I’m not saying like the counting stats equal Kyrie plus Kawai like that that’s a little ridiculous but the the weighted value that he gives you in blocks is
That significant so yeah Victor wanyama extremely good living up to the hype no question about that uh we got to talk yaka purle Brandon as the hits keep coming for Toronto this was an ugly game um you know one of my Best Bets yesterday was
Kelly oin over 16 and a half points plus assists he did get there uh I I I thought this one was dead because the Raptors were down 40 early in the third quarter and I thought it was jonte Porter time and and we were cooked for
Some reason oen came back into the game uh patted the stats a little bit finished with 22 rebounds plus assists that that prop is now hit in nine of 10 games when he’s played at least 25 minutes this season but Toronto looked awful man I mean they they went I think
Three or four minutes in the second quarter without a bucket they just can’t really create anything right now even with quickle and Barrett out there I don’t think we see Scotty Barnes again this season to be honest you know coming back from a broken hand and you know now
We we see you know purle was questionable to start the week he didn’t play last night and then you know during the game last night we we got news that he’s undergoing surgery uh to repair a torn ligament in his finger so I I think he’s now in Scotty Barnes territory
Where medically timetable wise yeah he could be back what’s the point I I think Toronto is totally fine just sliding their way down and trying to hold on to their first round pick yeah this is why I have a really hard time when you get into March I I’m
A big NBA better night tonight I us I’m usually on you know up to two games on any given night in the league and this time of year I take nights off regularly because I just can’t trust anybody half the teams in the league you have no idea
What their motives are um some of them you know you feel like you’re getting value double digit points uh in your in your direction but a game like last night is a good example of that it just does doesn’t really matter there some of these teams they’re just not Fielding
Real basketball teams at this point in the year and and you just don’t know um what the motivation level is like for these guys at this point what do you think the Raptor’s locker room is like when they wrap up for the night and they
Get ready to work the next day you know this is not a high morale situation at this point um so this is a this is a tough one to trust fantasy-wise too Justin Freeman Liberty uh who they just picked up I think had a two-way deal last week was playing uh like two
Minutes into the third quarter that’s where that’s where we’re at right now you know I had I had a little bit of interest in like oai abbaji who I thought would would be the guy to to kind of Step In Minutes wise for Scotty Barnes he did start last night gave you
Three points in 16 minutes there there might not just there might just not be a whole lot there I I think you know they’re not going to lose by by 41 or whatever it was 43 uh like they did last night every night but it it’s going to
Be ugly it’s going to be really ugly and you know I think Barrett and quickly like you’re still going to get your counting stats there but you this team really struggled shooting the ball too I mean Grady dick was awful last night I’m still still not out on him you know I
Think in deeper leagues if you need threes you know he’s somebody you can at least look at the minutes are going to be there um but but you know he was one of seven from the field 0 of five from three uh at one point just got straight
Up like ripped by Zion uh for for a dunk on the other end like he just didn’t really look uh ready or confident and again this team you know they they ow a top six P or protected pick uh in the draft so I I think they kind of made
That calculation and the injuries to purle and Barnes I think made that decision as far as what direction their season is going a little bit easier so I I think they’re they’re now in all right let’s try to chase down Memphis to get the the sixth worst Lottery odds and and
Maybe we can hold on to that pick are you saying that Toronto maybe has to go into that bucket of like I just I don’t know if I’m touching this team and if I am I’m fading them uh yeah but that’s the thing is I don’t even feel comfortable fading teams
Like this I think that would be the logical thought is well if you never want to bet on them then I guess you want to bet against them I just can’t touch it because it the odds makers have caught up in terms of the the numbers they’re putting onto these games where I
Feel like when you look at the spread all the values on the bad team um and it’s you’re sort of a sucker if you take the favorite but uh I just I can’t get a read for it you know obviously you’re going to hit one one of the two
Directions hits every single night you know unless there’s a push um but I I don’t feel like I have a good read for it where I can the NBA is very much ride the waves of momentum positively or negatively over the course of a couple
Of weeks and I just can’t get a feel for are they going to be in a game tonight are they not going to care at all who are they GNA play guys like Grady dick that might turn out to be a good NBA player this guy’s still figuring it out
Um so in a betting perspective I just I look at certain teams when I cross a team off the board I cross them off off my board in both directions both betting on them and betting against them you know as for Grady dick I wouldn’t yeah I
Wouldn’t abort ship uh just because he had a bad night that was as bad as it’s going to be for the Toronto Raptors he’s still knocking down threes at a pretty good rate uh if you were to take that 0 of five out of the equation from last
Night so this is a guy that’s still going to get his there’s no reason for them not to give him minutes at this point with them heading clearly in a South Direction so you mentioned you’re doing the prize picks videos for us each night those have been fantastic uh go check those
Out on the Roa wire NBA Twitter account you can find him on the roadwire account as well um you know Brandon’s been been throwing out two picks per night there I love playing on prize picks that’s been my dominant site as well uh what are you liking for
Tonight so I’m looking the way of uh this is a bounceback opportunity for both of these players Palo Bano last night I had my eye on his Points Plus assists prop didn’t end up playing it and glad I didn’t he didn’t hit it he did go over on points but just wasn’t
There it was 27 and a half set last night against Charlotte it’s the same exact number tonight now here’s the thing as bad as the Hornets are I’m not sure that they are as much of a mess at least defensively as the Washington Wizards are so I’m gonna hop on I’m
Gonna hop on that prop tonight 100 points 120 points or more in each of their last four games for the Wizards they’ve been giving up a ton of of points and I think Paulo um is ripe to feast tonight over 27 and a half points plus assists it’s kind of been his brand
Over the last month plus when he plays against teams that are sub 500 he tends to go off um no shocker there and then I’m pairing that with a legend I don’t usually go after um the goats when because there’re all of those numbers are always inflated but Steph Curry
Coming off of an 0 of nine three-point shooting performance I I think he’s bouncing back in a big way tonight so I’m taking his over at five and a half threes made uh just an absolute embarrassment the last time they took the floor I think he’ll be out for some
Vengeance five and a half oh what a number uh Golden State home for the Milwaukee Bucks tonight uh we’ll see if Giannis is out there by the way I know he’s currently questionable you know if you’re watching this you probably saw the video of Giannis earlier this week
Waring up and I’m a little concerned um I would put my concern level at like six out of 10 um I I think the Bucks would be wise to hold him out for a few games you obviously you don’t want this to be something that recurs the Bucs had said
That you know he’d been dealing with a little bit of Achilles soreness over the last few weeks and you was able to manage it obviously didn’t play the other night excuse me against the Clippers I don’t know that Milwaukee’s going to be able to sustain you know beating good teams without Giannis um
You know even even tonight on the road in Golden state if he doesn’t play that that becomes a pretty dicey situation um but but obviously you got to prioritize you know keeping him healthy for the playoffs there sitting in the two spot right now in the East let’s go to the
Chat we got some good questions here we’ll start hitting some of these our guy free key says is bench pool actually good I have him sitting on waivers in his League yeah he might be yeah it’s worked out better than we thought right I mean
He’s had I think you can argue he’s had his best eight game stretch of the season um you know since the the first game before the All-Star break when he had 19 and a loss to the Pelicans during that span 23 points three rebounds four assists one and a half steals taking
Nine threes a game hitting 3.8 at 40% uh shooting 4441 89 from the field he’s he’s got three 30o games in that span I’ve stayed away from Jordan pool I have not rostered him on a single Team all season wasn’t necessarily by choice he was just
Going a little too high for me in drafts and and a little too expensive in auctions um and you know most of the leagues I play in are a little deeper so he hasn’t been dropped I will say uh if if he were a available in our 16 team Ro
Of wire stake League where I desperately need another guard I would pick him up I think the bigger question is you know if you’re in a 10 teamer or 12 teamer are are you going back to the well on Jordan pool because you know if he’s been
Sitting there for the last two weeks you probably wish he was on your roster yeah I mean it’s hard to argue with that when putting up the numbers he scored 30 plus in two of his last three three of his last five U so it I think
Only the most stubborn person would tell you they still want no part of po I I was saying that for months but yeah he has definitely turned it around bench pool has become a completely different player and then ironically enough the guy that he would have been the direct
Replacement for in Golden State also now coming off of the bench in Klay Thompson and it seems like both are thriving in this role so I don’t know I don’t know what kind of magic pixie dust they’re uh sprinkling on these benches these days but it seems to be working for these knockdown
Shooters Christian Rogers says good morning fellas morning Christian thanks for tuning in should I drop Paul Reed and pick up Dean Wade Wade went crazy last night and looks like Evan Moy might be out for a while after injuring his ankle uh really good question here yeah
Moy you know I don’t know if this was carryover from the other night when you know he got crossed into Oblivion and and ended up falling down uh but they said that he left the arena on crutches so I would expect at least a game or two
For Evan Moy um if you locked him into to a weekly league lineup probably taking the L uh the rest of this week the Cavs are in Atlanta tonight they play Minnesota Friday uh and then they have a home game against Brooklyn on Sunday so you know hopefully he gets
Back for one of those games but certainly could be a situation where he’s missing time so the question basically is Paul Reed versus Wade and you know Dean Wade had the best quarter of his entire career last night uh you know scored 23 uh had six threes you know basically did
Everything for the Cavs in the fourth you know as they rallied back to to beat the Boston Celtics 20 of those 23 points came in the fourth I I think I would still lean Paul Reed I I know it’s appealing now you know especially with mle projected to
Miss time but the the larger sample strongly strongly suggests that that’s not the guy that Dean Wade is and we actually you know obviously Mobly missed time in December and January so we could go back and look all right what happened during that span Dean Wade 22 starts in
A row from December 8th through January 26 seven and a half points 4.8 rebounds one Steel Two made threes a game so he’s still giving you that my answer would be it depends how badly you need three-pointers specifically because I I think that would be the big advantage
That Wade has over Paul Reed now Paul Reed came off the he’s come off the bench now in three straight games for Philly they seem to have SED on him a little bit but I still think he’s going to give you a slightly higher Baseline
Night to night even if Moy you know ends up missing two weeks yeah I’m very put off by the idea of Mo bomba who is not proven to be a good NBA player starting over Paul Reed that’s not a great sign of where you are in your NBA career
But so I struggle to give him my endorsement here but this is not who Dean Wade is this is what Dean Wade is capable of he certainly can knock down threes but he’s got to get that sort of volume in order to put up numbers like that and that’s just not typically the
Case so I think this is more of a one-off performance maybe he’ll do it one or two more times but Paul Reed would be the more consistent reliable option even if Philadelphia wishes they had anybody else yeah I would if you can I would try
To wait you know at one or two more games I I would like to see like is this is this minutes thing for Paul Reed a trend you know they played a close game against Phoenix last night he or Phoenix against Brooklyn last night and he still
Only played 19 minutes he wasn’t in foul trouble so like if you know if all of a sudden he comes out and plays like 14 minutes off the bench next game you know then you’re then you’re in a spot where maybe Dean Wade makes more sense but I
Do still think Reed’s going to give you a slightly higher floor uh Christopher saysi am beyond annoyed not with you guys thankfully I love the show been here all year but the playoff start and I lose Barnes Booker Giannis jiren Jackson and Desmond Bane see you next
Year so there’s no question here but we will I think we can offer our condolences my goodness yeah Christopher um we uh we will be thinking of you our thoughts are with you and your fantasy family um better luck next year hey we started talking about next year’s draft
Already it’s never too early to get a ranking out there so and rotowire.com great source for all of that information Jared Jackson by the way questionable tonight against the Sixers so he hasn’t been shut down yet but he’s missed three in a row I think we we kind
Of saw this coming um I I you know I think he plays again the rest of the year I don’t think this is like an official shutdown but you know the reason that I flipped him for shenon last week was like even if jiren Jackson ends up being the better player per game
I banking on shenon playing 18 to 22 more games the rest of the year and I’m banking on jiren Jackson playing 10 to 12 more games and obviously you’re going to get more value out of the guy who who’s playing that many more games so I the shutdowns coming I think for jiren
Jackson so you know it’s tough to say go move off of him right now you probably had to do that around the All-Star break because anybody who’s paying attention in your league is is gonna charge you a pretty steep discount on him but it is something I would consider you know Alex
And I talked about that on Monday you know what’s a realistic trade like somebody said you know that somebody offered towns for jiren Jackson uh yes do that if somebody’s willing to give you someone like towns just just pull the trigger don’t even think about it
Yeah but you’re gonna have to aim lower you know and and with the amount of injuries that you have Christopher it’s it’s gonna be tough right I mean Barnes probably isn’t coming back who knows on Bane Giannis and jiren Jackson they probably don’t miss that much time you know you’ll get
Booker back but it may be too little too late for you but if you could deal jiren Jackson for somebody who you just think is going to play the rest of the season it’s probably going to be a winning proposition for you you know what it sounds like it sounds sounds like Nick
Is telling you don’t give up never give up never surrender you’re not out of it yet never ever ever Matt carb says what’s up from Ireland guys hello Matt uh do you think the Bucks could beat the Celtics come playoffs could they yes yes they could
Would I pick them to do so no I would not because the way that the Bucs aren’t catching Boston for the number one seed it’s going to go through Boston you’re going to play the first two there you’re playing a game seven in Boston if it gets that far the Celtics basically have
Every box checked over Milwaukee other than best player in the series right I I think they have more depth I think they’re the better shooting team I don’t I don’t know if I would say they’re better Coach to me maybe that’s a wash I was goingon to say I think that actually
You this is where you can finally give Doc Rivers an edge sure this that’s my biggest question mark with the Boston Celtics because in the regular season it doesn’t matter that much but by the time you get to the playoffs especially as you get deeper into the playoffs it
Matters a ton the type of adjust adjustments that you make um rotations timeouts you know like every little detail matters so much and that’s where coaching comes into play Elite coaching we have not seen that Joe moula is an elite NBA coach yet he was schooled by
Eric spola Eric spola might be in a different class but Doc Rivers has been doing this thing for a long long time so I’m not I I would I would give the Bucks the slight Edge there you can never count out Giannis just going abs absolutely crazy Damen Lillard we’ll see
What he kind of impact he has in the playoffs by the time you get to that series you might have a completely completely different view of what could be accomplished but with all of that said I don’t think anybody’s beating Boston this year East or West I think
Boston they just look like they’re Head and Shoulders above everybody else in the NBA right now top to bottom yeah I I think it would be a competitive series like I I don’t think you know Boston like you know sweeps the Bucs or beats
Him in five even I think it could be a six or seven game series but the Celtics have historically defended Giannis pretty well you know you’re asking a lot of porzingis who’s never really been in that spot and then you know an aging Al Horford who throughout his career has
Defended jiannis well but is a different player now than he was even two years ago um so you can’t rule it out I mean it would have to be a series where Giannis is probably giving you like what 35 a night and Lillard’s giving you 30 a
Night like those two kind of have to do it for Milwaukee because even the other night against against the Clippers you know when Yannis is out like Malik Beasley has like his worst game of the year you know it’s like those Boston just they all of their role
Players to me have a higher floor they have more options you know their fourth best player is Head and Shoulders above Milwaukee’s fourth best player and then of course the the elephant in the room is Chris Middleton and his health like if Middleton is locked in and looks like
You know 2018 Chris Middleton then yeah I mean it’s it’s totally possible that Milwaukee could win that series but there I I think a lot of things would have to break Milwaukee’s way for that to happen you I would say the Celtics win that series seven to eight out of 10
Times at least right now but maybe maybe we’ll feel differently I mean the Bucs have have seen ly turned somewhat of a corner and you know and you know Boston’s going to have homecourt Advantage at this point they’ve pretty much unofficially locked that up they’re 29 and three at home this year they’ve
Been a lights out home team in the playoffs the past couple of Seasons this team is ripe to break through and finally win an NBA championship you have to win a game in Boston and I’m not sure that any any of these teams are really going to be able to do that
Yeah another question from Matt he says I’m down Moy Eon and a Kung Wu at Center what order would you rank the following players as potential additions Paul Reed doop wath and Andre Drummond this is a head-to-head Yahoo points League yeah tough tough situation there you know obviously you’re specifically looking
For one position here with with three guys injured at Center DeAndre Aton likely out again tonight against OKC that would be his fourth straight absence so I I still don’t know if I would drop Aon like I I don’t see him necessarily as a a a glaring shutdown
Candidate you I think they they kind of want to get their investment on him du bre has played well he started the last three games he had 26 points the other night against Minnesota in a really tough matchup at five three-pointers he’s not he’s not a high
Volume rebounder uh you know the shot blocking has been nice he’s got six blocks over the last three games you know Alex and I talked about you know wath versus Jabari Walker the other day and you I think we like Walker a little bit more uh but if if Rath is going to
Be playing 35 minutes a night you know obviously that that is is something you have to consider I I still like Andre Drummond man I I have too many centers on on some of my teams where like I couldn’t even get Drummond in my lineup
This week uh I also missed out on his 26 rebound game the other night you kind of have to play the matchups with him like he got in foul trouble against Sacramento didn’t really do much you know in a points League I still I think Drummond is probably gonna give you the
Highest floor and you you never know I mean I don’t think the Bulls are GNA be shutting anybody down because they’re dead set on getting that 10 seed in the east i as of right now assuming Aon is coming back at some point in like the next week I would go Drummond wreath
Reed uh yeah that’s exactly how I was going to rank it just rank it backwards in terms of the question the the rebounding not replaceable in terms of what Andre Drummond can bring you duop has been a really exciting player uh this time of year and I’m almost
Completely out on Paul Reed by the way the Sixers almost out on Paul Reed too apparently yeah uh coincidentally Paul asks us maybe this is Paul Reed himself which is more likely to happen Portland sitting Simons toward the end of the season or Detroit sitting Cunningham
Great question here I I would say Simons it has to be Simon I think I mean yeah I you know Detroit can’t keep doing this they cannot keep doing this you know I of course hindsight’s a crystal clear 2020 I think if Detroit could have it to do over again they would
They wouldn’t punt on last season it has set them back so far this team should be a couple of steps ahead of other rebuilding teams in the NBA they got Kade Cunningham in the 2020 draft that’s a superstar type of player that they should have been developing last year I
Don’t think he was shut down all year because he was hurt I think he was shut down all year because they wanted Victor wanyama they didn’t get him they stunted his growth they stunted the team’s growth and now they’re having to make up for it this isn’t the draft where you
Need to have the top pick in order to get a good player I’m not sure there’s even a great one to be had in the top five um so I I think they’d be so foolish to shut him down they have to get out of that business well I I think
What breaks the tie for me and again I think it’s relatively unlikely that both get shut down but I would say Simons Detroit is essentially locked into a bottom four record and that’s what matters as far as as Lottery odds go you know there’s no wanyama in this draft
But you still you still want to be picking as high as you can like I think that matters Val you want your choice Portland meanwhile has 17 wins so they have the fifth worst record they’re only two games quote unquote ahead of the Charlotte Hornets so I think there’s
More motivation for Portland draft pickwise than there is for Detroit because Detroit you know they’ve won nine games with Kate Cunningham this year and if Portland really wants to make that push in the last like two weeks to try to you know fall below Charlotte and and get those those smooth
Lottery and have a chance at the number one pick then I I think sitting Simons could make some sense so that’s where I would go there um who has the higher rest of season value scoot or Keon George good question these are two players that have been you know tethered
At the hip in fantasy for for a lot of the Season K George you know kind of had a bad game on on Monday but he left that game early with an illness he was sick coming in so you kind of wipe that away we’ll see if he plays tonight he’s
Questionable scoot meanwhile you know has been injured for a while now you know has not really been able to stay healthy consistently um you know Miss time early on he’s going to miss his seventh game in a row uh tonight against the Thunder I think it just has to be
George because we we have no idea when scoot’s coming back and ke George has been the better player this year anyway um and I think Utah’s Gonna Keep handing a minute so I would go Keon yeah I got a I got a nice look at
Him a couple of games back the Utah Jazz were in Orlando and he just scores with such ease he’s uh really an effortless type of player a lot more lanky than I realized um and I mean that in a positive way like he’s he’s a good
Finisher at The Rim because he’s got so much range to his game solid three-point shooter he I think he looks like he has already grown Leaps and Bounds because of the minutes he’s been given throughout this year to me it’s easily Keon George at this
Point uh Frey says hey just want to join the pity party I’m down Aon Brunson a Kung wo baggley and maybe cam Johnson uh yeah cam left last night’s game uh condolences man uh thoughts and prayers whatever we could do for you uh we’re
Happy to to to Lop as much pity on you as we can uh all right let’s hit a few more and then we’ll be out of here let me say the the real MVPs by the way Nick the real MVPs of this podcast are the people that know they have no chance and
Are still listening to us and commenting on the feed they’re the real and still and still setting lineups every week you know you know like that’s the worst thing is when when somebody completely gives up and you know if you’re in a category League or even head-to-head of
Course right you’re just handing free wins to somebody it’s like you know do your due diligence uh you know it’s your responsibility to the league uh to make sure you’re you’re playing this out even if you’re in these terrible situations where you somehow have like seven guys
On I uh all right we we’ll rifle through a few more Jeffrey says I’ve lost purle and I need a center looking for a trade before our deadline thoughts on giving Aaron n Smith for Wendell Carter in a 14 team nine cat League I think that’s fair
If you could do that deal I would do Do It um yeah I I like D Smith you know he has not played well lately he played really well before he he had a five-game injury absence but I would I would do that deal especially because you
Specifically need a center so even if you’re Pro n Smith and you think he’s gonna bounce back I think you have to prioritize your positional need here and I I would absolutely go get Wendell Carter for n Smith what say you yeah I I
I would have to go back and look at the split of what his his season has looked like the consistency of it after adding kakum because it seems like it just conventional wisdom and I I noticed this I I watch more um I watch more of the
Pacers then I think if you were to like wait the teams that I follow on a night toight basis for whatever reason the Pacers are towards the top of my list um it seems like since Pascal cakam has been added to the mix nce Smith has kind
Of Fallen back into the background a little bit uh and I I don’t know for sure if the stats necessarily back that up because n Smith has still had some good games um over the course of the last month plus but yeah I think wendo Carter Jr at this point is more reliable
And that flux that that we were in with the magic and their bigs that has really settled down it’s wend Carter Jr’s job there’s no doubt about that and there’s a clear hierarchy of bigs in Orlando where for a minute we had no idea what that rotation was looking
Like good question here from Jay Sizzle he says in a nineat 10 Team league what order would you rank the following Andrew Wiggins who will return tonight Bogdan bogdanovich and Trey Murphy Murphy went crazy last night had 10 threes so keep that in mind yeah that’s those are really away me I
Mean Murphy’s been on fire lately and you know the PS have been mostly healthy during that span let’s see yeah we love we love what we love what Dean Wade gave us how about Trey Murphy hit four more threes than him last night I need more of that I put
Trey Murphy at the top of the list yeah I I think I would go Murphy bogdanovic Wiggins in that order and Wiggins has played better lately you know I mean it was such a disaster early on you know he’s been more consistent but still it just doesn’t look like the same guy and
You know he you know’s only missed four games but it was a personal absence we saw that last year and and after he came back wasn’t the same at all um I I think you’re going to get more well-rounded production out of the other two whereas with Wiggins it’s kind of just points
You lower end rebounds like one or two assists the defensive stats tend to come and go it’s been better with Steels lately I guess um and the three-point shot has been relatively hot but yeah I would go Murphy bogdanovich Wiggins but it’s pretty close I mean I I would love
To have any of those guys on on my team right now especially in in a deeper League um all right we’ll do one or two more and then we’ll get out of here adus says Gafford wath meic for rest of season fantasy playoffs uh we’re getting to that point in the year
Brandon where this is a impressing question still trying to figure out how to pronounce his first name Yeah well yeah I think it’s Vil that’s what I’ve been saying at least we’re talking the the point guard in Charlotte me’s played has played really well the last couple games I mean he’s
Had just had arguably his best game of the year 215 and four with two steals uh you know’s he’s been piling up steals the last few games uh my answer of course would be depends what you need I’m still I’m still a little skeptical on Gafford just because of the playing
Time prior to last night and you know we’ll see if maybe he turn some sort of corner as far as you know working his way into Jason kid’s rotation last night but I don’t know they have so many big men so if you if you need you know if
You’re if you need a guard obviously you’re going meic if you need you know assists or steals meic I think in general I would I would say the one risk with meich is that Lamela ball comes back at some point and then you’re in big trouble but who knows if that’s GNA
Happen I have no idea we’ve got no indication as of right now because I think I think Eon coming back is more probable than l at this point um I think I would go I think I would go meic Gafford wreath I I don’t know this is really tough manand
Did do you feel strongly well I I I think this is one of those scenarios where obviously the position the positional need matters more than anything else and then the second thing is if you’re if you’re especially if you’re setting your lineup for an entire week um how many times do these teams
Play in week 21 and and that’ll be something to look into as well but if I’m just saying in a vacuum if I’m just ranking these players I I think I’d rank it the way you have it listed uh I I I really like Daniel Gafford and I’m surprised that they
Haven’t been using him more at this point after acquiring him at the trade deadline but maybe they’re getting to that point so I’m sort of taking the bait on that wreath has been piling up stats uh so you kind of know what you’re getting in him and it’s good and then meic like
Who knows because you’re right the second lamelo lamelo ball comes back if that does happen he’s got no value whatsoever the other two are going to maintain theirs for the rest of the season okay we’ll do this last one real quickly it’s a good one to end on kind
Of a more abstract question uh KAG says advice besides the obvious for joining a keeper League it’s my first year in fantasy this year and I’m by far in last because of injuries and joining a keeper next year and I want to do what I can to
Be ahead uh yeah good question I mean it so in some ways depends on on what kind of League you’re entering you know is it is it more of a dynasty format where you have contracts is it a keeper League where you can keep X number of players
Year-over-year are you doing a draft or an auction to start this league or are you inheriting someone else’s team um if it’s the latter you know you’re kind of at the mercy of what what they did with their roster but I mean with the keeper League there’s there’s one of two ways
You could go right you’re either gunning for it right away or you’re building for the future right and my advice to you would be to to look at some mock drafts you know even ones from this year you could try to find some early mocks for
Next year as well um you know we have we have keeper rankings on our site that I would push you toward as well uh that we keep updated throughout the year but it’s really about choosing your lane you know I what I would not tell you to do
Is try to do both uh you know in some keeper leagues know you could draft you know draft picks or draft rookies you know out of the the draft pool I wouldn’t go too heavy on those if you want to win next year uh you know someone in a keeper League you know
Someone like LeBron or Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry those guys are gonna fall a little bit you’re going to see younger players pushed up the board um so in my opinion it’s relatively easy to build not like you know the number one team but to build a competitive team right
Away if you want because a lot of other people you know kind of get you know and it’s a strategy I wouldn’t say they get lost in this but a lot of people you know really get the keeper mindset of like ah well this guy’s 30 I don’t want
To take him right there’s there’s gonna be a lot of like you know D rozan SE yakum types that you can load up on a little bit later in drafts and put together a really good team right away if you want to and there’s there are enough really good in terms of building
Your roster at the top there are enough Superstar level players that are still in at the beginning of or in the middle of their Prime to where you don’t need to really worry about that with the top players that are on your roster so you
Should be good in terms of the your top tier player that you’re going to roll over year overy year what you don’t want to do is get overly excited about rookies or second your players just because you’re in a keeper League the entire mission of being in a fantasy
League is to win it any given year you get the opportunity and in the first year of a keeper league is still that you’re still trying to win outside of the these said outside of the obvious so I’m actually going to go off of the beaten path of just how to build a
Roster make sure you’re in a league with committed fantasy managers that aren’t going to bow out in a year or two I think that’s the key to building any successful keeper or Dynasty league is you got to get in with people that you know are going to be committed
Year-over-year I we hear this all the time in every sport I’m going to keep my keeper League fell apart I’m starting up a new one that that takes all the joy out of it if you’re constantly starting a new keeper league so find the right people and then don’t obsess over
Rookies all right great stuff as always today Brandon uh great questions in the chat guys we appreciate you we’ll keep doing these pods through the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs five days a week so tomorrow you could catch Dr Ray and Rick Campa on the Pod
Friday we’ll have the waiver wire episode coming with Alex baruth Ken KES and Shannon mchu check out Brandon’s picks videos on the roadwire Twitter account go play on prize picks and please like subscribe check out our Channel helps us out immensely as we try to build this thing out uh and check out
Roa wire.com if you’re playing on on a pic site or you’re just playing player props we got great Intel an awesome tool over there Ro wire.com Brandon good stuff man we’ll talk soon
1 Comment
yep, wemby top pick next year.. easily