5 Things We Learned in the #NBA
…and if they have impact for #FantasyBasketball
Thursday 10/26:
🏀 The Bucks still can’t defend the perimeter & are a liability at the line.
BUT…Dame. 😳
Lillard put the Bucks on his back and refused to let them lose to the Sixers.
In fact,cord for points in a Bucks debut w/ 39.
His closing ability is such an amazing asset for Milwaukee, and could make all the difference in the postseason.
Dame can hit big shots & draw fouls when it matters most. He was 17/17 from the line and scored 14 pts in the final 4 minutes.😳
The defensive trade-off was worth it.
⚡️ Fantasy Impact: Nothing actionable
#FearTheDeer
🏀 The #Sixers rotation is not what we thought.
Kelly Oubre played MORE minutes than De’Anthony Melton.
Coach Nick Nurse is going to push his top three (Embiid, Maxey, and Harris) from between 35-40 minutes, w/ Tucker rotating in/out while Oubre & Melton switch off at SG.
⚡️ Fantasy Impact: Oubre is not going to score 27 pts a game (9-of-11), but is worth a pickup in deeper formats until we see how these minutes settle.
Hold Melton.
#BrotherlyLove
🏀 Paul Reed is a non-factor for the Sixers.
After plenty of offseason sleeper hype, Reed played just 12 minutes.
He seems unlikely to be fantasy relevant unless there is an injury.
⚡️Fantasy Impact: Paul Reed can be safely dropped in most leagues.
🏀 Will Embiid be able to handle this workload? Early returns suggest, maybe not…
Embiid looked run down early in the 4th, disappearing for stretches when Philly needed him to assert dominance.
It’s way too early to make a definitive judgement, but I can’t see a way The Process can handle this strategy over a full season w/o illegal load management.
⚡️Fantasy Impact: To Be Determined.
🏀 LeBron’s 30-min limit was bullshit
Not only did LeBron cruise past 30-min, but he never left the court in the 4th-quarter.
In fact, James seemed to score whenever he felt like it during the final stretch of the game, turning back the clock & challenging Kevin Durant In the paint.
⚡️ Fantasy Impact: I’m sure there will still be times when LeBron will have his minutes managed, we expected that, but at least we appear to have avoided a nightmare minutes cap.
If you drafted James, rest easy.
#LakeShow
