2014-15 Fantasy Basketball: Box Score Browsing – Reggie Jackson: Mr November
Everyone knew Reggie Jackson as Russell Westbrook’s back-up who had some potential as a scoring combo guard, particularly excelling in last year’s playoffs while starting alongside Westbrook against the Spurs in their last two games (sure, both losses!). With a plague of Thunder injuries – including a minor one to the man himself – Jackson has been thrust into the starting point guard spot, thriving from a fantasy perspective.
He’s easily topping his career highs in every major statistic, with only his field goal and three point percentages and turnovers suffering – the mark of a player unaccustomed to shouldering such a massive load. It didn’t take him long to hit his strides, as he started with 23 points at Brooklyn and he hasn’t looked back, scoring at least 20 points in six of his nine games. The counting stats are also extremely satisfying for a player with an ADP of 91 in ESPN leagues, as he’s had four assists in every game of the season, while averaging 4.7 rebounds per night – good for 12th among guard eligible players.
Like most young point guards, the 3.6 turnovers aren’t great, in fact they’re a big issue – but when the rotation irons itself out a bit more Jackson will find he won’t have to force the issue as much. Even when the aforementioned Westbrook returns towards the end of the month (touch wood), Jackson’s going to hold value as the second option OKC needs to keep the boat afloat until the MVP returns ready to challenge Anthony Davis for interstellar fantasy domination.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
I’ll have the Giannis Fantasycombo please.
Giannis might be fantasy NBA’s first four position eligible player since Boris Diaw back in 2006 – he’s that versatile. The Bucks have used him for stretches at everything but C, and while he hasn’t set the world on fire and lived up the lofty expectations yet, there’s a lot to like. Many young players like Dion Waiters (and old for that matter, cough *Kobe* cough) feel that scoring points is the best way to gain trust and respect from their coach, so they chuck up shots hoping to put points on the board because let’s face it, points is usually the first stat that catches a fan’s eye. It sort of makes sense, I’m no mathematician but as I understand it if you have more points than the other team at the end of the game, you’ve got a pretty solid chance of winning.
The Greek Freak hasn’t forced shots – he’s beaten bigger players both off the dribble and down the floor, while shooting easily over smaller players. The other counting stats we were all hoping for, i.e. one of those golden one 3PT/STL/BLK fantasy options hasn’t come yet (James Harden is doing it this year, wow), but his field goal percentage, rebounds and points are all solid for a friggin 19 year old!
Since getting consistent minutes in Jason Kidd’s rotation, GA has produced – averaging a shade over 27 minutes over his last five games, scoring 15.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.6 blocks and a robust 53% shooting clip from the field. The lack of threes and STL/BLK has attracted much fantasy ire, but let the man play – you can always bench him if he struggles, but when he explodes you’re not going to see him on the waiver wire.
Another young guard who isn’t a point guard but isn’t a pure shooting guard either. Oladipo came into the season with lofty expectations after a solid rookie season littered with highs and lows, many of the lows helping to sink fantasy rosters (including mine!). Oladipo was on the extended USA squad, which has always proved to be a great boost for young players and VO is no different. The facial injury was a bummer for both Magic and fantasy fans alike, putting the 2013 number two pick behind the eight ball before the season even kicked off.
It won’t take Oladipo long to hit his strides leading the Magic’s potentially ‘good’ offense, Magic fans will hope he’s worked closely with vet stretch big Channing Frye – an underrated player who vastly assisted Goran Dragic’s meteoric growth last season. The team topped 100 points just two times in their first nine games (one was in overtime), but with Oladipo sharing the back-court with ponytail rockin’ Frenchman Evan Fournier, they’ve averaged 100.3 points over their last three (the Magic going 2-1).
If you’re looking for someone to buy low, make an offer for Oladipo right now, as he’s only going to heat up with the more time he gets on the court and with his team-mates. Ironically way back in May, Zack and I produced our Fixies piece where Oladipo got a mention – as the biggest sleeper for me and one of the players to avoid for Zack! Time will tell it seems.
Don’t look now but Enes Kanter is dangerously close to the Eddy Curry Line. His combined ASST/STL/BLK numbers are utterly useless in all forms of fantasy, and it’s not that he turns the ball over a lot, it’s that he does little other than score, rebound and (now) hit the odd three. Kanter’s got insane rebounding potential and while it will likely take him a change of scenery to truly reach his potential, the upside is still alluring due to the percentages (50% FG and 75% FT in 51 career starts) and the newly added three point shot.
His skill-set overlaps too much with fellow starting big Derrick Favors, nor does he necessarily separate himself from back-up big, Rudy Gobert – who has far superior upside on the defensive end. It wouldn’t surprise me if another team swoops on Kanter, as his team option wasn’t picked up for next year, so the writing could be on the wall for Kanter if they can net themselves a big who fits better with the suddenly enjoyable Jazz. It wouldn’t surprise me if a team like the Spurs or Rockets roll the dice on a player like Kanter because he might need a different system to truly reach his potential.
What a difference a year makes! It’s easy to forget Bogut was the number one overall pick in 2005 and that through his first two seasons he was averaging a mere 0.7 blocks per game. His career has been full of ups and downs, including some decent scoring (15.9 points in 2009-10) and very good rebounding and shot-blocking (11.1 per and 2.6 respectively in 2010-11) – but he hasn’t played 70 games in any of the past six seasons.
Bogut’s FT% has always been a concern at just 56% for his career (just 42% since joining the Warriors), though fortunately he doesn’t take enough (just 1.1 per game) to really hurt you like other players with similar fantasy skill-sets can like DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond. Bogut is averaging career highs in assists (3.0 per game) and defensive rebounds, while his field goal percentage and blocks are still elite despite playing just 27.6 minutes a night.
I had Hill very high on my sleeper list, unfortunately so did everyone else.
I missed adding the big man in my cash league after a trigger happy manager unceremoniously dropped him after his one ‘meh’ game, then another manager with a higher waiver priority snapped him up. The poor start is a distant memory, as Hill has come into his own and separated himself from the hot-starting Ed Davis. Since that dud against the Suns, Hill has produced 15.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 31 minutes, while shooting 48% from the field and 73% from the line.
The scoring will drop slightly now that Nick Young is back to chuck help out, while Hill’s rebounding should go up for the exact same reason!
Len’s a towering figure on a Suns team bereft of a true rim protector. He’s constantly battling with foul trouble and position down-low, as despite his massive 7’1” frame he’s still a little thin to really bang with the big boys.
Miles Plumlee was a waiver wire darling for the first month or so last season, but this season he’s continued his second half slump of form that marred his first proper season of being an NBA big. Making things worse for Plumlee, is the emergence of Len. The fifth pick in last year’s draft, Len has struggled to stay healthy, but this year he’s brought rugged toughness on the block, while providing handy stats when he’s gotten minutes. The sample size is small, but Len is worth a speculative add in deep leagues – especially if the Suns fail to gel on this season long six game road trip.
Len’s played three games with at least 25 minutes this year, producing 15.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and absolutely insane 70/89 splits. The shot-blocking will be there while the scoring will drop slightly; monitor the split of minutes between Len and Plumlee, as well as the Suns record and pounce if/when Len ends up starting.
As always we welcome your feedback, so feel free to hit me up on Twitter (@macetastic) and I’ll do my best to reply to any comments.
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