The first week of the season has come and gone. It is a bit bittersweet because now the daily grind settles in while stories ramp up about underperformers and overperformers, who is washed and who is booming. There are a lot of good stories to follow, like Cam Thomas or Tyrese Maxey making the leap. A lot of bad stories to follow too, like Jarrett Allen, Devin Booker, and many others already being hurt in multiple games to start the season. Overall, enjoying the season and navigating the fantasy basketball landscape is a grueling process. That is the best part, having to make daily decisions like a general manager to put the best product out there and win games.
Weekly Fantasy Basketball Mailbag – Fantastical First Week Fireworks
Last week’s mailbag was heavily focused on rookies and expectations. Although I love talking about first-year prospects, this week is going to be focused on veterans who have been showing up and showing out. Also, what is going on with the Milwaukee Bucks?
Are they (Tyrese Maxey, Tyler Herro, Cam Thomas) for real? – Ryan
The short answer is yes. Offensively, these three players have been putting on a show for a few seasons now, but are coming into their own this season. First, let us start with Tyrese Maxey. Finally, Maxey has officially taken over as the starting point guard. While increasing his workload, he has already improved his numbers. Even with a lull expected, Maxey is averaging 30 PPG/6.7 RPG/6.0 APG on 50%/56%/91.3%. With Harden gone, the Sixers are going to be perfectly fine with Maxey at the helm. Second, Tyler Herro. He is having a similarly successful start to the season with the Miami Heat. Although not as efficient, Herro is averaging 25.0/5.3/4.0 on 42%/44.4%/93.3%. Cam Thomas is the other side of this coin, with an incredibly high 61.4% Field Goal percentage, but only a 30.8% three-point percentage. As far as the total package goes, each of these players is most likely going to resort back to the mean.
Maxey will likely lower his three-point and field goal percentage to about 45% FG and north of 43% three-point, while Herro will up his two-point percentage and Thomas his three-point percentage. The counting numbers are real and should be utilized appropriately for individual league situations.
Damian Lillard in Milwaukee, how is the fit going? Will one or both guys be less viable fantasy-wise? Who is the odd man out? – Jim
Shaky, to start. Although this pairing is going to be just fine, it is hard to deal with two fantasy behemoths putting up lackluster (for them) numbers. Damian Lillard has been scoring and assisting less, on less efficient numbers. Giannis is not scoring as much, or assisting as much, but has reclaimed his defensive metrics from two seasons prior. This will most likely change in the coming weeks, so start to rely more and more on Lillard. They will be rather viable.
The issue here is the surrounding Milwaukee Bucks. Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez are the next leading scorers, and it looks like Khris Middleton is having his Klay Thompson recovery season. The Bucks are most likely going to have to figure out what they are doing with their roster situation. Picking up one of Beasley or Connaughton on an at-will basis will be beneficial, especially early on.
If I didn’t get one of the elite centers, am I better off being light and rotating guys in and out matchup-wise like a Tight End in football or do I need to trade for one? – Jim
This is a tricky question. Not having a center in fantasy is very tough. I would have told you that the tight end of the positions were mostly wings, especially when you don’t have top-of-the-line wings. Overall, yes. Be careful with minutes, matchups, and team structure. If you picked one of the Portland Trailblazers’ big men, picking up rising players like Dereck Lively from Dallas or Brook Lopez should be good, but holding on to one of the Portland centers would help with depth. Regardless, the answer is yes. You are better off Jim.
What are the pros/cons to big man/center-oriented teams? – TK
There are a LOT of pros to big men oriented fantasy teams. First and foremost, the automatic boost in both FG%, rebounds, and blocks. With category or points-based leagues, having automatic boosts like that cannot be beaten. Even on a bad day, starting centers are going to rebound well. The worst Field Goal shooter in the top 15 centers is 45%. There are four point guards in the top 15 point guards with that, four shooting guards, six small forwards, and four power forwards. They do not miss shots, because they are not taking many shots. This gives your team a lot of ways to operate in the middle ground, adding and subtracting players based on shooting/scoring as well as other statistical needs. Trading one of the big men who may not be seeing a lot of time on your roster is a possibility as well.
The cons for this is that unless you get one of the top performers like Jokic or Embiid, having those scorers is going to be very hard to acquire unless you drafted well. Even then, it is not a guarantee, so making sure you trade a player with current higher value would be a good call to make. The other con can be matchup issues. If a team starts to go to smaller rosters, having a player like Ivica Zubac or Brook Lopez makes game-planning tough, especially with at-game decision-making for starting lineups.
If you want to ask a question, please comment one below or tweet @AaronAvery49!