NBA

"In a sixth-man role, I could average low 20s. In a starting role, I could average really high 20s." https://www.nba.com/news/nba-mailbag-november-7-2023

For context, his highest scoring season was 20.6 points on 41% from the field, in 39.9 minutes per game. His career average was 14.6 PPG on 41% FG in 29.4 minutes. Personally, I think that's kind of a delusional take, even though he was a great scorer, he was inefficient and had inflated numbers due to playing a lot of minutes while being a 6th man.

As somebody who spends 4 to 5 hours a day in my car for work, I have spent an unhealthy amount of time over the years listening to NBA podcasts.

Some of them are often enlightening (Thinking Basketball, NBA University back before Tjarks unfortunate passing, the Lowe Post), some of them are pure entertainment (Simmons + Rusillo, the Mismatch) and some of them have banished from my phone (Dunked On I'm looking at you).

Anyways, I often see people here lamenting that Tim Legler isnt given more airtime on ESPN considering how good he is at breaking down the game. Meanwhile, Adam Mares time covering the Denver Nuggets has taught me a ton about the game of basketball, and he is also a very likeable dude (he's always looking to chat hoops at his bar in Denver). However, he has long shyed away from national coverage because he acknowledges how hard it is to watch all 30 teams.

Thus, I was intrigued when it was announced that he and Legler were staring the All-NBA podcast together with the goal of covering the whole league 4x a week through the lens of X&O's.

One week in and I would say it's a very worthwhile listen. Both men have a bit of a mindmeld in how they view the game, and it's resulting in some really solid conversations and ample coverage for teams that a lot of corporate pods shy away from. My only real critiques are that they are still finding their chemistey together and that it can feel a bit dry at times. Adam is an entertaining guy with a lot of podcasts under his belt, but it does feel like he is still finding his confidence next to somebody he clearly admires.

Below is a link to their lastest episode where they discuss Celts v Wolves in depth and then briefly touch upon Harden with the Clips and New Orleans versus Denver:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7pOvlIGixwDGz8iLQCaWYh?si=Sdh0tqjQTpSya5-qWhXQEg

And then here's them discussing the new look Mavs:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4tltfSqYx4qlUCs5OvVeNA?si=ok1MRo8DTqigLN03kWVvog

Had a pretty good day yesterday. I was in first on show down and for some reason ingram comes in when its a 20 point game and get's a last second rebounds to move me out of first for 1k... Truly amazing stuff. Hope you guys are touching grass today with no NBA or NFL on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOdomoTygKM&feature=youtu.be

If discord is something you are interested in, Will have a link below where i have in-depth content going over each slate, player pools for cash and gpps, cores for cash and gpps and much more.

https://www.patreon.com/shookdfs

Edit: Zion out, love ingram, love hawkins. dyson solid. i need herb news

Edit: kessler doubtful. love olynyk

Edit: olynyk not starting. just a gpp play now. i like george and ochae. collins at the 5 gets a huge boost

Edit: ben out, thomas and dinwiddie are solid plays. royce good vallue

Edit: herb out. love dyson and whole starting 5. matt ryan solid to

Ediit: welp. AD out. get to wood assuming he starts

Edit: all other lakers look good

Ryen please go to The Frolic Room with Kyle

The funny thing is, I didn't even need to click the link to know that San Antonio would be last on this list. I mean c'mon - how could transit be any more non-existent than in San Antonio? Literally every other city with an NBA team does better.

Bring los Spurs downtown! Just don't do it with public financing.

https://www.axios.com/2023/11/06/golden-state-warriors-nba-transit-score

I had a chance to play against Mario Hezonja twice in some tournaments way back when we were 13-14. I remember him hitting 30ft threes against 3 defenders all the time and doing practically whatever he wanted to us. It was clear he was way ahead of us and we were no bums. At the time our team was ranked 2nd in the nation and theres 3,4 guys from that group that now play professionally in european leagues. He literraly single handendly destroyed us. He was also kind of rude to his teammates, he wanted the ball all the time and yelled at them every time they werent passing to him. It was clear to us that we were witnessing future euroleague player atleast. We had also heard stories that he wasnt going to school so he could practice all the time. Do you have any similar experiences with nba guys?

Great to have NBA DFS back. Yesterday was a snoozer with no NBA or NFL. I did watch a movie, though, so not a total loss!

Ownership % are not super reliable this early in the day - let alone a slate this massive - but wanted to give my thoughts to get the day going to assist anyone who is also getting started.

Using the RotoGrinder own% numbers that are live right now to provide my 3 favorite picks and who I am fading at the moment.

Top 3 Picks

• Malcolm Brogdon - Blazers ($8.2k)

• Jordan Hawkins - Pelicans ($4.7k)

• Nikola Jokic - Nuggets ($11.7k)

Brogdon and Hawkins are mega chalk right now and I don't expect that to change. The Pels are down CJ and some other ancillary pieces, and Hawkins went off last game. He is a pretty impossible fade for me given the lack of reliable value, his current role, and his cheap price at Draft Kings.

Brog could be argued as a fade just because he's not cheap and it's a huge slate. However, his role is massive sans Scoot and Simons and a date with the Fox-less Kings is plenty appealing. He projects as a smash play.

I say eat these chalky bits here and get different elsewhere tonight.

The Joker is a lock for me. I do also have mild interest in possibly unowned Giannis or Joel, but Jokic projects for similar ownership and perhaps gets overlooked because he's in one of the hammer games and the slate is simply so big.

No Jamal Murray, though, and Jokic has the best projection by far tonight. I am locking these 3 in as core plays and working from there.

Top Fades

1. Mitchell Robinson - Knicks (23% owned)

2. Julian Strawther - Nuggets (17% owned)

There are other guys like Naz Reid, Tari Eason, and Marcus Sasser that are picking up early ownership, but I will assume injury news will render them all irrelevant. Probably the same can be said for M-Rob and Strawther.

Strawther is the min and has a little role with Murray sidelined, but it's so volatile and impossible to project. Unless we know he randomly starts, I'm not doing it - especially if he'll be owned.

I don't get the Robinson interest beyond that he's cheap and it's early. I gotta think his ownership % free falls by the afternoon.

Games to Stack

• Wizards vs. Hornets

• Jazz vs. Pacers

• Blazers vs. Kings

I'll also point out LaMelo Ball, who is going to be owned, but for good reason. He's in perhaps the most stackable game on this slate (tight spread, massive total), and he leads a slew of excellent plays in a game I'll have a ton of.

Getting different but sticking in good environments, you can play Haliburton for half the ownership and stack the Utah vs. Indy game with confidence.

I also like a lot of the Blazers, and you can hit the Kings side with Sabonis and a bunch of cheap ancillary pieces.

Other Noteworthy Options

• SGA

• Ingram

• Bron

• KD

Once again, news will trickle in throughout the day, so there is so much that can and will change. The Brow might not play, though, while Devin Booker is out. Both KD and LeBron could look very good for tonight.

Ingram benefits with CJ out and continues to project well. He could go super overlooked on a loaded slate. I also kind of like SGA, who has as high of a ceiling as anyone, but is pricey and will not be owned.

Everyone will play Ball or Hali over him, so he's quite an interesting pivot in GPPs.

Hope this helped a little. I will likely be focusing most of my efforts on the three game stacks I mentioned, and then sorting through the rest based on whatever news pops up. Good luck!