The Power Supply on my desktop fried this week, but until my new PC arrives, I wanted to throw out some quick content for Week 3.
Week 3 Schedule:
4 Games: BOS, BKN, DAL, DET, GSW, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MIA, MIL, MIN, NOP, OKC, PHI, SAS, WAS
3 Games: ATL, CHA, CHI, DEN, MEM, NYK, ORL, PHX, SAC, UTA
2 Games: CLE, POR, TOR
Back-to-Back Schedule:
Weds-Thurs: IND, MIL
Fri-Sat: BOS
Sat-Sun: GSW, MIA
Sun-Mon (Week 4): CHI, NYK, WAS
Who am I adding for Week 3?
Dyson Daniels: This one is easy. I rated Daniels very highly coming into the season and included him on my Sleeper List for Moreira’s Magic Draft Guide. If you ask anyone that follows the Pelicans, it’s blatantly obvious that this guy is the point guard of the future in New Orleans. And with CJ McCollum sidelined, Daniels will be thrown to the wolves a little quicker than anticipated.
McCollum is dealing with a collapsed lung, and this isn’t the first time it has happened. The last time this occurred, McCollum ended up missing 18 games (roughly five weeks). The Pelicans are still without Jose Alvarado (ankle) and Trey Murphy (knee), so their two options at point are Daniels and Kira Lewis Jr. I know who I’m rolling with.
Daniels isn’t much of a scorer yet, but he’s fared well in other areas so far this season. In 22.8 minutes per game, he’s posting averages of 6.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.7 blocks and 0.8 blocks with a microscopic usage rate. If you take out McCollum’s 25% usage rate, Daniels suddenly becomes a whole lot more appealing. There is a non-zero chance that Daniels takes the starting job and never lets go.
Goga Bitadze: While everyone seemingly barreled over each other to add Moe Wagner in the wake of Wendell Carter Jr.’s injury, it was Goga who ended up starting for Orlando. He proceeded to put up 10 points (3-6 FGs, 4-4 FTs), 10 rebounds, two assists and five blocks across 26 minutes. Love him or hate him, you can’t argue with this dude’s ability to fill up a box score.
In six career games in which he eclipsed 30 minutes, Goga averaged 13.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 triples. He was given rave reviews by his head coach, and it helped his case that the Magic destroyed the Lakers. "I think he was fantastic," Mosley said. "He stepped into the moment you know, his number was called and he was ready to go and I think it's what he's done. Since he's been here with us, he's a heck of a pick and roll defender. And he does a great job protecting the rim as well as finishing possessions with a defensive rebound."
WCJ is going to miss at least three weeks, so Goga has a clear runway for elite streaming value for the foreseeable future.
Nick Richards: Is the workload ideal? No. However, Richards has been a per-minute monster in Charlotte, excelling in his backup role behind Mark Williams. He’s not going to threaten Williams’ role, to be clear, but we’ve seen plenty of instances in which two centers from the same team can produce.
Over the past three games, Richards has been a top-50 value in 9-cat in 19.1 minutes per game, averaging 10.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. His improvement over the past couple years has been staggering. I mean, just look at this play…
Who Am I watching?
Anthony Black: Markelle Fultz is dealing with swelling in his left knee, and yes, that’s the knee that had the torn ACL back in 2021. I’m not ringing the alarm bells, but it’s understandable why the Magic are going to proceed with caution.
Black put up 11 points (4-6 FGs, 2-3 3Pts, 1-1 FTs), four rebounds, two assists and one steal across 30 minutes in his first career start, and while the stat line isn’t going to turn heads, Black was a +31 and the Magic routed the Lakers.
Keyonte George: At some point this season, the Jazz are going to hand the backcourt over to George. I just don’t think it’s going to happen as quick as people are expecting, as they are trying to prop up the market value of some of their guards. I have bad news for them, though. It’s not working. Collin Sexton looks like a YMCA point guard dribbling with his head down, and as much as I love Kris Dunn, his confidence is shot and he can’t throw the ball into the ocean right now.
Moe Wagner: This is a hedge against the Goga Bitadze experience. Goga is a bit of a hot head and isn’t always dialed in on the floor, which is why he’s yet to really take off as a prospect. Moe is going to have a floor of around 18-20 minutes, but as productive as he is, he’s worth watching closely in case he overtakes Goga.
Hi Jonas! I just got a trade offer that I'm seriously considering. I receive Ausar Thompson/Gordon Hayward for PG13/Walker Kessler. My rebounds and blocks are pretty much in the toilet with Duren and Kessler out (I have Bam & Poetl as my other bigs & just dropped Zubac for Skylar mays to get my dimes up). I am a little worried about PG's usage as well as injury history (although same for Hayward lol). Is this a trade I should do? He also has Sharpe and plenty of FAB so maybe reject and counter with Ausar/Sharpe plus a few FAB bucks ($6 is the limit)? I'm also hesitant bc I have Steph and Herro as my main sources of 3s. Currently, I'm in 2nd place in 3 pointers (down by 1 and up by 1 over 3rd place team) bc of production from Dejounte, D'Lo, PG, & hopefully Beal. Thoughts? Sorry for the length, just wanted to get all of the context in there!
I definitely stared at Nick Richards for a long time while agonizing over who to add last night but was too nervous to pull the trigger lol. Thoughts on Eubanks & Jordan Hawkins? I know you love DD but any chance Hawkins outplays him?