Dose: Pick Your Poison

It was a busy 10-game Tuesday night but that shouldn’t minimize the number of big lines we saw last night. I could have doubled the size of the ‘Big Numbers’ section and felt just fine about it.

But mostly last night will be remembered by Kevin Durant’s return, the crazy double-overtime game between the Bulls and Mavs, and the total lack of doubt the world had that Tobias Harris was about to get chalk-outlined by Stephen Curry on the Warriors’ last play.

If there’s a better end-gamer on offense right now I don’t know who it is.

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THE BIG NUMBERS

BUSTED

INJURIES

Nikola Vucevic was a late scratch with back spasms last night and in fairness to the Orlando folks he said it acted up during pregame warm-ups. I don’t want to make Kyle O’Quinn’s value about Vucevic’s status, because he has months under his belt operating well in low minutes with or without Vooch around last year. But O’Quinn’s 21 and 10 with two steals and a block in 27 minutes last night against the Warriors should answer some questions folks had about his Bruski 150 ranking (84/46, 8/9 cat). Obviously the ankle injury puts a small dent in his chances but the upside has always been there, as he was a top 60-90 value for 2-3 months to end last year.

Derrick Rose (hamstring) is already questionable heading into tonight’s game. After a massive double-overtime game that spells headache. Aaron Brooks could be a sneaky daily play.

Draymond Green (11 points, seven boards, six assists) left last night’s game against the Magic with a sprained thumb but returned after X-rays came back negative. David Lee is still off the floor with his hamstring injury and I’d be shocked if he is arbitrarily given alpha dog status in the frontcourt. Steve Kerr isn’t going to coach by that narrative one bit.

DeMarcus Cousins missed another game due to the illness he’s suffering from, while the Kings continued to suffer from the illness known as not having DeMarcus Cousins. The Kings have actually enjoyed sporadic bursts from role players like Reggie Evans and Derrick Williams with the things they do well, respectively, but the drop-off defensively is absurd and everything is harder for everybody.

Rudy Gay is doing a good job to maintain his offensive efficiency, hitting 51 percent of his shots in the last three games, but he has just two steals and one block in that span as the Kings have been turnover-prone turnstiles. Darren Collison has been called out twice by Mike Malone in two games and he was outright benched last night for a struggling Ramon Sessions, who was a mixed bag at best against the Raps. The needle isn’t moving here because Collison has earned a lot of leash, but I hope folks weren’t writing with ink during the month of November. The Kings will go as Boogie goes and he should be back any day it seems.

Ersan Ilyasova took a shot to the face and had to be evaluated at the hospital so we could be looking at a concussion situation, which has never played out well in Milwaukee for whatever reason. Ilyasova had been playing well and any time off would benefit Jabari Parker.

Isaiah Thomas missed another game with his ankle bruise as owners of Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Gerald Green may start to get too comfortable with all the breathing room in Phoenix’s backcourt.

For more injury news check out our injury page.

WELCOME BACK

The Thunder fans are probably a bit ornery this morning after Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook played together for the first time this season and lost. The Pelicans match up well with them and the Thunder’s defensive issues were an obvious mark heading into the game. Durant looked fine offensively hitting 9-of-18 shots for 27 points, but with just three rebounds and two assists he struggled with conditioning and timing. Again, not surprising. Westbrook hit just 6-of-20 shots but was still a monster with 21 points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Serge Ibaka (six points, three boards, four blocks) and the Big Two need a few games to get the wrinkles ironed out.

Roy Hibbert got back on the floor after a week-long absence due to an ankle injury, scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds, two steals and one block in 31 minutes. I liked his chances to remain durable for the first half of the season and then he get hit with the unlucky ankle sprain, so I’ll probably sit the fence on that issue. Big men injuries can be triggered by small things like ankle sprains, and he could also brush it off to pick up where he left off.

Anderson Varejao (ribs) returned to action and put up eight and eight with two steals, and there continues to be local media talk about staggering him into the second unit, with Tristan Thompson shifting his current minutes into a starting role. Kevin Love scored 27 points with 10 rebounds and his value hasn’t been tethered to Varejao lately, who had been stealing away some of his value in the first unit.

PICKUPS

Ben McLemore (21 points, one three, one steal) has undergone one of the more unique transformations I’ve seen in a player in a while. Left for dead by so many, he is adding something new to his game every night. His stat set isn’t great but that could change as he continues to improve. With late-round value on the year that’s on the upswing he needs to be owned in most, if not all formats.

James Johnson had a nice revenge game in Sacramento last night and finished with 19 points, seven boards, one steal, one block and one three in 28 minutes. He’s a solid late-round value in just 19 mpg and has a month-long window or thereabouts to threaten a top-50 upside. I’m not sure how he would be available on standard league wires but make sure he’s not.

Kelly Olynyk (four points, four rebounds, seven assists, three steals, one block, 20 minutes) has been in way too many drop questions this week for a guy returning top 90-100 value on the season. Yes, Brad Stevens will ride the hot hand and rotate his bigs liberally, but upside is what we hunt for as owners and Olynyk has shown a bunch of that this season.

Jabari Parker had the type of game last night that many envisioned before the season, with a big popcorn line of 22 and eight with three assists, two steals and 11-of-15 hits from the field to boot. The Ersan Ilyasova head injury may or may not open up 20 mpg or so to be absorbed by the rotation, but the big takeaway from Parker’s last two weeks is that he has established himself as a top scorer and playmaker for the Bucks. Lifting his value slowly into late-round territory over that span, he has long-since provided the proper floor for owners to bet that he can be the big popcorn guy his owners need him to be. His deficient cash counters (3PT, DEF) demand it, though 1.4 steals per game early this year is a pretty good look.

THE MIDDLE

Lou Williams (four points, 1-of-9 FGs) has run cold now for the past two games and that’s not too surprising playing on a team starting two primary ballhandlers. He’s still going to get a ton of opportunities with DeMar DeRozan out for a while so it’s nowhere near time to drop.

Devin Harris could fall off in a crowded offensive scene in Dallas, but he didn’t skip a beat going back to the bench with 20 points, four rebounds, eight assists and one steal in 35 minutes. Well worth owning for his current production, he’s a solid bridge for owners dealing with injuries that need to get from Point A to Point B. Jameer Nelson (back) returned to the starting lineup and was quiet in 23 minutes of action.

I’ve been down on Danilo Gallinari (knee) for much of the year but seeing him get some semblance of star treatment by his own team at times I’ve lowered my guard. I even added him in a deeper 12-team league with designs on the upside, but he continues to have in-game issues with the knee. He left last night’s game but eventually returned, finishing with nine points, four rebounds, one trey and one steal in 19 minutes. The crowded rotation and Derek Shaw’s streaky, unpredictable team makes this an uncomfortable situation, but I’ll probably give the experiment a week or so to see if Gallo can return to being something of the man in Denver.

Kenneth Faried is a total mess and I’d be lying if I didn’t wonder about a potential blind spot for all of us due to Faried’s turnaround last season. I mean, I still believe that’s going to be the case but one starts to think about these things when J.J. Hickson goes for 11 and eight with a block in 31 minutes. No, I’m not interested in Hickson, who typically needs 30-35 mpg a night to return late round value. I also can’t imagine not making a buy low play on Faried, who might be at his low-point for perceived value on the year.

Wes Johnson has always been an intriguing fantasy play because any boost in offense can go a long way, and he turned in a solid 13 points, one steal and four blocks in 29 minutes. He’s a top-100 guy in 9-cat leagues because he turns it over just 0.5 times per game, but this is his ceiling unless somebody else gets hurt.

I’d much rather own Ed Davis (three points, 11 boards, no steals/blocks, 19 minutes) despite his recent slide into 14-team value in 8-cat leagues. Byron Scott doesn’t seem to be ready to unleash Davis yet and Davis has responded by giving Scott more reasons to feel that way. That’ll all reverse course as the year goes on and eventually he’ll get his chance. Nick Young (19 points) has hit a bunch of threes lately but he hasn’t improved his versatility and he’ll need more volume and better efficiency to make any real noise. If it’s not happening in a week it’s probably going to be a slow climb for him this year.

DROPS

Harrison Barnes has floated top-100 value in 9-cat leagues behind the strength of just 0.9 TOs per game but he’s working hard at 30.3 mpg to get there and David Lee isn’t even back yet. I have no problem getting out ahead of this situation.

Solomon Hill was barely treading water in standard leagues while maxed out in a dilapidated lineup, so now that guys are returning it’s not hard to walk away. He scored two points on 1-of-5 shooting with four rebounds and one steal in 29 minutes last night. Add Rodney Stuckey (nine points) to the list, too.

Samuel Dalembert spent the last week impersonating a low-end fantasy asset, but came crashing to earth last night with two points and three rebounds. It’s just not worth it.