The Playlist: Week 4 fantasy basketball Pickups, Pony up for Poole, and an Ode to Tyrese
Yahoo Fantasy basketball analyst Dan Titus runs down players to target on waivers, big names to buy, sell and drop, and sends praises to Philly.
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
DAN TITUS: What's up, y'all? Welcome back to The Playlist. I'm Dan Titus. And it is week 4. Let's get right into the pickups. Number one on the top of my list is Keyonte George of the Utah Jazz. He's available in over 80% of Yahoo leagues right now. Don't really understand why. Because he is the starting point guard of the Utah jazz. I've been waiting for it all summer, and it's finally happened. Didn't take long to get Talen Horton-Tucker out of the way. I think turnovers kind of did him in.
But Keyonte George, easy assist guy. He's averaged over 10 assists in his first two starts. And he hasn't really even come on as a starter yet. He has hit a 3 in almost every game this year. But from what he displayed in Summer League, I think there's a lot of potential here as a scorer. So make sure you get Keyonte George off the Utah Jazz right now on your waivers.
Second one, Bismack Biyombo of the Memphis Grizzlies. There's just nobody left in this frontcourt. Santi Aldama is not going to produce that much in terms of rebounding and blocks. That's where Bismack Biyombo comes in. He can really be that anchor of that defense and that rim protection that the Grizzlies absolutely need. They're 2 and 8 right now, hot garbage. But this guy is going to get 30 minutes a night. And he's already produced two double doubles and has some stock potential. So look at Bismack Biyombo.
Last one, Skylar Mays of the Portland Trailblazers. Malcolm Brogdon sustained a hamstring injury, and he's day to day. And Scoot Henderson is going to be missing up to two to three weeks. So that means Skylar Mays is going to get a whole bunch of usage. And he's already shown what he can do.
He's produced two double doubles, one in relief of Malcolm Brogdon where he played 37 minutes. And then in his first start, another double double. So if you're looking for a point guard that can give you the points and the assists, this guy's got some sauce. Make sure you get Skylar Mays. He's widely available, too, available in over 65% of leagues.
All right, so I know you're getting frustrated with certain players in fantasy basketball, but this is why you need to buy Jordan Poole right now. He's the richest man on the Wizards roster. He is the franchise cornerstone piece. He's not going to average 16 points per game for the entire season. Now his volume, it's pretty consistent with last season.
The concerning part was the minutes. But his last two games, we've seen him finally play over 30 minutes. I think he's going to settle in as this alpha of this team. So far, it's been Kyle Kuzma. But with the injury to Delon Wright, which actually is a pretty big component to their rotation, I think Jordan Poole, we're going to start to see him kind of emerge as that 1A of this roster.
On the flip side, I will be selling RJ Barrett. The efficiency just can't hold up. I mean, this man is shooting 49% from the field, 50% from 3-point line while knocking down 3 per game, and 85% from the line. So assuming he changes up his mechanics, and he's taking smarter shots-- or more, I'd say, higher percentage shots-- he's just not going to sustain this all season.
And the person I'm dropping is Andrew Wiggins. He's only averaging 10 points per game. He's under 4 rebounds. I just can't justify it anymore. He's just not in rhythm. Steve Kerr defended him and said he's going to figure it out. And while that may be true, fantasy managers don't always have the patience to do that.
All right, and to close out this week's Playlist, I thought it was only appropriate-- I'm rocking the Sixers fitted. So got to give a shoutout to Tyrese Maxey, who I think this year-- everyone was looking in the beginning of the season, who was going to be the SGA of this year. I think you found it. It's Tyrese Maxey. The guy is well on his way to being Most Improved Player, first-time all-star, and fantasy superstar.
Right now, he ranks in the top 10 in points and category leagues. And I just did a recent update, and I had him in the top 20. And I'm like, man, maybe that's too low. And it clearly looks like it. The guy just dropped 50 points, a career high, had 3 blocks. This kid is special. And I think that there's definitely a changing of the guard in the Eastern Conference between him and Tyrese Haliburton, both guys that should be starting in the all-star game this year at the trajectory in the way that they've been playing.
So yeah, got to give the flowers where it's appropriate, man. And Tyrese Maxey is definitely a steal of the drafts. And he's going to be one of those league-winning guys this year for fantasy basketball.