🅱️ Grading Wemby, Imagining NBA Fusions, and Navigating the Daily Fantasy Landscape- 10/26/23

Welcome to “Hoop’d There It Is” - Your DAILY 5-6 min Dive into all things NBA.

Who I’m Watching for Tonight (10/26/23)

In my Hoop’d Fantasy game, the only player I have today is Malik Beasley.

How anti-climatic is that? 😢 Why did I pick him? To be honest, it was a gamble based on a few things:

1. Beasley is starting at the 2 for the Bucks.

2. I even looked up his pre-season stats (this is what Hoop’d is doing to me 😅), and he made 17 threes at a 41% rate in 5 pre-season games 🎯.

Obviously, the must-see duo is Giannis and Dame 💪🔥. On paper, they seem like a perfect fit next to each other. The significant defensive attention that will be directed towards them will leave shooters like Beasley wide open. I'm hoping he'll hit value at $3800 by making enough threes, simply put 💰.

Honorable Mentions:

• I'm eager to see Maxey in his third year 🚀. I believe the entire Harden debacle provides an opportunity for him to establish a leadership role on the perimeter early in the season.

• Also, Kelly Oubre, who averaged 20 points per game for the Hornets last year, seems to be an afterthought on the Sixers roster. I wouldn’t be surprised if he found a role, particularly defensively with his size under the new look Nick Nurse Sixers.

What Stood Out to Me Last Night (10/25/23):

5 Biggest Takeaways 📊

• Luka still runs this court🪄 He controls the pace of the game better than anyone in the league, save for Jokic. He dominated last night and even made some plays defensively.

• KP shines in the Garden: After Porzingis first game, let the overreactions begin. I’ll start. Could he be the Celtics 2nd best player by seasons end? His quick release on pick and pops is a weapon the Celtics have not had.

• SGA's Dominance: How many games do the Thunder have to win for him to be in the MVP talk this season? That’s the only narrative he’s missing now. He’s that good.

• Wemby Grade: B, despite foul trouble, he still showcased his vast skill set: face-up jumpers, pull-up threes, finishes in the paint and disruptive on defense. The offense barely utilized him, with most of SA's forwards just bulldozing their way into the paint (resulting in turnovers). Still, he was able to get 15/5/2 stat line with 2 steals and 1 block. Lot more to come.

• Cade's Return 🚀: Good to see Cade back in action with a 30 pts and 9 asts. He's poised to be a top daily/weekly fantasy player this season.

Random NBA Thought:

Enter Cam Thomas: I don’t think there’s a player in the league who looks for his shot more than Cam. And I don’t blame him. He only played 25 minutes last night but dropped 36 points off the bench. But he’s tough to play big minutes because of his one dimensionality and lack of defense.

Enter Ben Simmons: I don’t think there’s a player in the league who looks for his shot less than Ben. And I don’t blame him. He can’t shoot and has no scorers mentality at all. He only played 22 minutes (but had an impressive 10 rebounds and 9 assists in that time) but only shot 2-6.

Now, imagine, just for a moment, if Cam and Simmons 🔄 could merge their games. Simmons absorbing Cam's scoring mindset and three point prowess. And on the flip side, if Cam possessed Simmons' size, defensive prowess, rebounding, and transition playmaking abilities?

That would be a top 10 player in the NBA.

Who else were teammates that had such different games that would have worked well if they could fuse together? Pairings like Steph/Draymond or Dame/Giannis would be too obvious - so avoid stars.

Old school shoutout? Chuck Hayes and Steve Novak. Chuck’s post defense, box-outs for rebounds, and defense with Novak’s three point shot on offense would have taken that Rockets team to a different level.

Classic Old School FD Score Memory:

Throwin' it Back: T-Mac Magic 🏀✨ Flashback to Tracy McGrady when he dropped a career-high of 62 against the Wizards in 2004. This was just before the NBA put an end to hand-checking in ‘05.

It was arguably one of the toughest years to score in 2000’s history. The Pistons won the championship this year, holding opponents to 82 points per game…for context, last year's lowest-scoring team, the Heat 🔥, averaged around ~109 points per game.

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