Darius Garland kept his momentum going vs. the Pistons on Saturday with 22 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, two steals, one block and three triples in 44 minutes.
The Cavaliers are 2-0 and their starting backcourt of Garland and Collin Sexton are red hot. "You look at the combination and how they can play with one another and the pressure they can put on the defenses," Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. It's no wonder these guards were hyped up all offseason by the Cavaliers. Yes it's two games, but Garland is playing at a first-round valuation in 9-cat, not bad for a player with an ADP of 146. His fantasy managers couldn't be happier.
Patty Mills hit 8-of-9 shots and 5-of-6 triples for 21 points and three assist in 30 minutes of Saturday's win over the Raptors.
He'll do this occasionally but hasn't been a reliable fantasy option throughout his career. He had 13 points, two assists and two 3-pointers in 19 minutes in the opener, but did say before the season that he was going to come into this one with more confidence and aggressiveness. He's off to a good start, but Derrick White is coming back from injury soon and Mills is going to have to take a hit when it happens. And, simply put, he caught fire tonight and can't sustain this on a nightly basis.
Lonnie Walker hit 6-of-14 shots and two 3-pointers for 14 points, four rebounds and two assists on Saturday.
He's averaging 15 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 3-pointers through two games and played 25 minutes tonight. The return of Derrick White, who will be back "soon," could hurt Walker a little, but he's still worth a look in most fantasy leagues, along with teammate Keldon Johnson, who had 12 points, nine boards, a steal and a block tonight.
Cedi Osman went off for 22 points, four rebounds, one steal and four triples in 26 minutes off the bench vs. the Pistons on Saturday.
Isaac Okoro looked like a rookie tonight but we're not chasing this line for a lot of reasons. The main one is that Osman was barely a top-200 player in 9-cat last season despite playing 29 minutes per game. Okoro is the better bet for fantasy value but he's not a must-roster player by any means.
D'Angelo Russell started for the Wolves on Saturday and hit 9-of-21 shots, three 3-pointers and 4-of-8 free throws for 25 points, two rebounds, six assists, a steal and just two turnovers in a 116-111 win over the Jazz.
Russell came off the bench in the opener after showing up late for shootaround but was back in the starting unit tonight. He looked good and shot 87 percent from the free throw line in his 12 games for the Wolves last year, and is a career 77 percent shooter from the line. In other words, don't worry about his free throw shooting and get ready for him to start putting up big numbers for the Wolves every time they play.
Malik Beasley hit 7-of-17 shots, 1-of-4 3-pointers and 3-of-3 free throws for 18 points, six boards and a steal in 39 minutes of Saturday's 116-111 win over the Jazz.
He had an 18 & 11 double-double in the opener and played a team-high 39 minutes tonight. While all this is encouraging, he entered a guilty plea from October threats of violence and it sounds like he'll be suspended by the NBA at some point. No one knows when it will happen or for how long he'll be suspended, so fantasy managers just have to ride him until the wheels come off, or try to trade him while he's hot.
Ricky Rubio came off the bench on Saturday and hit 3-of-8 shots and a 3-pointer for nine points, four rebounds, six assists, a steal and one turnover in 27 minutes.
He started in the opener after D'Angelo Russell was late to shoot around, but took his rightful place off the bench for this one. He played fairly well in this one and is traditionally a slow starter, so Rubio could be poised for another second-half explosion. However, that will be easier said than done with Russell running the point. If you want to drop Rubio for a hot free agent it's not a crazy idea, although it could be a little risky.
Delon Wright bounced back nicely from his disappointing opener, notching 19 points with six rebounds, four assists, one block and two triples in 42 minutes.
Killian Hayes had a rough night, and after struggling with turnovers in the clutch in Hayes' debut, coach Dwane Casey trusted Delon with the ball down the stretch of this one. Cleveland has one of the worst defensive backcourts and this game went to double-overtime, but this was an encouraging night for Delon's fantasy managers. He's a hold in standard leagues and it's clear the Pistons are going to demand a lot from him. As for Hayes, he's more of a stash at this point, scoring three points with three rebounds and two dimes in 20 minutes.
Rookie Anthony Edwards hit 8-of-12 shots and two 3-pointers for 18 points, one rebound, one assist and two steals in 22 minutes off the bench on Saturday.
The No. 1 pick scored 15 points in his debut, but could be ready to move into the starting lineup if/when Malik Beasley is handed a suspension by the league for his October legal problems. Either way, Edwards looks good enough off the bench after two games to have a spot on all fantasy rosters.
Jarrett Culver came off the bench and hit 5-of-7 shots and three 3-pointers for 14 points, six rebounds and a steal in 20 minutes off the Wolves bench on Saturday.
Culver is averaging 12 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.5 steals and 1.5 3-pointers in his two games this season and has hit 8-of-13 shots thus far. He's a potential sneaky waiver-wire pickup if you've got someone you want to drop and your wire is bare.
Julius Randle led the Knicks in scoring with 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting and two triples in Saturday's loss to Philly.
Randle had 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in the Knicks loss to the Sixers. Eighteen of his 25 came in the first half and Randle was scoring on Joel Embiid throughout the game, too. His 35 minutes were second on the team behind RJ Barrett, but Randle benefited from the absence of rookie Obi Toppin (calf). And Toppin is now expected to be out for 7-10 days, per Shams, so Randle should continue to play big minutes in the meantime.
Myles Turner hit 4-of-8 shots and a 3-pointer for nine points, five rebounds, one assist, two steals and four more blocks in Saturday's 125-106 win over the Bulls.
Turner is averaging 9.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 6.0 blocks and 0.5 3-pointers through two games and you can say hello to the early league leader in blocked shots. Turner's coming off a few lackluster seasons but if he can stay healthy and keep swatting shots, he has a real shot at redemption this season.
RJ Barrett scored just 10 points as he went 2-of-15 on FGs and 0-of-6 from deep in the Knicks loss.
Barrett followed up his 26-point performance from Wednesday night with a lousy 10-point showing against the Sixers. He missed 13 shots including all six of his attempts from beyond the arc. Barrett salvaged his fantasy numbers with six rebounds and four assists but was outplayed by veteran Alec Burks (22 points). Hopefully the sophomore wing can shake off this game overnight because the Knicks face the Bucks on Sunday.
Bismack Biyombo moved into the starting lineup vs. the Thunder on Saturday, putting up five points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 30 minutes.
If you streamed him and plan to keep doing so, this is pretty typical of what you can expect. And he'll have plenty of time to rack up boards and blocks with a pristine FG%, as Cody Zeller (hand) is looking at several weeks on the shelf. He averaged 8.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 blocks in 29 starts last season but has the benefit of Devonte' Graham, Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball throwing him lobs this time around.
T.J. Warren hit 10-of-16 shots for 23 points, six rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes of Saturday's win over the Bulls.
Warren was quiet in the opener with five points but is working his way back from a foot injury. He was back to form tonight but didn't have a steal, block or 3-pointer (he missed both attempts). TJW is coming off a career season when he averaged 19.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.4 3-pointers. If he can start hitting threes and getting some steals, he could be primed for another big year as long as his foot holds up.
Victor Oladipo hit 8-of-12 shots, 5-of-5 3-pointers and 1-of-1 free throws for 22 points, seven rebounds, one assist, two steals and just two turnovers in Saturday's win over the Bulls.
That's a really efficient line for Dipo and it's clear he feels better than he did last season. He also scored 22 in the opener and if he can stay healthy and play like this all season, Oladipo's going to end up being one of the steals in fantasy this season given how late he was taken in drafts. Fingers crossed.
Wendell Carter Jr. hit 2-of-10 shots and 5-of-6 free throws for nine points, six boards and two blocks in Saturday's loss to the Pacers.
Carter's off to a rough start, hitting just 4-of-15 shots, 0-of-3 3-pointers and is averaging just 7.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks through two games. The Bulls are 0-2 and WCJ is not alone, as Coby White and Zach LaVine haven't met early expectations, either. But we're just two games in and WCJ has time to figure things out under new coach Billy Donovan. Patience are in order with the young Bulls and Donovan is probably going to have to manage his patience with them, as well.
Miles Bridges played 23 minutes off the bench vs. the Thunder, scoring 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting with six rebounds, one steal, two blocks and four 3-pointers.
After playing just 22 minutes in the opener, it's disappointing that his minutes didn't go up much despite Cody Zeller (hand) being out. The four fouls obviously didn't help. It's nice to see some defensive stats early on from Bridges because that was our biggest gripe with him last season, but it's hard to upgrade him from his late-round status until the minutes come up. That's still possible though, as P.J. Washington will be playing a lot more center in the short term.
Mitchell Robinson scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 25 minutes on Saturday night against Philly.
Robinson had an efficient 5-of-8 shooting night but the eight shots is a bit concerning. The center is one of the Knicks core young players and needs to be involved in the offense more. I’m sure his fantasy managers feel the same way. Give that man the ball coach!!
Garrett Temple made his season debut for the Bulls and had six points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and two 3-pointers in 20 minutes off the bench.
He's recovering from COVID but looked pretty good tonight, but shouldn't have much fantasy value as long as he's coming off the bench in Chicago.