This week's mailbag answers questions about Kevin Durant's and Robert Williams' injuries, Ja Morant's leave of absence, a slow down for Michael Porter, the impact of rest and injuries on fantasy leagues, and some NCAA bracket thoughts.
What is the fallout of the injuries to the Spurs' Charles Bassey and the Suns' Kevin Durant? - Illgobbo (@Illgobbo)
Answer: At no point this season did I expect to be answering fantasy questions about a Chuck Bassey injury but here we are. Welcome to Silly Season! The Bassey question is probably easier to answer and we saw Zach Collins, who I've been touting as a hot pickup ever since Jakob Poeltl was traded to Toronto, go off for 25 points, six rebounds, five dimes, a steal, three blocks and three three-pointers on Tuesday night in a win over Orlando. Collins had 23 points and 11 boards in his previous game and was averaging 16.3 points, 9.0 boards, 0.8 steals, 0.8 blocks and 2.3 threes in his four games prior to last night's explosion. He should have already been rostered everywhere.
Another winner appears to be Keita Bates-Diop, who started and had 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, a steal and four triples on Tuesday. He's scored in double digits in five of his last six games and was averaging 11.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in March before Tuesday's nice line. Additionally, Jeremy Sochan, who has been in and out of the lineup due
This week's mailbag answers questions about Kevin Durant's and Robert Williams' injuries, Ja Morant's leave of absence, a slow down for Michael Porter, the impact of rest and injuries on fantasy leagues, and some NCAA bracket thoughts.
What is the fallout of the injuries to the Spurs' Charles Bassey and the Suns' Kevin Durant? - Illgobbo (@Illgobbo)
Answer: At no point this season did I expect to be answering fantasy questions about a Chuck Bassey injury but here we are. Welcome to Silly Season! The Bassey question is probably easier to answer and we saw Zach Collins, who I've been touting as a hot pickup ever since Jakob Poeltl was traded to Toronto, go off for 25 points, six rebounds, five dimes, a steal, three blocks and three three-pointers on Tuesday night in a win over Orlando. Collins had 23 points and 11 boards in his previous game and was averaging 16.3 points, 9.0 boards, 0.8 steals, 0.8 blocks and 2.3 threes in his four games prior to last night's explosion. He should have already been rostered everywhere.
Another winner appears to be Keita Bates-Diop, who started and had 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, a steal and four triples on Tuesday. He's scored in double digits in five of his last six games and was averaging 11.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in March before Tuesday's nice line. Additionally, Jeremy Sochan, who has been in and out of the lineup due to a back injury, went off for 29 points, 11 boards and three three-pointers in 32 minutes. If Sochan is playing, he's worth using in any format the rest of the way, and has been solid for most of the season.
A guy named Sandro Mamukelashvili got a season-high 21 minutes on Tuesday and had seven points and seven rebounds. The ex-Buck, who Milwaukee released to sign Goran Dragic, has been playing solid minutes in March. But he's a deep-league special, at best.
As for Durant, the Suns' bench is just so thin that there's no one I see who will be a lock to fill the void every night. Torrey Craig and Jock Landale are probably the two guys who benefit the most, but you're better off just looking for a hot free agent on a team other than the Suns.
You think the Time Lord (Robert Williams) will return this week? - mark joseph angeles (@SephMark)
Answer: The latest news out of Boston is that Williams, who has missed six straight games with a hamstring injury, was to start ramping up his workouts on Tuesday (yesterday). He still doesn't have a hard target date listed but my prediction is that he'll be back in action this Tuesday, March 21 at Sacramento. It's also possible that he could try to play on Saturday, March 18 at Utah, but giving him those extra three days (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) to rest and heal would make sense for a team looking to make a deep playoff run.
What do you think about Michael Porter, who played under 25 minutes in the last three games? Is it time to worry about him? - Illgobbo (@Illgobbo)
Answer: It's really not surprising and I think we're going to see most of the Nuggets getting random days off, or limited minutes, the rest of the way. They hold a 4.0-game lead over the Ja Morant-less Grizzlies for the top seed in the West and have no plans of losing that spot. And they should be able to rest guys between now and the end of the season, especially with teams like the Pistons, Wizards and Rockets on the schedule.
At this point, Nikola Jokic could probably use a break, but his MVP hopes will keep him out there on most nights. MPJ and Jamal Murray are both just happy to be playing this late in the season and the Nuggets will look to limit them whenever they have a chance, while also giving them nights off in back-to-back scenarios. The Nuggets are reeling, losing four straight games, so their seven-game cushion is gone, but rest for those guys should still be a priority for the Nuggets.
They have a back-to-back this coming Saturday and Sunday, and another one on Thursday and Friday, March 30 & 31. Outside of those, I'd think the studs, including MPJ, will play, but could see an early exit if either team builds a big second-half lead.
Editor's note: Porter Jr. played 33 minutes in Tuesday night's loss to Toronto, finishing with 23 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and five three-pointers.
Have you ever modified a fantasy league to avoid the late-season injuries and rest? I've thought about a midseason tourney for half the pot. I'm currently in the finals without the portion of my team that defined it. - Christopher Mosca @cwmosca)
Answer: Yes. We started off by lopping off the final two or three weeks of the regular season. And in today's environment trying to win a fantasy hoops league is becoming more and more frustrating. One answer might be to eliminate head-to-head playoff formats and simply go with a points system that rewards the team with the most fantasy points at the end of the year. That prevents a bad, but healthy, team from running over the better teams simply because their guys are playing, or to start ending fantasy seasons earlier and earlier.
I like your idea of a mid-season prize -- basically dividing your season into two halves that would reward the best team pre-silly season and then rewarding the manager who's best at managing the waiver wire and rolling with hot, healthy hands down the stretch. But something's got to give. Dads are blowing a ton of money on tickets so that their kids can see their heroes live, only to have them sitting in street clothes that night. And fantasy managers are watching their workhorses drop like flies and their championship hopes dissolve into thin air.
Hopefully, the league addresses this issue in the future because fantasy should be fun, not frustrating. And it's becoming more frustrating to try to figure out how to dance around the rest/injury issue every year. It's just a bad look for the league, any way you slice it.
Would you drop Ja Morant in a rest-of-season Roto league with only two bench spots? - Randy Green (@RandyGdeveloper)
Answer: Adrian Wojnarowski said something like the Grizzlies will try to get through their current four-game stretch and then figure out when Ja can return. I would hope that means that he might be able to come back after their current three-game road trip ends, possibly putting him in play for Saturday, March 18 at home against the Warriors. With that said, he's currently undergoing counseling in Florida and is said to have "no timetable" to return.
Reporting with @ESPN_MacMahon: Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has entered a counseling program in Florida and there remains no timetable for his return to active play.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 13, 2023
I'm sure Ja wants to get back in action ASAP and the Grizzlies play four times in each of the last three weeks of the season. Given the strong team schedule and the mystery surrounding his return date, I'd try to hold him if you can. At least see if we get a new update this weekend. I'd hate to see you drop him and then have him come back on Monday. Hopefully, you can still get three solid weeks out of him.
Better add this week or to stream: Josh Okogie, Isaiah Livers, Isaiah Jackson or Kyle Lowry? - Matchwinningstar @matchwinningst2)
Answer: My apologies to Matchwinningstar, as I didn't get to this question in a very timely manner. My blind answer would have been Livers, as he's playing a big role for the banged up Pistons right now. Yeah, he hit just 1-of-7 shots for two points in Monday's win over the Pacers and didn't play on Tuesday due to a hip injury. So maybe it was best that I didn't answer in time. Eugene Omoruyi and Rodney McGruder have both been heating up for the Pistons so maybe that's where you go for your streaming options the rest of the week. All I know is that I'm not messing with Lowry again. Good luck!
Who are you picking to win the NCAA Tournament? - Ryan Creef (@ryan_creef)
Answer: I've only filled out one money bracket thus far but I've got Alabama over Marquette and Indiana over UCLA in my Final Four with 'Bama winning it all. If I fill out another one I think I'm going to go with my ultimate homer pick of the Hoosiers winning it all. Good to hear from you, brother!
Who's your favorite double-digit NCAA Tournament sleeper? - Ross DiBello (@Rossitron5)
Answer: I actually like a lot of them as there are some very good double-digit seeds who won a ton of games this season. The list includes Charleston, Furman, FAU, Oral Roberts, Drake and VCU. But I also like Saint Mary's and have them beating VCU. As I mentioned above, although no one is talking about them, I like No. 4 seed Indiana quite a bit and Trayce Jackson-Davis is one of the best players in the tournament. I think they could surprise people if they survive the first two rounds and then take out Texas or Texas A&M in the Sweet 16.
But as far as the double-digit teams I have winning a game or two, Oral Roberts, Drake and Furman are the ones. The ACC was pretty awful this year and I don't trust Duke or Virginia at all. In fact, I have Oral Roberts beating Duke and then Tennessee before falling to Purdue in the Sweet 16. Duke finished up the season hot but I think Oral Roberts is a true sleeper team that can get it done and shock the world, at least for a couple games.
