T.J. McConnell, Vince Jackson, Luke Kennard, Thaddeus Young and Chris Boucher all made it into the Dr. A's Mailbag column this week. Keep the questions coming at @docktora! Let's go.
Hi sir, would you consider dropping T.J. McConnell for Vince Williams Jr.? - Thanks. Lester Chu (@LesterChu218)
I would hold TJM for now but I also think Vince is a solid pickup, especially with the news that Marcus Smart is out for an extended time. I would like to be able to roster both players. Additionally, as Kamla and I talked about in today's podcast, Cam Whitmore is also worth a look in Houston.
TJM has averaged 10.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.7 steals in his six January games and those numbers should be going up soon. I just wish Rick Carlisle would start him.
Vince is averaging 11 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.7 blocks and 2.3 three-pointers over his last three games and those numbers should also be going up. I want both of them on any roster I can get them on.
Is Jacob Gilyard of Memphis a good pick up in deep leagues? - Kaibobotto (@KaiBOBOtto)
I honestly don't know much about him but he's the next man up in the depth charts and is probably worth a deep-league flier until we see how this all shakes down. But just looking at his game log, there's not much to see there. However, now that both Ja and Smart
T.J. McConnell, Vince Jackson, Luke Kennard, Thaddeus Young and Chris Boucher all made it into the Dr. A's Mailbag column this week. Keep the questions coming at @docktora! Let's go.
Hi sir, would you consider dropping T.J. McConnell for Vince Williams Jr.? - Thanks. Lester Chu (@LesterChu218)
I would hold TJM for now but I also think Vince is a solid pickup, especially with the news that Marcus Smart is out for an extended time. I would like to be able to roster both players. Additionally, as Kamla and I talked about in today's podcast, Cam Whitmore is also worth a look in Houston.
TJM has averaged 10.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.7 steals in his six January games and those numbers should be going up soon. I just wish Rick Carlisle would start him.
Vince is averaging 11 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.7 blocks and 2.3 three-pointers over his last three games and those numbers should also be going up. I want both of them on any roster I can get them on.
Is Jacob Gilyard of Memphis a good pick up in deep leagues? - Kaibobotto (@KaiBOBOtto)
I honestly don't know much about him but he's the next man up in the depth charts and is probably worth a deep-league flier until we see how this all shakes down. But just looking at his game log, there's not much to see there. However, now that both Ja and Smart are gone, he could be ready to take off. This is a true wait-and-see speculative add.
What do you think about Luke Kennard? - Ray Murphy (@RayHQ)
Kennard had 14 points, five boards, four assists, a steal and three triples on Tuesday against Dallas in 23 minutes. He's getting at least 20 minutes a night right now and will be looked at to pick up some of the scoring load with all the other injuries. Kennard is a decent add in 12-team leagues, assuming you have someone to drop.
Do we really add Thaddeus Young? Or is Chris Boucher the better option until Jakob Poeltl returns? - Illgobbo (@Illgobbo)
In two games without Poeltl, Young is averaging 9.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.5 blocks in about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, Boucher and Jontay Porter are splitting big man minutes off the bench, making them tough holds. I picked up Boucher hoping that it would work out, but so far he's simply been a total dud. Maybe I'll cut him and then he'll go off on Friday night. That wouldn't surprise me, at all. As for picking up Young, if it's a deeper league and those above numbers can help your team, go for it.
What are your thoughts on Keyonte George and Onyeka Okungwu ROS? - Kevin Radnor (@kevin_radnor)
The Jazz are playing well and George is a big part of what they do. George is averaging just 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.3 steals with 1.7 triples on 39 percent shooting in January. Those numbers are not great and he's a tough hold right now. But I think there's still a long way to go and he's worth hanging in there with for now. But he may not fully blossom until Utah starts shutting people down eventually.
The Hawks are looking to make trades and Okongwu would appear to be their center of the future. He needs Capela out of the way and then he'll take off. He's a guy I'm trying to hold for as long as I can stand it.
TJ McConnell or Tre Jones? - Loadmanagement18 (@raspin6ix_)
You should get a solid month out of McConnell and the Spurs still aren't really sure what they want to do with Jones. So I'd plan on holding McConnell for the next month and then making new plans. But McConnell has nowhere to go but up from here.
Is Andrew Nembhard a good pickup with Haliburton out for the next several weeks? - ROOK (@rookmatic)
Nembhard is starting but McConnell is still the guy you want at point guard in Indy. Nembhard is averaging just 4.3 points and 2.7 assists over his last three games, while TJM is kind of going off. Despite coming off the bench, TJM is still the man.
What do you think of this trade? Bradley Beal, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alperen Sengun and Victor Wembanyama FOR Buddy Hield, Miles Bridges, Kelly Olynyk, Anthony Edwards and Jaren Jackson Jr.? - Ralf Sunga (@ralfsunga)
Wow, that's a doozy. But I'll take the first half of this trade all day long with Beal, SGA, Sengun and Wemby. Hield is in a weird spot in Indy, Olynyk is so-so, Edwards is awesome and I'm worried about the Grizzlies shutting JJJ down. So for me, it's an easy decision. And yeah, I know the Spurs could mess with Wemby's games and load, but I still think he's worth the risk in case they let him play.
