Welcome to the Fantasy Vibe Check – your place to vent about the highs, lows, and headaches of the NBA and fantasy basketball. We don’t have a lot of data to refer to when discussing wins or voicing complaints, but it’s been three weeks, and that’s enough to talk about a few players and their performances.
See who I’m vibing with, and let me know in the comments or at @DanTitus about what gets you hyped, angry, and curious when it comes to fantasy basketball.
🙌 I’m hyped about the Emirates NBA Cup
Group play for the Emirates NBA Cup, formerly the seasonal tournament, starts tonight and will take place every Tuesday and Friday until December 3. While it may seem like a gimmicky series of events, last year’s experience was an easy W for the league and fans. According to Evan Wasch, executive vice president of NBA basketball strategy and analytics, group play scores were closer to those of the average NBA game, TV ratings were 18% higher than regular-season games and attendance was higher, as evidenced by last November’s Breaking Up, competition records and social media engagement were ‘off the charts’. The schedule avoids the big NFL nights, and with redesigned courts and new rivalries between groups, it will make for a more competitive and exciting product on the field.
So, how does this translate to fantasy? Well, the stars showed up last year and, in most cases, were more productive during NBA Cup group play than the rest of the season.
Players in the NBA regular season 23-24 who:
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Average minimum 30 ppg: 4
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Average minimum 25 ppg: 18
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Average minimum 50 fp/g: 7
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Average minimum 40 fp/g: 32
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Average minimum 30 fp/g: 88
Players in the 23-24 NBA In-season tournament whO:
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Average minimum 30 ppg: 9 (+5)
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Average minimum 25 ppg: 22 (+4)
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Average minimum 50 fp/g: 12 (+5)
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Average minimum 40 fp/g: 33 (+1)
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Average minimum 30 fp/g: 89 (+1)
Whether it’s for the financial incentive or bragging rights, if a 39-year-old LeBron James wants to compete at a level high enough to capture the inaugural MVP of the In-Season Tournament, we can expect the bar to be raised during the second iteration will remain high. The Emirates Cup will be great to watch, and fantasy managers will also reap the benefits.
😡 I’m mad that Mikal Bridges isn’t coming to the line
I have a few shares of Bridges this season and noticed his free throw attempts are down to a career-low at 0.9 per game. It’s been nine games, so it feels too early to declare that he can’t increase his volume from the line. But of course that requires him to make more bad decisions.
According to Pivot Fade, Bridges’ game has primarily thrived as a jump shooter. He routinely scores between the 80th and 90th percentile on mid-range, corner 3s, catch-and-shoot opportunities and pull-ups.
Breaking that down even further, he has been able to commit shooting fouls in a variety of ways throughout his career, and on average he has been able to do so at a rate of 8.5-13%. However, that number has dropped to 3% in nine games so far. He is shooting .066 free throws per shot attempt, which is well below his previous career low of .183 in his fourth NBA season.
Fantasy managers at Bridges in 9-cat leagues were probably counting on his career 84% free throw shooting as a floor-raiser for that category. Still, the lack of volume neutralizes any perceived gain. Unsurprisingly, his scoring is just 15 points per game. Although, when evaluating the underlining shooting numbers, Bridges isn’t far removed from his 2022-2023 season with the Phoenix Suns. The missing piece is the free throw component. If he can get that to three per game and hit them at his career average, he’ll be closer to a top-40 player than his current 91st ranking in 9-cat leagues. Increasing that 3 point percentage would also help.
🤔 I’m curious to see if Jalen Williams will become a four-position player
Thanks to @Jalves_82 on I can’t remember a player who qualified and was eligible for four positions in fantasy basketball. Unfortunately, in the wake of Chet Holmgren’s injury, Jalen Williams started at center on Monday, and by Cleaning the Glass he has logged 87 possessions at center and 12% of his minutes at center as of Tuesday. Keep in mind that Yahoo is not removing any assigned positions, so there is a legitimate opportunity for Jalen Williams to get SG, SF, PF, and C at Yahoo. Let’s briefly discuss the criteria for awarding a new position.
Without going into detail, it’s actually the Coca-Cola recipe (thanks, Dr. A, lol). The Yahoo product and customer service teams use various software tools and data sources to verify players and assign new positions.
Williams’ situation is interesting because if Isaiah Hartenstein isn’t ready to return next month and the Thunder continue to start Williams at center like they did on Monday, the case could be made if he plays 10 games at center. That would make J-Dub the new cheat code: a player who could potentially start at four of the five spots in your fantasy basketball lineup.
