Angle Fantasy Basketball

Buy #1: Ausar Thompson

Season stats:

GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	3PM	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
20	28.3	.461	.698	0.3	10.7	9.1	2.7	1.0	1.5	2.2

Buy the dip! The Pistons are a mess, and Monty Williams is throwing anything at the wall right now to see what sticks. Ausar’s minutes have been down a little over the past couple games now that Detroit is getting healthier, and the defensive stats have taken a hit. However, those dropping I think will regret it. His Per 36 numbers are awesome, and should still be more than usable even if he settles more into a 20-24 minute role this early in the season, and he obviously should have some monster games once again after the Pistons hit 40-50-60 losses on the year. On November 30th, where he played 13 minutes, he fractured a bone in his face and it wasn’t revealed until after the game. On 12/2, he got into foul trouble early and ended up with only 16 minutes.

This is an excellent buy low opportunity, as impatient owners may be close to cutting bait. Think a little more long term here.

Relevancy: Needs to be owned in all 10t+ leagues. Buy low in a trade.

Buy #2: Royce O’Neale

Season stats:

GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	3PM	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
18	29.7	.382	.333	2.5	8.2	5.4	3.4	0.8	0.8	1.0

Royce is kind of in that tier of elite streamer right now, but in my opinion he’s a rock solid guy to have on the end of your bench and not many guys valued the way he is have the ceiling that he does. He’s got some serious value in the right builds, but he’s also someone who’s not going to hurt you anywhere in any build. Ben Simmons being out is allowing him to be able to distribute the ball in a way that’s difficult to find on the waiver wire. Don’t worry about that FT percentage, he’s at almost zero in terms of FT volume.

He’s ranked just outside the top 100 on the season at 109, yet his ownership percentage is still under 20% on Yahoo. That’s ahead of guys like Tyus Jones and Coby White, and I almost might would want to have Royce over those guys right now depending on my build. The assists out of the forward spot are nice too.

Relevancy: Elite streamer in all leagues and/or nice pickup in 12+ team.

Sell #1: Obi Toppin

Season Stats:

GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	3PM	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
18	24.9	.610	.813	1.2	13.1	3.1	1.3	0.7	0.6	0.8

I’ve been toying with this concept recently of “Rank vs. Impact” in 9-cat, and I think Obi Toppin is a good example of more of a “Rank” guy.

A rank guy, and you may see a full write-up on this concept from me soon, is someone who has an artificially inflated 9-cat rank due to a certain combination of efficiency and low turnovers, and an “Impact” guy is a player who has an underwhelming 9-cat rank due to a variety of factors, but is way more impactful in terms of actually winning a matchup on a weekly basis.

Toppin is currently ranked 103 on the year, and right next to him at 101 & 102 are Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown. Who of those 3 is actually helping you win matchups the most across the board? Brown is brought down a bit by his below average FT and TOs, and Jrue’s uncharacteristic low FG% and low steals to start the season are dragging his rank down.

Obi Toppin has been on a hot streak recently, no doubt about it, but this feels like a big sell high to me.

He’s really being carried here by efficiency that is significantly higher than his career FG of 50, and over the past two weeks some blocks that are exceptionally higher than his career per 36 numbers. Mix this with the low turnovers and it’s a 9-cat dream. However, there aren’t really any steals or any other counting stats to bring his floor up, and with an off night of shooting he’s almost a zero in terms of impacting any additional categories. This feels like an extended hot streak and I’m selling for someone who isn’t so reliant on efficiency and a lack of TOs to stay relevant.

Sell #2: Bobby Portis

Season Stats:

GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	3PM	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
20	23.9	.474	.758	0.8	11.3	6.7	1.2	0.8	0.5	0.9

I don’t have much to say for this one. Bobby’s stats are down across the board, and if he’s not going to be making 3’s the way he has in previous seasons, he’s simply not worth your time. He’s turned into almost quite literally a 2 category guy with points and boards, and he’s averaging noticeably under what he averaged last year in those cats.

He needs to start knocking down his threes, but he didn’t have much upside to begin with anyways. Not worth a hold in my opinion, and you’re likely better off streaming the spot. Somebody should call Nikola Mirotic to maybe light a fire under Bobby’s ass.