Fantasy Mailbag: Is Cavs rookie Darius Garland the boost your team needs?
Some big names are coming back from injury this week, so things are looking up for fantasy managers. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t questions, so I attempted to answer your queries from Twitter and Instagram to try and help you make the most of your fantasy team. Let’s get to it.
@lgiannil Is Darius Garland a must add in 12 team leagues?
I think we have to look at the Cavs rookie point guard in that light, yes.
Over the last two weeks, Garland is averaging 27.59 fantasy points per game, as he has upped his efficiency, his minutes and his assist numbers, perhaps most importantly.
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He has started since opening night so that role isn’t going anywhere and now it feels like he is understanding the NBA game.
We have to remember he basically came to the league directly from high school, playing only four full games in college and had offseason knee surgery, so a slow start was to be expected.
I would add Garland in all 12 team formats and of course, anything deeper.
@DannyAces Is Damion Lee a drop now?
I’ve seen variations of this question going around a bit of late.
I can’t speak to Mr. Aces’ motivations here, but many of the people worried about Lee are concerned because they saw he isn’t playing Monday and was assigned to the G League.
If that is your worry, fear not. He is being pushed back to the G League for Monday because his new, full contract hasn’t been signed yet as the Warriors had to wait to navigate the salary cap.
They waived Marquese Chriss so they could keep Lee and his contract will be signed very soon and he will go back to starting at small forward, in all likelihood.
Steve Kerr explained the Warriors plan to sign Damion Lee, who reached his 45 day limit as a two-way player, to a contract but they’re waiting a few days for cap reasons.
— Kerith Burke (@KerithBurke) January 12, 2020
Now, his recent performances haven’t been great and we should in no way expect him to be the player we saw on Christmas Day every game, but I would still be holding in most leagues given the slump.
But definitely don’t drop him because your saw him go back to the G League.
@fanatik_21 What’s the threshold to drop a player for a stream opportunity? Should it be top 100, 120, 150 etc
It’s a really good question and it does depend a bit on your league settings.
If I base it on a standard 12 team league with 13 roster spots and four waiver acquisitions per week, I would look at top 130 as my cut off.
A league of that size has 156 players rostered, excluding players in IL. That means that, in theory, the best 120 players are in the ten active slots on 12 teams. So, guys outside the top 120 are bench players. But, with only four adds per week, it’s not like you can just cycle through all three bench spots every day.
Therefore, I look at anyone in the top 100 as a must roster player, and anyone in the top 130-135 as a should roster player. Anyone outside that is a stream guy, meaning someone that can be moved in and out of the roster without any concern for their long term value.
@samthompsonusa Richaun Holmes to be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks. Is he a hold or drop?
Richaun Holmes is a top 60 player in the last two months, playing 31 minutes a night. This shoulder issue is a problem and we may not see him until February, but I am not just dropping a guy like this outright given this news.
As always, you just slide him into IL if you have that option, and if you don’t, your league should always have it.
From the Kings: Kings forward Richaun Holmes underwent imaging that revealed an injury to the right shoulder joint. He will be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks. Updates will be provided as appropriate.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBCS) January 12, 2020
Secondly, are you in a roto or weekly changes league?, If so, your bench is basically an IL as well.
If it’s daily changes with no IL, the discussion needs to be had, but nuance is required there as well.
Where are you in the standings? If you’re comfortably at the top of the standings, you can deal with an injured player.
Toward the bottom it gets harder, but Holmes is that good that I would be trying to get a trade for a top 100 type of guy, rather than chance it by adding a player not deemed worthy to be in the best 156 guys in your league. All in all, I would hold Holmes in nearly all cases.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and keep an eye out for the next mailbag tweet to gather your questions.
