Week Five of the NBA means we’re in full swing, baby. The Cavs are still undefeated with the Celtics trailing close behind, the Jazz are sitting at the bottom of the West, and Jimmy Butler is taking one of his annual ankle tweak vacations. The NBA cup has kicked off seemingly without much fanfare (how ugly were those 76ers blue courts?) but the games have been good.
We’re shooting the Three Lists of Threes today for your weekly dose of fantasy tips: Buy-lows, sell-highs, and streams.
Here are some sell-highs we can consider.
Sell ’em
Jordan Poole, PG, Washington Wizards
The Prince Who Was Promised…a year later? The Wizards’ acquisition of the former Warrior sparked interest in fantasy circles for good reason. Poole is a fearless shooter who’s never afraid to reach deep into his bag of fancy dribbling moves and long-range bombs. Is it conducive to winning basketball? Who knows, who cares.
Poole is averaging 22.2 PPG with 4.6 APG along with a monstrous 2.1 SPG. For reference, his highest steal tally in his career was last season at 1.1 SPG. He’s also shooting 45.3% from three-point distance and 46% from the field. Both are career-high marks. The Wizards are 2-10 and clearly not going anywhere this season. As an understatement, I don’t trust Poole’s defensive numbers and I don’t trust his shooting to stay this high. I don’t trust this team in general, and I’d be looking to offload Poole for any reasonable top-50 or top-40 return.
Darius Garland, SG, Toronto Raptors
Unlike Poole, Garland is in a much better situation in Cleveland and is a better basketball player straight up. Garland struggled last season with injuries, battling a broken jaw on his way to a lackluster 57 game season in which he played some messy basketball.
He looks much, much improved this season, averaging 21.4 PPG with 7 APG. He’s shooting 52.5% from the field, 45.5% from three, and 93.2% from the line. However, these shooting splits are about as realistic as Garland turning into prime Steph Curry this season, because these splits are approximately what Curry averaged during his back to back MVP campaigns.
Julius Randle, PF, Minnesota Timberwolves
Randle has been shining in Minnesota, just recently hitting a huge game winning buzzer beater against the Suns on Sunday night. He’s averaging 21.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 4.4 APG while shooting 50.7% FG and 38.2% from three. Randle’s FG%, despite occasional streakiness, can be quite reliable. His three-point-shot, however, is not.
I still have my doubts about Randle’s future on this team. His fit with Rudy Gobert is questionable and his brand of basketball doesn’t mesh well with Anthony Edwards on paper; both players like aggressively attacking the basket and drawing in defenders. Credit to Edwards, though: he has tailored his game to suit Randle’s style, attempting a career-high 11.3 three-point shots per game this season. He’s nailing a career-best 42.4% of these attempts and looks like he’s added another weapon to his arsenal effectively. Minnesota is sitting at 8-6 in the West, and if you’re also skeptical of Randle’s long-term fit on this team, then he’s an enticing trade piece to a manager in need of a PF.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $300K Fadeaway [$100K to 1st].
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is thegreatdansby9) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information
