Worth a Look on Your Team

Cam Reddish

Reddish silenced questions on whether his recent stretch of good play was real or not with a commanding performance against the Nets in Friday’s win. Cam set career highs in points and triples, and looks like he has truly turned a corner in what had been a quiet start to his NBA career He is playing at a top-80 pace over his last 10 games, and looks to be cemented into a 30 minute role the rest of the way. He deserves attention in standard settings for his 3-and-D upside.

Norman Powell

Powell finally made his return to the court, and immediately stepped into a large role with Fred VanVleet (shoulder) sitting out an easy matchup with the lowly Hornets. Powell still makes sense as a long term pickup, however, as he was playing at a torrid pace before injuring his finger about a month ago. He barely looked rusty, and seems like he could be a solid source of efficient scoring and steals the rest of the way.

James Johnson

Johnson has been a revelation without Karl-Anthony Towns (wrist) in the lineup, averaging 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.2 blocks in 25.7 minutes per game. That’s good enough to give him top-70 value, and it seems like he is the clear cut winner of Towns’ absence even without starting. He should be owned everywhere until Towns is able to make his return.

Josh Hart

Hart had a forgettable game tonight, as he has in his last couple of games before this one as well. To be fair I was starting to lose faith in him, but now that JJ Redick (hamstring) could be facing a potentially lengthy absence, I don’t think you can afford to drop him now. E’Twuan Moore saw some extended run in the immediate aftermath of Redick’s absence, but Hart strikes me as the true long-term benefactor here. He was on a solid stretch of top-80 value over his last month worth of games, and the stats he was achieving that with (REB, STL 3’S) all should go up on a per-minute basis. He will play more than he did tonight, and his stat set and recent production signal to me that he’s the best pick up here, though if he’s already scooped up you could try and roll with Moore as well to see if he gets a 20-min role as a 3-point specialist.

Kent Bazemore

Bazemore picked up another hefty minute load off the bench, scoring efficiently and picking up some extra defensive stats along the way. I’ve knocked his consistency issues but it does appear that he’s still cooking after a 19 minute clunker in Sacramento’s last game. He’s been a top-70 player over his last 6 games, and deserves a look in standard leagues until he cools off

Harry Giles

Giles was great against a still-burly Grizzlies front line, and looks like he’s solidified as the starter until Richaun Holmes (shoulder is able to return to the court. He’s been outside standard league value due in part to his rough FT shooting and lack of defensive stats. In this game he got a steal and a block and didn’t shoot any free throws, so he was all-around helpful as an asset. He’s worth a look in standard settings until he’s bumped from his current role.

Hold Him if you Have Him

Naz Reid

The Naz Reid experience has not been going as most may have hoped. His minutes, shot attempts and defensive stats have been all over the map, and while his six games played without KAT have averaged out to around top-110 value in 9-cat leagues, his low points have made him pretty unreliable in H2H formats. He is still clinging to an argument for ownership because of the combined defensive stuff (averaging 2.2 combined steals and blocks in aforementioned span) and his role that isn’t going anywhere, but he is by no means the strongest hold out there, and I wouldn’t kill you if you chose to move on to some other options.

Shabazz Napier

Napier was shaky in his second start, doing very little else beyond tanking your FG% while slightly boosting your FT%. He still has my attention as long as he’s starting, but I’m not rushing to add him over some of the other guys I’ve included on this list. Just keep your eye on his minutes heading into his next game.

Better on Your Watch List

Gorgui Dieng

Dieng couldn’t quite get it going in 23 minutes of action on Friday. Though he was one of the main guys coming off the bench he wasn’t able to establish much consistency while he was on the floor, and he wasn’t able to fit into the equation during crunch time in what was a close loss. His big game from a couple of games ago is increasingly looking like it will not be the norm in this bench role he has, which likely relegates Gorgui to more of a 16 team type of player than a standard league type. 

Juancho Hernangomez

Junacho went off in this one, like REALLY went off, stuffing the stat sheet in ways we hadn’t seen him do up to this point in his stint in Minnesota. While this line will likely lead to him getting added in a bunch of spots, I’m still pumping the breaks here, as he wasn’t even close to sniffing top-200 value before this game. He’s really nothing more than a boards, points and 3’s specialist. The good shooting and defensive stat output is unsustainable. 

John Henson

Henson is starting and collecting blocks and steals at a solid per-minute clip, but his role is too shaky to rely on in all but the deepest of settings. Dwane Casey has been dissatisfied with his frontcourt rotations since DET shipped off Drummond, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if he continued to tinker with his starting lineup the rest of the way. Henson should be left on the wire.