The Wire Troll: Duncan Robinson Moves Up in Miami
Jordan Hawkins has a chance to establish himself as a key rotation piece in the Big Easy. (Yahoo Sports)
Welcome back to another week of Fantasy basketball. We’re well into November, just about 10 per cent of the way through the season. You can still find key pieces of a championship team on the waiver wire.
This week, Giannis Antetokounmpo enjoyed a breakout scoring game with 54 points; Tyler Herro (ankle) is out at least two weeks (see below for the Fantasy opportunity this creates); and Nets’ leading scoring Cam Thomas will also miss at least two weeks with an ankle woe of his own.
And now, let’s get to this week’s…
Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Picks
Duncan Robinson, SG/SF, Miami Heat (ESPN: 1.8 per cent; CBS: 10 per cent): It’s been four years since Robinson was a Wire Troll All-Star after his excellent sophomore effort. Unfortunately, it’s been all downhill since… until this season, that is. Despite being used exclusively off the bench so far, Robinson is off to a fine start and will likely see even more responsibility now in the wake of Herro’s injury. When Herro got hurt Wednesday, it was Robinson that subbed in for him, so that was certainly a promising sign and one that makes the most sense given Robinson’s ability to space the floor with his three-point touch like Herro does. Robinson has been a bit inconsistent lately (which isn’t uncommon for him), but if he keeps getting 35 minutes like he did on Wednesday, he’ll provide some major value. His touches are up this season and he’s returned to being a nice source of three-pointers thanks to being a bigger part of the rotation. When Robinson is on, he’s an extremely dangerous shooter, so jump on him while he gets a boost in value for a couple of weeks.
Jordan Hawkins, SG, New Orleans Pelicans (ESPN: 7.6 per cent; CBS: 50 per cent): Another player benefiting from an injury above him on the depth chart is Hawkins, who should really rock it with CJ McCollum (collapsed lung) out indefinitely. Hawkins, the 14th overall pick in this year’s draft, has responded to being handed extra responsibilities and shaken off a slow start to his rookie season. He’s now scored at least 14 points in each of his last four games (averaging 20 for the first three, while flashing a sweet shooting touch on Friday) which included a breakout 31-point performance on Monday. Given all the injuries in New Orleans, Hawkins has started most of the games so far and he hasn’t been shy about jacking it up from downtown (over 7.5 3-point attempts per game). With Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren dominating the freshman landscape, Hawkins is currently a long shot for ROY honours, but if he keeps rolling like this (see video below), expect him to enter the conversation on a deeper level.
Fast Breaks
- Tyrese Maxey just keeps getting better and better. On Wednesday, he enjoyed yet another 25-point effort with nine boards, five assists, three treys, two blocks and a steal and then poured in 29 more points with 11 dimes and six rebounds on Friday. Maxey’s scoring had slowed a tad in November before this, but he’s getting more touches this season than ever before while also racking up more points from the charity stripe. We’re watching the emergence of a legitimate All-Star here, folks.
- It’s time to jump on Bennedict Mathurin‘s train while you can. The sixth overall pick last year had a great rookie season, but seemed to suffer from a sophomore slump early on this season — especially last week. But he’s righted the ship now and is really rocking with back-to-back games of at least 22 points, including a season-best 26 with 11 rebounds on Thursday. Mathurin is also starting to shoot it from beyond the arc more often — another great sign.
- Detroit has been forced to deal with a ton of early-season injuries, including Alec Burks (forearm) who sat out for the sixth straight game on Friday for what was originally considered just a bruise. He had been rolling nicely in the last three games he appeared in, and — despite being used only as a reserve — was playing more and looking like a way bigger 3-point threat than ever. It’s unclear when Burks will be back, but pay attention, because you’re going to want to grab him if you need help with treys.
- Speaking of three-point weapons, Myles Turner has never looked better from downtown, draining 40 per cent of his attempts in the early going. He canned four treys on Thursday, marking the second time he’s done that this month. The downside is that Turner isn’t getting to the line as often this season, and that’s caused a slight reduction in his scoring.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
Sir James Paul McCartney CH MBE is best known to the world as Paul McCartney, the former bass player of The Beatles, and the owner of an impressive solo career as well. Of course, he led the Wings and also recorded one brilliant album under Paul & Linda McCartney, Ram — arguably his finest work outside of The Beatles. Linda co-sang lead vocals on “Long Haired Lady,” a track which also featured The New York Philharmonic.
