Jalen Brunson could miss some time. (Erik Drost)
This week, we learned that tensions still boil high between New York Knick Karl-Anthony Towns and Golden State Warrior Jimmy Butler; Stephen Curry continued to reach into the fountain of youth with a tide-turning 38-foot three-pointer; and LeBron James and Luka Doncic both went off for 30-point double-doubles. Other Fantasy basketball stories we’re tracking include…
Jalen Brunson Goes Down
Much has been made of the New York Knicks’ inability to beat top teams, and that trend has continued with back-to-back losses against the Warriors and Lakers. And now New York might be without star Jalen Brunson (ankle) for the foreseeable future after just getting Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby back.
Yet, despite all this doom and gloom, we’re still talking about a team that ranks third in the Eastern Conference and is clearly on the rise. Dating back to 2021-22, when New York only won 37 games and missed the playoffs, it’s upped its win total to 47 and then 50 last season. This season, the Knicks have already won 40, which puts them on pace for their best campaign since 2012-13. Not too shabby!
Now let’s see if they can get past the Eastern semifinals this season.
Of course, we can’t really sugarcoat the loss of Brunson, if he indeed has to miss some time. Since breaking through as an All-Star last season, he’s been the man for the Knicks, leading the team in scoring and assists.
Brunson has been a bit inconsistent lately, but he was having one of those games on Thursday before getting hurt, going off for 39 points and 10 assists for his career-best 12th double-double of the season. His touches have been on the rise for the past few months, and what really sucks about this injury is that he had been pretty healthy, missing just two games this season.
Taken in the same draft in which Dallas also got Doncic (and clearly the pair are still close as you can see in the video below), Brunson had great leadership qualities coming out of college, but wasn’t considered the best athlete. But man, has Brunson ever exceeded his expected potential.
Assuming Brunson is out on Friday, Miles McBride is worth a pickup and Cameron Payne is likely to get a lot more burn, so also keep an eye on him.
OKC Keeps Rolling Despite Injuries
The Oklahoma City Thunder has been building a beast over the last few seasons. In 2021-22, the team won just 24 games before improving to 40 the following season. Last season, OKC won 57, returning to the postseason for the first time since 2019-20. This season, they lead the Western Conference with 51 victories already and are not slowing down, currently on a five-game streak with an 8-2 mark over the last time.
Small wonder FanDuel lists them at +130 to lead the NBA in wins this season.
After going off for a combined 65 points in his previous two games, Jalen Williams was a bit quieter offensively on Wednesday, managing just 20 points. He still found ways to post a solid Fantasy line with nine assists, two steals and a block, so not all was lost.
However, Williams is dealing with a wrist injury so he won’t play on Friday. In fact, virtually the entire Thunder starting lineup is out for this one, so there will likely be some DFS darlings here. Look for Alex Caruso, coming back from an injury of his own, to have a big game.
As for Williams, back in 2022-23 he was the top waiver wire pick of the season, and he’s consistently gotten better since. He hasn’t shot it nearly as well from downtown this season, but has made up for that by upping his supplemental stats, especially in the rebounding department.
If Williams can maintain that level next season, and get his shooting percentages back to where they were in 2023-24, look out. As it it, we’re talking about a top 15 asset in dynasty formats.
Waiver Wire Pick of the Week
Tre Jones, PG, Chicago Bulls (ESPN: 4.5 per cent; CBS: 5 per cent): Jones had a couple of decent seasons with the Spurs, but has mostly been off the Fantasy radar over his career so far. However, he’s been getting a chance to start with Lonzo Ball out, and has taken advantage. On Thursday, Jones poured in a season-high 20 points with five boards, four assists, a steal and a trey. That’s five straight games of nine points or more with a generous helping of boards and dimes mixed in. Jones’ touches have been on the rise for a few months and he’s seeing more PT since getting dealt from San Antonio, so could provide some solid short-term value as a streaming option. The book on him when he came out of Duke was that he had great defensive and leadership skills, but his lack of athleticism capped his potential.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
Shadowy Men On a Shadowy Planet can trace their roots to Calgary where two of the founding members were in their first band together. In 1986, they released a seven-inch EP entitled Wow Flutter Hiss ’86, which included “Shake Some Evil,” a track that was later part of the 1988 album Saavy Show Stoppers.