Nobody outside of the Nets' front office really saw their plan over the last few years actually leading them to the heights owner Mikhail Prokhorov hoped for, but it is probably fair to say they're staring at a worst-case scenario. Stuck with a top-heavy roster without a true superstar and the worst stash of young assets and future picks in the league, the Nets sit at 10-27 and 14th in the East, a standing that cost coach Lionel Hollins and general manager Billy King their jobs this weekend.
The shakeup at the top in Brooklyn probably won't have many short-term implications for a team with no real viable options for changing their future. Even if interim coach Tony Brown wanted to make drastic changes to the rotation, there aren't many places he can really tweak things, and without a clear successor to King in the front office, the roster is unlikely to look much different moving forward.
The holding pattern the Nets are in means they should be pretty predictable for Fantasy players. Predictability is usually a good thing, and it should be for Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez, the two most reliable players in this quagmire. Unfortunately, there just isn't much talent on the rest of the roster to get excited about; Joe Johnson is playing a bit better since Jarrett Jack's season-ending injury, averaging 14.6 points, 3.2 rebound and 2.8 assists per game over the last five, and is probably worth starting at this point, but there isn't much else past that.
Shane Larkin looked okay as a spark plug off the bench, but he is averaging just 7.0 points and 3.2 assists per game since Jack's injury and looks like waiver-wire fodder in any role. Bojan Bogdanovic can supply some scoring and shooting, but doesn't do much else to interest Fantasy players, and that pretty much exhausts the supply of Fantasy relevant names until Rondae Hollis-Jefferson gets healthy. If you're looking for one player who might be worth adding in this mess, Hollis-Jefferson may end up being a difference maker down the stretch, though he isn't set to return from his ankle injury until mid-February and only averaged 5.2 points and 6.1 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game before the injury.
The Nets are badly in need of a full teardown, and rumors in recent days of a potential Joe Johnson trade or buyout would be a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, this roster is so barren, it isn't clear if anyone would actually benefit from an increased role. We might reach a point where they take fliers on D-League players and let them run wild, which might be the only way this team could be somewhat exciting.
That's how bad things are in Brooklyn right now. No wonder the architect of the team is gone. The only question is why it took this long.
The Rockets still have some problems ...
Check out Zach Harper's deep dive into the Rockets' transition defense, and watch a man slip into insanity. It sounds like an oversimplification, but it really does seem like a lot of the Rockets' issues this season are due to effort. They needed a bit of luck to finish eighth in defense last season -- no team's opponents hit fewer of their 3-pointers in 2014-15 -- but that doesn't explain all of their dropoff. If it is as simple as putting in more effort, don't be surprised if they turn things around at some point, but their struggles combiend with the pace they play at continue to make the Rockets one of the best teams to target for Fantasy.
Jrue Holiday is hitting his stride
Holiday put together his finest performance of the season Sunday, scoring 29 points with 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals, reminding Fantasy players of the kind of upside he still has despite all of his injury woes. That performance came without Anthony Davis, which obviously allowed Holiday to step into a larger role than he otherwise might have, but it is still nice to know he can still do that when needed. Overall, he is averaging 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game over the last five games, and looks like the kind of player you want in your starting lineup moving forward. He will still be the third option on most nights behind Tyreke Evans and Davis, but that should be enough for him to maintain relevance.
Carmelo is getting everyone involved
The mistake critics of his game often make is assuming that Anthony isn't capable of being a high-level passer, but that has never been the issue. Anthony's basketball IQ and feel for the game have always been high enough for him to rack up big assist numbers, but he has often hunted for his own shot as the first, second and third option in the offense. Lately, that hasn't been the case, and the results have been very positive; the Knicks have won five of their last seven games, averaging 100.6 points per game -- up from 98.2 per game for the season. In that span, Anthony's scoring is down to 21.0 per game, however he has added 8.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, and his overall efficiency is up as well. Whether Anthony will keep this up is up for debate, but it would certainly be the best-case scenario for the Knicks as well as his Fantasy owners, so here's hoping.
Danilo Gallinari is healthy, heating up
Even before he missed six games with an ankle injury in late December, Danilo Gallinari was disappointing Fantasy owners, as he had trouble finding the range on his shot. He was hitting 3-pointers reasonably well, but was shooting just 38.0 percent from the field through mid-December, and was relying more on getting to the free-throw line than anything else to maintain his efficiency. That hasn't been an issue for Gallo in five games since returning from injury, however, as he has been red-hot, averaging 25.8 points per game and scoring at least 20 in each contest. He is still getting to the free-throw line a ton, but Gallinari is also shooting 46.3 percent overall, while averaging just 1.2 turnovers per game. With his ability to hit the 3-pointer and draw fouls in bunches, Gallinari should be a 20-PPG scorer moving forward.
That is all bad news for Will Barton owners, as the 25-year-old averaged 22.8 points per game in Gallinari's absence but just 9.8 in five games since. Part of the issue is that Barton is just stuck in a deep slump, hitting only 28.6 percent of his shots in that span. He is still playing 30-plus minutes and adding 7.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, so once the shot comes back, he should be back to scoring in the mid-teens, which means I'm not cutting bait.
Rudy Gobert is back
It didn't take Gobert long to get back to form, as he racked up seven blocks in his second and third games back from injury. The fact he was able to step back into the lineup and play nearly 30 minutes on both sides of the back-to-back set is a good sign moving forward, and the Jazz certainly missed him -- after going 7-11 without him, they beat both Miami and Los Angeles on consecutive nights, while outscoring their opposition by 10-plus points in each game with Gobert on the floor. Gobert's per-game averages of 9.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks are actually a bit disappointing after what he accomplished in the second half of last season, but they should also be viewed as his floor moving forward.
Evan Turner is back to the bench
Turner has emerged unexpectedly as a solid quasi-backup point guard for the Celtics over the last few seasons, but he was thrust into the starting lineup last week with Avery Bradley sidelined. Turner acquitted himself well, averaging 13.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 36.5 minutes per game in his three starts, but returned to the bench Sunday for 21 scoreless minutes against the Grizzlies. With Marcus Smart back from injury as well, the Celtics are deep in the back court again, which means Turner's minutes won't be nearly as plentiful for the time being. He isn't exactly a model of efficiency, so that loss of playing time could be enough to make him droppable in many Fantasy leagues.
Bradley Beal, Joakim Noah could be back this week
Noah and Beal are in very different places in their careers, but are in similar spots when it comes to their returns from injury, as well as their Fantasy outlooks. Noah should be back earlier than Beal, but it isn't clear how many minutes he will have waiting for him. The Bulls have thrived of late with Nikola Mirotic playing small forward, but that doesn't exactly clear up a ton of playing time in the frontcourt, because most of Noah's minutes have gone to the combination of Taj Gibson and rookie Bobby Portis. The Bulls could cut into Pau Gasol and Gibson's minutes a bit, and it seems possible Portis will go from a rotation mainstay to someone best used in small bursts. However, it wouldn't be a surprise if Noah was averaging below 25 minutes per game for the time being, which would obviously limit his Fantasy appeal -- which is already limited to what he provides in assists and rebounding.
Beal doesn't have much competition for playing time, however that doesn't mean he is going to step on the floor and log 35 minutes every game when he is ready to return -- which could be by the end of the week. Given the recurring nature of his stress-related leg injuries, the Wizards absolutely have to be careful with his minutes, which means a limit is likely to be in place for at least a few weeks upon his return. Beal was averaging career-highs in points and rebounds per game, however, he hadn't taken the leap many hoped for, with much of his apparent improvement coming in the form of more minute and shot volume. If he is limited to 25 minutes per game, Beal is going to be a borderline Fantasy option for some time.
Shabazz Muhammad is worth a look
On another team, it might not be so hard to project minutes for Muhammad, a 23-year-old who has posted extremely strong per-minute numbers over the last two seasons. Muhammad seems to produce whenever he gets the opportunity, as shown by his 15.4 points over the last five games, on 52.9 percent shooting. If you could guarantee Muhammad was going to get 25 -plus minutes every night, I would have no trouble adding him, but with a fluctuating role and lack of secondary production -- just 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game over the last five -- make him more of a deep-league flier at this point.
