NBA Preseason Primer: Sunday, October 7th
Hello Grinders. Before we break down the slate, be sure to leverage the projections in LineupHQ, discussions in the RotoGrinders Discord chat and the Court Report live blog each weekday by SBK. The way I would approach NBA preseason is to use this article as a primer for the day and then rely on the Court Report if you can for the latest news right before tipoff. If you’re interested in learning more about what’s available or want to sign up, you can find information here.
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Update 7:30pm EST
For the Bucks per here, no Ilyasova, Maker, Dellavedova, Wilson or Duval. For the Timberwolves per here, no Rose. This Rose news should help someone like Josh Okogie.
Per this, Evan Turner sounds doubtful.
Omari Spellman is starting for the Hawks along with Len, Bazemore, Young and Prince. Rockets starting Harden Paul Ennis Tucker and Capela.
Atlanta Hawks vs Oklahoma City Thunder
Atlanta Hawks
Lots of injury news to report on per this tweet. Justin Anderson, John Collins, Dewayne Dedmon, Daniel Hamilton and Jeremy Lin are out. The tweet I linked also says Taurean Prince is expected to play after missing the last game with the flu. You could certainly play Prince in GPPs but I worry what his minutes will be like coming off of flu-like symptoms so he’s not high on my list. This is also a homecoming game of sorts for Trae Young, who played college ball for the Oklahoma Sooners if you like narratives. You know I like narratives – I just wish he could shoot better.
With so many players out, it’s kind of a mess to untangle. With Taurean Prince back, I’m expecting Tyler Dorsey to move back to the bench after he started last game. Both he and DeAndre Bembry are GPP dart throws off the bench. With John Collins out, we should see more minutes for Omari Spellman and Alex Poythress. I’m not excited about either but on such a short slate, you can use them as punts to pay up for the other studs.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are tough because there have been no tweets or beat reports that I’ve found that provide insight into this game. The Thunder only have two preseason games left, including this one, so I don’t think they would sit their stars here. After missing their first game, Paul George returned last game and looked really good, finishing with a 23/5/4 line in 26 minutes. He’s someone you should prioritize today. With George back, we saw Dennis Schroder take a bit of a back seat, finishing with a 12/2/6 line in 27 minutes. With both PG and studs like James Harden and Chris Paul on this slate, Schroder isn’t someone I’m too high on.
The one who has been impressive this season is Steven Adams. Adams has posted double-doubles in two consecutive preseason games and now gets to face a Hawks team without Dewayne Dedmon or John Collins. This feels like a spot where he should rack up another double-double with ease. If you can tolerate some GPP risk, Nerlens Noel is playing well this preseason and is worth a look. He’s now played 21 and 22 minutes in their first two preseason games and had a 12/10 double-double last game.
Houston Rockets vs San Antonio Spurs
Houston Rockets
This tweet here says Clint Capela and P.J. Tucker will be available while this tweet here says Clint Capela returned to practice and is listed as questionable while Marquese Chriss and Isaiah Hartenstein are out. My understanding is that Capela may officially have a questionable tag, but he’s expected to be out there tomorrow. Just keep a close eye and maybe follow both the beat writers I linked to for official confirmation closer to tip-off.
I haven’t seen anything to suggest the stars would sit here and we know the Rockets are treating the preseason like a dress rehearsal. I would prioritize James Harden and Chris Paul where you can.
I’m not sure what the Rockets will do with Capela back but backup centers Hartenstein and Chriss being out. I think Zhou Qi is with the club and available to play per this tweet, but I’m not entirely sure if he would soak up backup minutes here. Nene has been dealing with a calf injury so I doubt they risk rolling him out here. The Rockets could also just roll with a smaller lineup and shift things around.
I will point out that Michael Carter Williams has been playing well in the second unit this preseason. He played a massive 29 minutes last game and had a 15/5/5 line. You may want to take some dart throws at him in case he’s rejuvenated in this offense. Outside of that, I’m viewing guys like James Ennis, Carmelo Anthony and Eric Gordon as guys you’d want exposure to if you’re building a ton of lineups but if you’re a three-to-five lineup type of player, I don’t think I would prioritize them.
San Antonio Spurs
Lonnie Walker is out with a right medical meniscus tear.
I mentioned this the last time the Spurs played, but I just hate playing any Spurs in the preseason because Coach Pop spreads out the minutes so thin and plays everyone like a middle school basketball game. Take a look at how minutes were distributed in their last game against the Pistons:
Nobody saw more than Dejounte Murray’s 22 minutes, and 18 players got in. With Walker out they could potentially roll out 17 players again. Murray was fantastic in his 22 minutes, finishing with a 16 point, 11 rebounds double-double. LaMarcus Aldridge was also solid, scoring 14 points with 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in 21 minutes. Honestly, those are my only two Spurs of interest but they are going to have to hit value in limited minutes. Everyone else here is a thin play that you’re hoping can crush in the little time they do get to play.
Milwaukee Bucks vs Minnesota Timberwolves
Milwaukee Bucks
Sterling Brown returned to practice on Friday per this article but it’s unclear if he’s expected to play. D.J. Wilson also didn’t play in the preseason opener with a hamstring issue but I haven’t found anything new on his status.
The tough part is I couldn’t find any information on the Bucks. There was an interesting tweet here from a Bucks reporter that said Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t look comfortable in terms of the new system under Coach Budenholzer. If that is true, I wonder if we can expect to see the starters out there again getting regular preseason minutes to continue working out these kinks. The Bucks only have four preseason games this year and this is the second, so it’s not like they have a ton of time to prep.
In the preseason opener, Brook Lopez played 15 minutes while all the other starters played between 20-22 minutes. I have to think we either see something similar or possibly a little more to ramp the starters up for the regular season. Giannis went 19/13/5 and if you’re playing a night two-game slate, you have to prioritize him. Eric Bledsoe was also fantastic in his 21 minutes, nearly posting a triple-double with 16/10/6. The Bucks are implementing a new system where the team is encouraged to chuck 3’s, and that could benefit Bledsoe greatly as he led the team in the opener with six three-point attempts. Khris Middleton is fine but not a priority play for me. I’d rather spend for Giannis and Bledsoe.
Honestly, the bench is pretty ugly. You could punt with John Henson, who did have three blocks and 10 points in 10 minutes last game. Rookie Donte DiVincenzo also got 20 minutes in the opener but shot 1-for-9. The silver lining is he had 7 rebounds, 6 assists and a block to go with his 2 points, so his stat line could’ve looked massive if even half his shots went down. You could certainly YOLO with him and hope he continues seeing some playing time and has a bounceback performance.
Minnesota Timberwolves
This is the second to last preseason game for the Timberwolves. Sadly, we don’t have much news from beat writers on their plan for this game. Jimmy Butler is still on the trading block and not going to play. Derrick Rose has started in Butler’s place in the past three preseason games, but there’s been some talk about him possibly joining the second unit. Here’s a tweet by reporter Dane Moore from Anthony Tolliver speaking about the potential of Derrick Rose joining the bench unit:
“Guys like myself definitely excel with guys that can break down a defense. Honestly, he’d be great with us but Tyus is doing his job right now. Everybody is kind of fitting in where they are.”
I don’t know if this is just talk or if there’s a legit chance he moves to the bench, but just watch for this news. Maybe the Timberwolves make a change to the starting lineup in this game.
After two sub-par performances, Karl-Anthony Towns broke out in the last game. He’s now seen his minutes increase from 24 to 26 to 29, and his shot attempts increase from 8 to 12 to 18. Hopefully KAT can build off this performance and continue being aggressive. If you can fit both he and Giannis on a two-game main slate contest, that might be wise.
Jeff Teague and Derrick Rose are secondary options for me. If you need punts to open up salary, you could give Anthony Tolliver and Gorgui Dieng a look. Tolliver has taken 19 three-point attempts in the team’s three preseason games, so he’s out there chucking and is a decent option on sites that heavily reward the three-pointers. Meanwhile Dieng has grabbed at least five rebounds and had at least one block in each preseason game so far.
Utah Jazz vs Portland Trail Blazers
Utah Jazz
This is the second to last preseason game for the Jazz. Dante Exum (sore knee) and Rudy Gobert (rest) missed their last game. I would think Gobert returns since he was just resting while Exum is a legit candidate to be out here if he’s truly dealing with a sore knee, so monitor that news.
Unfortunately, I could not find any information on what the Jazz are expecting to do here. The team beat the Adelaide 36ers on Friday by 30 points so you would think the team is happy, but Coach Quin has a clip here discussing the team’s defensive lapses. The Jazz were even down at the end of the first quarter but took control thereafter.
The starters should be fresh since they didn’t play in the second half and the bench unit of Ekpe Udoh, Royce O’Neale, Georges Niang, Alec Burks and Grayson Allen handled the remainder of the game.
I personally prefer targeting the players from the Bucks/Timberwolves game over these Jazz starters. Any one of them certainly could have a good game, but when I checked what Coach Quin did in the second to last preseason game in 2017, the starters all played in the low 20s and it didn’t look like the team was using it as a dress rehearsal. Since that’s the only thing I have to work off of, I’m viewing Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert (assuming he’s back), Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles as secondary options and all fine in tournaments if you really need exposure to this team.
Portland Trail Blazers
Mo Harkless is probable and Evan Turner is questionable per this tweet by beat writer Jason Quick. Harkless is going to have a minutes limit so he’s not someone you should target. The Blazers still have three preseason games remaining including this one, so I would be shocked if they rushed Turner back.
I couldn’t find any information from the beat writers on what the Blazers are expected to do here. In the last game, the starters (minus Jake Layman) all played between 20-22 minutes. Jusuf Nurkic was solid with a 16/9/2 line with 3 blocks but will have to deal with Rudy Gobert tonight. Meanwhile, Damian Lillard (8 points in 21 minutes) and C.J. McCollum (9 points in 21 minutes) underwhelmed a bit in their last performance. It’s great both saw 21 minutes so I’m hoping we get some kind of confirmation that they’ll see more as they continue ramping up their conditioning.
The bench isn’t too appealing. If Evan Turner is out, Seth Curry is a GPP dart throw to consider. Curry had 12 points in 17 minutes in their last game and could see some decent minutes if Turner can’t play. Zach Collins surprisingly played 23 minutes last game and scored 10 points. He took minutes away from starting power forward Jake Layman, who only played 11 minutes and wasn’t in foul trouble. I don’t know if there was a game plan to get a better look at Collins on Friday, but he’s now seen 19 and 23 minutes through the first two games so it’s possible he keeps getting a look this preseason to fill the old Ed Davis role.
Thanks for reading, and good luck today. May variance be on your side.