Perhaps the Los Angeles Lakers were never going to beat the Golden State Warriors on Monday night even if LeBron James, Lonzo Ball, Rajon Rondo and in-their-prime Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy suited up, because the Warriors are downright scary now. DeMarcus Cousins is only going to get stronger and improve, and the crew around him, even on nights when one of the 3-point shooters slips up, like Monday with Stephen Curry, is formidable. Well, perhaps Draymond Green is not going to help fantasy managers much, but we can deal with that later.
The Lakers should get Rondo, at the least, back this week, and while that won't mean much for most fantasy categories, at least the fellow can ably pass the basketball and accrue assists, especially in a half-court offense. My prime concern with the overrated Ball -- he can't shoot from anywhere, and he isn't Ben Simmons -- was that the arrival of James would deplete his assist total and cap its potential, and it happened. Ball averaged 7.2 assists as a rookie and 5.4 helpers this season before the recent ankle injury sent his managers scrambling. Ball is out another month. He was considerably more valuable a season ago in fantasy. Move on.
