Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we pose a question to a rotating panel of ESPN fantasy basketball experts to gauge their thoughts on a hot topic.
Today's contributors are ESPN Fantasy's Eric Karabell and Kyle Soppe, plus ESPN Analytics writer Seth Walder.
Savvy fantasy managers know better than to panic about players who aren't living up to expectations this early into the season. That having been said, is there a player you are at least concerned about based on what you've seen over the first week of the 2017-18 campaign?
Eric Karabell: Not that I thought Carmelo Anthony would turn into the next DeMarcus Cousins or anything like that, but it's pretty clear his job on his new team is simply to score and that's about it.
Anthony is getting his shots, as he's parking himself outside the 3-point line and doing just fine there, but to have more 3s made than rebounds secured even in an incredibly small sample size isn't a great harbinger, either. Anthony doesn't have an offensive rebound!
Again, expectations weren't immense, but the guy averaged 7.7 boards a game just two seasons ago and 5.9 a year ago. If he's scoring 20 a night and contributing basically in points, 3s and, well, nothing else, it's unlikely he'll provide the overall expected fantasy value.
Kyle Soppe: I have my eyebrow raised when it comes to what we've seen through three games of Paul George.
His counting stats look fine so far, but with more than 48 percent of his field goal attempts coming from distance (career average entering this season: 37.8 percent) and just eight free throw attempts, I worry that he is at risk of "WWBW" -- Watching Westbrook Be Westbrook.
George will be a fantasy asset no matter what, but he ranks behind Melo in usage rate, and I'd be worried if you spent a second-round pick on PG
Seth Walder: Is it too obvious to say Markelle Fultz? No one was expecting instant superstardom, but Fultz did have an ADP of 92.4 and went ahead of plenty of players who could be real contributors to your team.
His recent free throw form is funny on first watch and all, but it's a problem. He's admitted his sore right shoulder has been the impetus for the change, and yet for some reason the Sixers are still rolling him out there. For what it's worth, Fultz is 6-of-12 on free throws. He was a 64.9 percent free throw shooter last season in college.
Perhaps more concerning is the fact that he hasn't attempted a single 3-pointer. He attempted five 3-pointers per game at Washington.
Between injury concerns, shooting concerns and an average of 19 minutes per game, there's no reason for Fultz to be owned in fantasy leagues at this point. For those hanging on to him in the 68.5 percent of leagues where he is still rostered, it's time to move on.
He may be good down the road in his career, but in this fantasy season, he isn't worth a bench spot.
