The Phoenix Suns have a lot of young talent that they want to evaluate at the wing and forward slots, and over the past week they've introduced a new starting lineup that lets those youngsters play as much as possible.
Isaiah Canaan's terrible injury last week, and the subsequent return of star Devin Booker the next game, gave rise to a new lineup in which the Suns start Booker at point guard and Josh Jackson on the wing next to TJ Warren. This opens things up for Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender to play all of the power forward minutes and, with Greg Monroe being bought out, they also get a bit of center time backing up Tyson Chandler and Alex Len.
Overall, this new rotation does good things for the values of pretty much all of the younger players on the team.
Booker is the given impact player for the Suns. He suffered a hip pointer late in Sunday's game (see below), but when healthy, he was already a heavy-volume scorer with range and explosive upside. Moving to more of an on-ball lead guard role diversifies his ways of making an impact.
Over the first 11 games of the season, Booker averaged a robust 21.6 points (44.6 FG%, 92.3 FT%) plus 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.2 3-pointers, 1.0 steals and 3.0 turnovers. However, during the most recent 11 games in which Booker has moved more on-ball and eventually started at the point, he has averaged 22.0 points (39.9 FG%, 100.0 FT%) plus 4.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 2.5 3-pointers, 1.0 steals and 3.9 turnovers. He has to work harder to get his own shot and is a bigger turnover risk, but the doubling of the assists without losing any other volume categories changes the overall scale of his potential impact in a positive way.
Jackson (75.1 percent available) has thus far been the big winner in this new arrangement, as both his minutes and production have seemingly solidified at the upper end of his previously volatile range. After scoring 20 or more points only three times during his first 48 games, Jackson has now scored 20 or more points in four straight games, averaging 21.0 points (51.6 FG%, 86.7 FT%), 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 3-pointers, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks during those contests.
Needless to say, he is one of the hottest pickups in fantasy basketball this week, and if this continues, he could be a major impact player down the stretch.
Chriss (83.4 percent available) was settling into a solidly larger role around the new year, averaging 12.8 points (50.9 FG%, 42.1 FT%), 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocks during the six games between December 26 and January 5, before suffering an injury on January 7 that sidelined him for most of the month. He hasn't yet recaptured that rhythm in the four games that he has played since, but he did have a 15-point,12-rebound double-double in the game before he argued with an assistant coach and earned himself a one-game suspension.
Bender (98.6 percent available), meanwhile, started on Sunday due to Chriss' suspension and scored 18 points with five rebounds in 26 minutes. During his past two games, Bender has averaged 17.0 points (63.2 FG%, 100.0 FT%) with 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 3-pointers, 3.0 assists and 0.5 blocked shots. He won't stay that hot long term, obviously, but with added minutes, it's possible that both Bender and Chriss could be fantasy relevant down the stretch of the season.
I continue to see Chandler as a great trade candidate, because his status as a 35-year-old former champion, Olympic gold medalist and NBA Defensive Player of the Year with a large salary that extends through 2019 would seem to fit much better on a contender than on a lottery-bound youth-movement team like the Suns. However, it's possible that his status as a veteran leader is valuable enough for the Suns to want to keep him around.
If Chandler were to get moved, though, Len (86.9 percent available) would get a big boost and both Chriss and Bender would also likely benefit as well.
Sunday recap
Box scores
Highlights:
Al Horford, Boston Celtics: 22 points (8-12 FG, 4-4 FT), 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 3-pointers, 2 blocks, 1 buzzer beater
Eric Bledsoe, Milwaukee Bucks: 28 points (12-20 FG, 1-1 FT), 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 3-pointers, 1 steal, 4 TO
Paul George, Oklahoma City Thunder: 26 points (10-19 FG, 3-4 FT), 7 rebounds, 3 3-pointers, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 4 TO
Lowlights:
D'Angelo Russell, Brooklyn Nets: 3 points (1-8 FG), 7 assists, 1 rebound, 1 3-pointer, 2 TO, 6 fouls, 18 minutes
Evan Turner, Portland Trail Blazers: 0 points (0-3 FG), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Tony Snell, Milwaukee Bucks: 0 points (0-4 FG), 3 rebounds, 1 block
Sunday takeaways
Brook Lopez had seemed to be phasing out of the Lakers' main impact rotation, not playing more than 22 minutes in any game since his long injury absence to end 2017. Then, out of nowhere, he gets 28 and 35 minutes in consecutive games and responds with 19.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 3-pointers, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals during those contests. Perhaps he's getting extra run to prop up his trade value as the deadline approaches, so enjoy this brief run while it lasts.
As mentioned in this space last week, the Charlotte Hornets have developed a clear "big three" that continues to put up big numbers. Dwight Howard posted yet another double-double with 18 points, 14 boards, 3 blocks, 3 steals and 2 assists to lead the way. Kemba Walker's shot was off, but he still managed 18 points (6-19 FG, 4-5 FT), 5 assists, 2 3-pointers, 2 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. And Nicolas Batum continues to show that he is back near full strength, netting 22 points (7-15 FG, 5-5 FT) with 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 3-pointers and 1 steal.
The Atlanta Hawks got a win with a solid team effort, including a second straight solid game from Taurean Prince (22.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 3-pointers, 2.0 assists during his two most recent contests) after struggling last week (1.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.5 3-pointers during his two previous games). Dewayne Dedmon moved back into the starting lineup and produced a strong double-double with 12 points (4-9 FG, 3-4 FT), 14 rebounds, 1 assist and a 3-pointer in 29 minutes. Kent Bazemore was solid again with 19 points (7-17 FG, 1-3 FT), 4 3-pointers, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and even Mike Muscala contributed off the bench with 15 points (6-8 FG), 6 rebounds, 3 3-pointers and 1 assist in 23 minutes of action.
Injuries of note
Giannis Antetokounmpo twisted his right ankle in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game and didn't return. He indicated after the game that he could have come back if need be, but this was also his second twisted ankle during his past three games (the previous injury was to his left ankle). Thus, while there is no announcement yet about his availability to play on Tuesday, he should likely be considered day-to-day for now.
Booker caught a knee to the hip from Cody Zeller as he tried to defende a driving layup, and this put him out for the rest of the game. He officially is listed as having a hip pointer, but the severity of the injury hasn't been announced. Consider him day-to-day for now.
Lauri Markkanen will be out again on Monday due to travel complications. He has missed the Bulls' past two games (to attend the birth of his child), which, along with the trade of Nikola Mirotic, has allowed Bobby Portis to put up consecutive strong games. Portis should, then, be considered a strong prospect to produce again on Monday.
Analytics advantage for Monday
The Chicago Bulls have allowed the second-most opponent rebounds (46.0 RPG) and the seventh-highest opponent field goal percentage on 2-point shots (52.2 FG% on 2-pointers), both indications of their weak interior defense. This manifests in fantasy as well, with them having allowed the most fantasy points to opposing centers in the NBA during the past 10 games, and the third most to opposing power forwards during the past five (they are bottom five in both categories for the full season).
All of this bodes well for the healthy big men of the Sacramento Kings on Monday, with the player(s) who get the most minutes from the group of Willie Cauley-Stein, Zach Randolph and Kosta Koufos projecting to having better games than usual.
Top players to watch tonight
A clash between old-school big man D12 and new-school big man Nikola Jokic could be entertaining. Howard has grabbed double-digit rebounds in 15 straight games and enters Monday averaging 18.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 53.7 FG% and a shocking 76.9 FT% during his last five games. Meanwhile, Jokic has dished out double-digit assists in three of his previous six games, and he has averaged 19.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.5 3-pointers and 1.2 combined blocks/steals while shooting 50 FG% and 80.8 FT% during that stretch.
