And so, for the foreseeable future, there will be no major league baseball played. Oilers fans know that winning the lottery would be bad for the league. Sabres fans are furious, even though the current lottery odds exist because of their team.
Fans are talking about the draft lottery, but for all the wrong reasons. Go to any online discussion and see how long it takes for the Lafrenière to Montreal conspiracy to pop up. The dominant conversation is that the league is essentially corrupt and, on some level, illegitimate.
In the NBA draft, teams obtain the rights to amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players. The lottery winner will be eligible for the first draft pick, something that could shape that particular franchise for years to come. Please, for the love of basketball, I understand that Rudy Gobert's niche in the NBA is defending the rim and grabbing every rebound possible. But there are players that are better than him on the defensive end, whether some people want to admit it or not. And yes, I know I uttered above that Antetokounmpo has arguably been the best defensive player in the league this season. However, there's one player that doesn't get nearly the recognition he deserves and his name is Mikal Bridges.
Bridges plays on the NBA's best team in the Phoenix Suns and he guards your favorite player's favorite player every night. The lengthy wing defender has 70 steals despite teams doing everything they possibly can to get their best player away from Bridges. Bridges is basically the Darrelle Revis of the NBA with how teams attack him. With the Defensive Player of the Year race being wide open — no offense to Gobert — I hope Bridges or someone not named Gobert is named the winner. Desmond Bane has been one of the NBA's most improved players this season (teammate Ja Morant is the betting favorite to win the award, -400 at PointsBet), recently cracking the top-50 in 9-cat formats. He had an off night in Tuesday's win over the Pelicans, scoring 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field before fouling out, but Bane managed to provide value in other areas.
He supplemented the 11 points with six rebounds, four assists, one steal, and two 3-pointers. While watching the Knicks play basketball this season, it's crazy to think that just last season Tom Thibodeau won Coach of the Year as he led New York to the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. It didn't amount to much with the Knicks being eliminated in the first round, but fans in the Big Apple finally had hope with Thibodeau at the helm.
Fast forward to now and Thibodeau is having his job questioned by the New York faithful. Even though I thought Monty Williams deserved the Coach of the Year award last season, this is the voter's chance to make things right. Williams is coaching the best team in basketball in the Suns, who currently own an outstanding record, which is 6.5 games ahead of the next best team in the Golden State Warriors. Other coaches that could get some love is J.B Bickerstaff, Billy Donovan, Taylor Jenkins, and Erik Spoelstra. But with the Suns being by far the best team in the league, Williams should earn his first Coach of the Year trophy.
It appears to be a three-man race for the NBA MVP award, with Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all considered prime candidates to take home the hardware. All three of them have viable cases to win the award, but I believe Antetokounmpo has been the most valuable player in the NBA thus far. Even at 27 years old, it appears that the Greek Freak is getting voter's fatigue already since he's won two MVPs in previous seasons. Besides being arguably the best defensive player in the league, Antetokounmpo currently leads the NBA in points per game (29.4), has corralled 11.3 rebounds per game, and has dished out a career-best six assists per game. Along with those impressive numbers, Antetokounmpo owns the second-best box plus/minus, only behind Jokic. While I believe Embiid or Jokic will be crowned the MVP, Antetokounmpo deserves to be the ninth player in league history to win MVP 3+ times.
Although the numbers may not reflect it, Jovic has a scorer's aura. 10 points per game may not sound like a lot, but in Europe, it's rare to find a player averaging 20 points per game. For example, Luka Doncic averaged 12 points per game in Spain's top division his last season in Europe. I'm not saying Jovic will be a big-time scorer early in his NBA career, but I do like how he's got the team aspect AND has the mindset and ability to get his own shot and score in isolation.
He really showed his scoring chops last summer at the Under 19s. While the Kings' decision to move on from Tyrese Haliburton befuddled many who follow the NBA, the second-year point guard was a deadline winner as far as fantasy basketball is concerned. He's the unquestioned point guard with the Pacers, especially with Malcolm Brogdon sidelined due to a sore Achilles tendon.
Haliburton has appeared in three games, averaging 20.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 2.7 steals, and 4.3 3-pointers per with shooting splits of 53.7% from the field, 52.0% from three, and 83.3% from the foul line. That production has Haliburton ranked 4th in 9-cat formats over the last week, and he's a top-25 player for the season as a whole. Since professional sports have postponed their seasons, the leagues have cried out "Sports matter! We can give people something to feel good about in these tough times!
Instead of being the anchor of normalcy in the seas of change, the draft lottery only seemed to be cosmically unjust, not merely to the Red Wings and their fans, but the fans of the entire NHL. Even Kings fans, who objectively got a good deal out of the draft lottery, have a sense of distrust and anger at the way things unfolded. The Sixth Man of the Year award has typically gone to the highest-scoring player that comes off of the bench. Every team loves — or would love — to have at least one player they can turn to off the bench that can contribute in multiple areas, especially in the scoring department. Just last season, Jordan Clarkson won the award as he was phenomenal off of the bench for the Utah Jazz. As for this season, Tyler Herro seems to be separating himself as the best sixth man in the league .
There are guys like Kevin Love and Kelly Oubre Jr. that have thrived in reserve roles, but Herro is the lone bench player in the NBA that is averaging at least 20 points per game. Herro gives the Miami Heat a much-needed spark on the offensive end in nearly every game, and with Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo missing time throughout this season, Herro has been asked to shoulder more on both ends. Aside from his 20 points per game, Herro also contributes a solid 4.8 rebounds and a career-high 3.9 assists per game while knocking down 37.4% of his threes. Only an injury or lengthy absence stands between Herro and the Sixth Man of the Year award.
The NBA All-Star festivities are set to take place this weekend with the NBA taking a collective break from the somewhat monotonous nature of the regular season. It gives the players time to relax and recuperate for the final stretch of the season as teams vie for a spot in the postseason. Meanwhile, fans and the media have an opportunity to get a better look at the performances we've seen thus far, allowing us to form our own opinion on who should win certain awards up to this point. Neither of their stats really matter too much for this season because their role will be so different if they're starting for the Suns. There's also the possibility that Phoenix just lets Devin Booker run the team as the point guard for the rest of the season, and they start another wing, like Cameron Johnson, rather than Payne or Holiday. There's significant opportunity for volume, but there's also significant chance to whiff on this one, since who knows what the Suns will elect to do.
For what's it's worth, I picked up Cam Payne in my main league. He did well when Chris Paul was out last season, so I'm crossing my fingers he'll be able to do so again this season. Agbaji is having an impressive senior season and shooting lights out from three. The numbers look great, and he's done everything you want out of a player as far as improving every year, but as a senior, he's supposed to look good.
The top prospects in college basketball are mostly a year removed from high school or sophomores, and he's got a two-year advantage at the minimum, so I expect him to put up gaudy stats. But I do believe he has a defined role in the NBA and could help a team right now. But you never know, teams slept on Desmond Bane because they didn't think he had much upside, and he's been a real steal for Memphis. For the first time in months, the NHL had some semblance of business-as-usual with the draft lottery on Friday night.
The simple way around that for the league is to lock-in the lottery odds as of when play was suspended. While the number of games played by these teams is not even, with the flattened draft lottery odds there is not a dramatic advantage between teams. The league has not yet announced if the lottery odds will be locked in or not. While the rookie has seen a decrease in playing time, averaging 26.6 minutes per game post-deadline (31.0 mpg in the 10 games prior), this hasn't been enough to truly eliminate Mitchell as a fantasy option. In his last three games, the rookie is averaging 13.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.7 blocks, and 2.7 3-pointers per, shooting 42.9% from the field and 50.0% from the foul line. During this stretch, the first-round pick out of LSU is averaging 21.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.3 blocks, and 1.8 3-pointers per game, shooting 50.0% from the field and 82.1% from the foul line.
Rostered in 33% of Yahoo leagues, Thomas has been a 6th-round player over the last two weeks. And now would be a good time to hop on the bandwagon, especially when taking the Nets' upcoming schedule into consideration. As noted above, it is unknown when Simmons and Durant will join (or rejoin, in Durant's case) the rotation.
And with Irving possibly missing another 17 games, Thomas is one of the players who stand to have more opportunities to shine. The Florida State University's Athletics Hall of Fame will induct nine new members on Friday, April 8, including men's basketball coach Leonard Hamilton and All-Americans from six different sports. Hamilton, who is the Seminoles' all-time winningest basketball coach and currently the fifth all-time winningest coach in ACC history, will be inducted along with one of his former players in star point guard Toney Douglas. I'm going to make the lazy white guy to white guy comparison but Kispert seems like a more athletic Joe Harris. He's a good all-around scorer, the best perimeter shooter in this draft (over 49% from three on 6.4 attempts), is a respectable defender, and arguably the best player on by far the best team in college basketball. Even though he's a senior, I think some team will talk themselves into taking him around the lottery given the ongoing need for shooters.
Besides not being fond of Chet, Smith has proven all season he can guard one through five one defense, as he is versatile at 6'11". He is an excellent defender in drop coverage on the pick-and-roll aspect and knows when to switch. Smith is a great reminder of Evan Mobley because of his wingspan and good feet.
He has a wingspan of 7'1" that can trap opposing players in his existence. Smith also has great hands, which allows him to steal the ball from opposing players. On the season, Smith is averaging 1.3 steals per game with a defensive rating of 89.4 per 100 possessions. Rather if he is in transition, help defense, or head on with an opposing player.
On a night that should have been a celebration for the NHL, a night that was the closest to normal operation as they'd had since the league postponed the season on March 12th, no one was happy. Conspiracy theories have come quick, espousing the NHL has rigged the draft lottery behind its Byzantine rules. Even with the lack of progress and the players voicing their frustrations, it's worth noting that the immediate asymmetry of the situation favors the union. Players don't get paid for spring training, so they won't feel the bite of missed games as suddenly as the owners will when their exhibition dates begin to dwindle.
The players appear galvanized and geared up for a stand via which they can regain some of the ground they've lost, and guarantee their rank and file significantly more security, financial and otherwise, than they currently enjoy. As for the draft-and-follow, the league has proposed reinstating the ability of team to draft a player who's not yet ready for professional baseball and then sign him the next year. In this case, the team can draft such a player, send him to junior college for one year, and sign him for as much as $225,000 the next year. As for Mann, he had the best game of his rookie season Monday night. Shooting 9-of-17 from the field and 8-of-8 from the foul line, the former Florida standout scored a career-high 30 points, to go along with two rebounds, one assist, two steals, and four 3-pointers. The lack of production outside of points and 3-pointers makes Mann a difficult player to go "all-in" on as far as fantasy value is concerned, as this leaves him with little margin for error.
2020 Nba Draft Lottery Live Stream That being said, given Oklahoma City's injuries and a clear focus on developing their younger talents, Mann is worth the risk. The Thunder only have three more games to play during this fantasy "week," but they will play four games the next. In standard ESPN and Yahoo fantasy leagues, this "week" consists of two actual weeks thanks to the All-Star break.
Most teams will play four games, while a few have five on their schedules, which stands to make quite the difference in the race for fantasy playoff positioning. And with the trade deadline now in the rear-view mirror, things are beginning to clear up for some rookies and second-year players. This week's Rookie/Sophomore Report includes a look at two Thunder rookies who have shined recently and one in Sacramento whose fantasy prospects have taken a major hit in the aftermath of the trade deadline. From Evan Mobley and Cade Cunningham to Scottie Barnes and Josh Giddey, there are dozens of first-year players that are flashing loads of potential this season. Among this year's group of stellar rookies, Mobley has been the most impressive thus far. While the Cleveland Cavaliers are the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, Mobley is firmly positioned as a key cog in Cleveland's defense.
Mobley has notched 1.6 blocks per game (seventh-most in the NBA) while also supplying 14.9 points and 8.1 rebounds on 50.3% shooting from the floor. The sky is truly the limit for Mobley as he's just scratching the surface in his debut season. I believe Cunningham, Barnes, and Giddey could make late-season pushes for the award, but it's Mobley's hardware to lose right now.
In six games he's averaging 12+ points per game and 5 assists per game on 53% shooting. That's not a terrible replacement for losing Chris Paul, but you're hoping that Morris can keep this up, rather than it just being a nice streak. He hasn't been a top 100 player for the season despite starting, but we can't be too picky. If Monte keeps producing 4 or 5 dimes per game, then he's worth streaming, at least. With the success of players like Kevin Durant, Brandon Ingram, and even Jonathan Isaac, everyone wants a tall, lithe wing with guard skills. If you had asked me at the start of the college season, I would not have understood why Williams was drawing lottery buzz.
But he's started to put it together more and show the flashes that made him such a prized recruit. Ayo Dosunmu made his return to the Bulls lineup on February 11 after missing one game due to a concussion, and he picked up right where he left off pre-injury. In the three games since the rookie has played 40.4 minutes per, averaging 12.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.3 blocks, and 1.7 3-pointers. And he's shot the ball well from the field and from three, connecting on 66.7% of his field-goal attempts and 45.5% of his 3-pointers.
Dosunmu's shooting just 50% from the foul line over the last week, but it's important to note that this is on two attempts. Florida State shot 50 percent from the field as it made 28 of 56 shots in its game against Duke on Saturday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Seminoles' 50 percent shooting mark marked the fourth time they have shot 50 percent or better from the field in ACC play this season. Florida State shot its ACC season-high of .549 from the field in its win at the Dome in Syracuse on January 15, 2022.
The Seminoles shot a season-best .611 from the field in its win over Missouri in the championship game of the Jacksonville Classic on November 22, 2021. In the month of February, Mr. Beverley's averaged , with 1+ SPG and 1+ BPG, and 2+ 3PM. Players who can make solid all-around contributions tend to be more important later in the fantasy season, as owners try to consolidate prior to a playoff push.
If your trade deadline has passed, then pick up Patrick, or at least keep him on your watch list to stream. He is a wing who can handle the ball just as well as he can shoot it. There might be some who see him as a catch-and-shoot player right now, but he has the potential to be a shot creator and will have the chance at Kentucky to show he's much more than that.
