The Hawks front office clearly feels that the time is close to contending in the East because they've arguably been the most active team since free agency began. They’ve now handed out contracts to Danilo Gallinari (three-years, $61.5M), Kris Dunn (two-years, $10M) and most recently Rajon Rondo (two-years, $15M). They also traded Tony Snell who holds no fantasy value, but is a decent three-and-d guy to have coming off the bench.
We’ll start with the Gallinari signing since that was the biggest of their moves. The 11-year veteran had a strong 2019-’20 campaign in Oklahoma City averaging 18.7 points and 5.2 rebounds on 43.8-percent shooting while knocking down 40.5-percent of his three-point attempts. That was the second consecutive season Gallo has hit North of 40-percent of his three’s and now gets to play with elite passers in Trae Young and Rajon Rondo . He took a career-high 7.1 3PA last year, so if you’re looking for someone who can contribute in points and three-point makes, Gallo is your guy. He’s the third option on this Hawks team offensively, but is a nice late-round addition to most fantasy rosters.
Now, circling back to his 18.7 PPG from last year, we shouldn’t fully expect that again. Gallinari will be dealing with Trae Young who posted a usage rate of 34.9-percent last year as well as John Collins sitting at 22.7-percent. Two guys soaking up nearly 60-percent of any team's usage makes it hard for others to be extremely productive. If you look back to Gallinari’s numbers on the 2012-’13 Nuggets, that’s where I could see them sitting. That team was loaded with talent and we saw the usual 18-20 PPG drop to 16 or so.
Moving along to both Dunn and Rondo, neither are extremely valuable in fantasy because you’re going to be hard pressed to find many games where it isn’t Trae Young dominating the usage unless he’s off the floor for his usual 12 minutes. Rondo can obviously still stuff a box score and should play a decent role, but not nearly as much as he once did, probably not even as much as he did during his one campaign with the Lakers. Dunn is someone the Hawks will turn to more on the defensive side of the ball, but he can provide fantasy owners with a lot of steals.
The problem with owning either of these guys in fantasy, unlike Gallinari before them, is the amount of depth Atlanta has in the back-court. They’re going to be battling with each other first, but also the likes of Kevin Huerter , Cam Reddish , and obviously Trae Young for playing time. We obviously hold Rondo in higher regard for fantasy value due to his ability to contribute in multiple categories than we do for Dunn, at least that’s the case a month before the season begins.
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ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that Stephen Curry has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain and is expected to miss at least a week.
Shams notes that Curry has already been ruled out for Game 2 on Thursday, but the week timeline means he’ll miss Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday with a chance to return for Game 5 on Wednesday. This is the first muscle strain of Curry’s career, so how quickly he returns will depend on how he responds to rehab. Fortunately for Golden State, the team came away with a win on the road in Game 1, and two of the next three games will be at home, giving the Warriors a chance to stay alive while their superstar PG is out. Expect Buddy Hield to step into a much larger role on offense while Curry is sidelined. Hield has totaled 57 points across his last two games while stroking a blistering 14-of-18 shots from beyond the arc.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters Stephen Curry is day-to-day with a hamstring injury and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.
Kerr relayed that Curry was “crushed” after being forced from the game due to injury. While Kerr described Curry as day-to-day, he also mentioned that the 37-year-old point guard will undergo imaging on Wednesday to determine the severity of the injury. There should be an update on his status at some point prior to Thursday’s Game 2 showdown. With the Warriors taking Game 1 on the road Tuesday, Kerr added that it’s hard to imagine Curry being available for Game 2 on Thursday. With Game 3 Saturday at Golden State, Curry could have more time to rest and recover.
Naz Reid had 19 points (8-of-14 FGs), five rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and three three-pointers in Game 1 against the Warriors on Tuesday.
Reid briefly left the floor with an apparent leg injury towards the end of the second quarter before returning in the second half. The 25-year-old center played 34 minutes and was the second leading scorer for the Timberwolves in what turned out to be a lackluster game for Minnesota. Reid appeared healthy in the second half and should continue to be counted on for starter-level minutes despite coming off the bench.
Anthony Edwards had 23 points (9-of-22 FGs), 14 rebounds, two assists, three steals, one block and one three-pointer in Game 1 against the Warriors on Tuesday.
Draymond Green had 18 points (6-of-13 FGs), eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and four three-pointers in Game 1 against the Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Buddy Hield had 24 points (7-of-19 FGs), eight rebounds, three assists, one steal and five three-pointers in Game 1 against the Timberwolves on Tuesday.