Give And Go
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
The new season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) officially rolls out today and for fans engaging in fantasy leagues it takes further significance.
Not only do we get to see anew our favorite NBA stars on the court in official league games doing what they do best, but also we get to work on our “managerial skills” for 23 weeks against rival teams.
Just like in the previous years, this writer is maintaining three fantasy league teams for this season.
One is with colleagues in the office — Roadblock — and the two — Nacho’s BW Posse and BW Skychurch — are with brothers in sportswriting.
For this season, I made a conscious effort to have my top picks be top wingmen in the NBA, which I am glad to say I was able to do.
My team top picks for this year were Cleveland’s LeBron James (Roadblock), San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard (Nacho’s BW Posse) and Golden State’s Kevin Durant (BW Skychurch).
Joining James in our 12-team, head-to-head and nine-category office league are Houston’s Chris Paul, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Washington’s Otto Porter, Orlando’s Elfrid Payton and Terrence Ross, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Julius Randle, Portland’s Jusuf Nurkic and Maurice Harkless, New York’s Willy Hernangomez, Charlotte’s Marvin Williams and Dallas’ Wesley Matthews.
For this league I really hope I do well as sort of a bounce back after what happened last season when I led it for nearly the duration of the tournament only to falter in the end, no thanks to injuries and player shutdowns, that saw me edged out in the playoffs.
James and Paul should provide the numbers from their end albeit I am expecting they are “tempered” in a way (I hope I am wrong on this) with the composition of their respective teams.
I hope Embiid gets to play more this year as I believe he is capable of being a top 20 player in the NBA when healthy. Also I hope to stay healthy are Nurkic, Matthews and Caldwell-Pope.
Porter, Payton, Williams and Randle were steady last year which I hope they continue doing this year.
While Hernangomez, Harkless and Ross I am banking on to have brilliant plays here and there.
Over at Nacho’s BW Posse, playing in a 20-team, H-to-H and nine-cat league, I am off to a rough start as the status of Leonard is still iffy, due to the injury he suffered in the playoff last year, as the season opens.
That said, I am hoping that other guys in my team like Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons. Memphis Marc Gasol and rookies Jayson Tatum of Boston and De’Aaron Fox of Sacramento get to hold the fort until Leonard returns to the court.
Evan Fournier of Orlando, Clint Capela of Houston and Milos Teodosic of the LA Clippers are also players I am counting on to deliver.
The verdict is still out for Denver’s Kenneth Faried (What happened Manimal?) and Atlanta’s DeAndre Bembry in my team but I am hoping they can contribute so as to help me in my mission to return to the finals and redeem myself.
For Durant-led BW Skychurch, under a 20-team, four-division, H-to-H and nine-category league, I am looking to do better than the previous years where I middled at best.
With Durant are DeAndre Jordan (LA Clippers), Goran Dragic (Miami), Eric Gordon (Houston), Fox, Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas) Andre Roberson (Oklahoma City), Enes Kanter (New York), DeMarre Carroll (Brooklyn), Kelly Oubre, Jr. and Tim Frazier (Washington), J.R. Smith (Cleveland) and Al Jefferson (Indiana).
Main men as well for this team apart from Durant are Jordan and Dragic and hopefully they get to live up to that standing.
Gordon, Fox, Kanter and Nowitzki I also wish to have a solid season while Roberson and Carroll I see providing the hustle stats.
Oubre and Smith I believe can be explosive if given the minutes.
As for Jefferson and Frazier, I am wait-and-see on how they will perform this season.
The new season of the NBA is upon and fresh start in fantasy league. Hope your teams are all set to go and wishing you good luck. Enjoy, fantasy freaks!
Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld reporter covering the Sports beat.
