Week 1 Schedule
It is a 6 day week. Start all your Los Angeles Lakers as they are the only team with 4 games this week including 3 at home. Several teams are only playing 2 games (ATL, BRK, CHA, MIL, MIN, ORL, PHI and WAS) and alternatives should be considered in weekly leagues.
The Bulls have a favourable schedule against three easy defences SAC, @CLE and NOH. The Spurs, the leagues highest pace team last season, will get plenty of opportunities to score against @NOH, OKC and UTH. OKC and UTH are two other top 5 pace teams and UTH will be on the second night of a road back-to-back. I also like Indiana this week with @TOR, @CHA and then SAC in their home opener after SAC played @MIN the night before and Phoenix with GSW, DET and @ORL and no back-to-backs.
As if it wasn’t tough enough to generate fantasy value as a Bobcat but IND and then @DAL in a back-to-back (and their home opener) is probably the toughest opening two games. The Kings get three games but all are opponents’ home openers: @CHI, @MIN and @IND. To make matters worse the @MIN and @IND are back-to-back.
Games of particular note are GSW @ LAC on November 3. GSW’s porous frontline plays MEM in their home opener the night before and in a come down game will be easy prey for Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan especially if Andrew Bogut is still not yet at full speed. Eric Bledsoe should be a cheap source of assists as there should be plenty of garbage time after all those alley-oops.
Also on November 3, DEN @MIA should be very high scoring as both teams are really pushing the ball this year and both are coming off games the previous night (Miami is @ NYK the previous night) so the defense is unlikely to be as sharp. Ray Allen and Wilson Chandler could put up big numbers with long runs off the bench.
Dallas’s thinned frontline gets an early test @ LAL and then @UTH the very next night. Expect Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter to each fill their pillow cases with points and rebounds this Halloween night.
Of course, we can’t forget the opening of the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn against the Knicks on November 1. This game should be emotionally charged. Look for Carmelo Anthony to try to do it all on his own and for Gerald Wallace, who will likely be guarded by Chris Copeland and Steve Novak, to put up an all-round monster line.
Jeff,
The point is moot since Kevin Martin is now hearing Thunder, but I admit to being confused with your multi-team trade proposal that had Toronto basically swapping Calderon and DeRozan for Martin. I might have missed something, but I think that was the trade from the Raptor POV.
Admittedly, in past years, I wasn’t sure DeRozan was much more of a defender than the notoriously atrocious Martin. This pre-season seems to have changed that dynamic, as a stronger, more-focused Derozan is not letting other wings lose him with the barest of feints. A full training-camp under Dwane Casey seems to have gotten DeRozan to buy into the defensive scheme. That happened last year with Bargnani and it’s hope-inducing that DeRozan has joined the believers. So, suddenly, Martin’s (possible?) handful of more points production doesn’t seem like it might be worth the cost of Calderon, a very good backup point guard who wears down under starter minutes. And Martin remains a very high-volume shooter. On a team with Lowry and Bargnani, that’s not good for the chemistry. At least I don’t think it is.
Frankly, this trade is about one or two years late in being practical for the Raptors. Toronto’s in-season talent acquisition focus will be on a small forward. The Raptors hope that a combination of good health and good results for the team will make Calderon, Ed Davis and possibly even Landry Fields a package to take on a SF stud from an underperforming squad worried about a big ticket or a team desperately needing a steady PG in exchange for an emerging talent at the small forward spot. Of course, the expiring contract Calderon owns has its own trade value come February.
Even without Oklahoma City’s involvement, I just cannot envision the Raptors have ever seriously considered a proposal like yours THIS fall.
Just one man’s opinion, GM