Fantasy Mailbag: What's best for Kristaps Porzingis' fantasy game?

First things first, make sure you check your league settings as the All-Star break is upon us. In the vast majority of leagues, Week 11 and Week 12 are combined into one week, so pay extra attention to setting your lineups. Now, you also have questions, so I took those from Discord and Instagram and answered them for you here.

Do you think a trade would benefit Kristaps Porziņģis fantasy-wise? - @ori_berlinski (IG)

Porziņģis has had some defensive struggles this year, to go with the back issue and knee issue that delayed the start of his season.

He is playing under 30 minutes a game so far and averaging 37 fantasy points per game.

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However his usage is 28% and the low minutes are nothing to do with the team he is playing on.

So, I don’t see any situation where he could be in a better spot. He gets the ball a ton, he is a key part of the Mavericks in one of the NBA’s best offenses (last season), and the minutes will rise.

In general, Porziņģis is going to be good wherever he goes, but I see no realistic scenario where it could be better for him.

Is it worth it to buy low on Andre Drummond? - @joelembiidcallsmedaddy (Discord)

It’s a tough one. We are still over three weeks away from the NBA trade deadline and there is a chance Drummond doesn’t play a single game before that.

There is also a chance he isn’t traded at all.

Then what? Would they Cavs reactivate him? Surely they would and if so, he would come off the bench behind Jarrett Allen.

Then there is the issue of a trade. Who wants him? The trade market seems low.

It was low last year when he was dealt to Cleveland for second-round picks and two players who are out of the league.

The chances of Drummond getting back to his early-season value would seem to be less than 5%.

But if you are in a strong position in the standings, and can afford zeros, and understand that Drummond may not even be a top 100 players when he plays again, sure a trade can be worth it. But, be very careful about what you give up in a deal.

People in trades always tell me that COVID diminishes the value of players. They cite Karl-Anthony Towns saying he has diminished lung capacity, and Jayson Tatum saying he has trouble finishing games. Based on what we’ve seen, is this post-health protocol loss in value true? -@yardship (Discord)

What is definitely true is that we don’t know about the impact of a positive COVID diagnosis.

Tatum has struggled since returning, but he has still been playing a lot of minutes, and as for Towns, his form is the same post-diagnosis.

I don’t think we’ve seen a dip in form from Jimmy Butler, or Seth Curry, or Josh Richardson (even though he is playing poorly, he was playing poorly beforehand), and I don’t think Rudy Gobert or Kevin Durant’s positive test has had any impact on their play.

In all likelihood, COVID is going to impact players differently, but there is no blanket statement we can apply saying players will be worse after they get a positive test.

Hold DeMarcus Cousins or drop him after he was waived by the Houston Rockets? - @ragudeugago (IG)

Much like the Andre Drummond conundrum, we don’t know where Cousins is going to be playing.

Unlike Drummond, I feel like I can say with 99.9% certainty that Cousins is not going to be a starting NBA centre this season.

He was waived by the Rockets, despite them needing a centre and since clearing waivers, Cousins doesn’t have a new team.

He can’t move defensively any more and his shooting has been bad for nearly all of the season.

Teams are not falling over themselves to sign Cousins, and even if they do, the absolute most I could see him playing 20 minutes a night. So, holding Cousins seems like a very low-value move.

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