Fantasy basketball: Eric Karabell’s ‘Do not draft’ list

Charlotte Hornets PG Lamelo Ball has an average of 25.2 ppg on average last season, as well as 7.4 APG and 3.8 3pg. These are major numbers that we love in fantastic hoops, but they lack context.

Deni Avdija and Christian Braun scored more points last season. Bub Carrington and Scotty Pippen Jr. harvested more help. Gary Trent Jr. has drained more than 3 points. In the end, 297 scholarship holders appeared in more NBA matches than Ball last season, and 177 played more minutes.

This theme of extreme absence is hardly new for Ball, a wonderful talent that manages an offense in an expert manner and benefits from many forces, but remaining healthy and active is unfortunately not among these traits. Selection No. 3 in the NBA 2020 draft played 51 games as a recruit, then surprising 75 games in its second season. In the past three seasons, Ball has played a total of 105 games. His 2024-25 campaign ended in March with surgeries on his ankle and his wrist.

Ball, 24, is productive, but go, 105 games in three seasons? Including the playoffs, Indiana Pacers reserve TJ McConnell and Obi Toppin appeared in 102 games last season!

Enough on ball, which goes preliminary in the third or fourth round. It’s optimistic, but with so many sustainable and productive players in the table, I’m going to pass. We know that Ball is a great player, but the big players are not enough in fantastic sports. For our basketball needs, even in the daily leagues in which we can work hard and manipulate the volume, we still need more volume and consistency.

Of course, Ball is hardly alone with regard to missing games. Here are others to fade because their ADP treats them as “it’s the year they play them all!”

• JA MORANT, PG, Memphis Grizzlies (ADP 28.4): From physical illnesses to personal problems, more played in 59 games in the past two seasons. He has not yet played more than 68 games in one season. It’s more than that, however. Unlike Ball, Morant scored, rebounded and helped less last season than in 2022-2010. Perhaps these figures now increase that Desmond Bane has left the city, but a third round ADP remains too optimistic given all the factors. MORANT is a talented player and a nightlife -demonstration coil, but not for enough nights.

• Zion Williamson, PF, New Orleans Pélicans (ADP 35.3): Williamson appeared in only 30 games more than you and me last season. He is a champion when it comes to marking production per minute, but again, we need more minutes than Neemias Queta and Adem Bona provided last season. Williamson appeared in 70 games two seasons ago, but his production was down. This is not an option of 30 ppg. Williamson has never been a relevant rebounder or blocker, and he hurts fantastic teams in percentage of free throws. Fade is it in the first five laps, at least, and treat the clippers SF Kawhi Leonard in the same way. It’s not just missed games. Leonard simply does not provide the fantastic figures that the most thinks he does.

• Joel Embiid, C, Philadelphia 76ers (ADP 56.6): This ADP will increase in October because it still does. The 76ers will affirm that their centerpiece qualified as MVP is healthy, then something will be bad. Embiid played 19 games last season, mainly due to a left knee injury that never seemed to improve, and his production was down when he played. Even if it is ready for the opening day, the team must be careful during the season. I would say that getting Embiid in the sixth round is a whole feat, even if it does not play in just 50 games. However, let someone else take care of this. CS Myles Turner and Jalen Duren go later. Get them.

  Injuries are already a problem

• We don’t know when we will see Dallas Mavericks PG Kyrie IrvingBut it won’t be soon. Maybe you can store Irving in an injured list list, but do not invest in the first 100 choices in straightening formats. Irving tore his left ACL in March, and even if he returns to play by the stars break in February, he does not play near each match for a team linked to the playoffs. Irving has adapted more than 60 times in the 2018-2019 campaign.

• Pelicans PG Dejounte Murray Tore his right -handed Achilles on New Year’s Eve, and the first reports claim that he may not make his debut this season before January. Fantasy managers should not expect typical statistics when they return. The Murray score fell at 17.5 ppg in its first season with the Pélicans, although we love aid and flights. Be careful of expectations. There is a time to hide an injured player, but there is a good chance that most fantasy managers allow patience at Christmas, so the choice of draft is wasted.

  At least, with Boston Celtics, PF Jayson Tatum, Portland Trail Blazers PG Damian Lillard and Indiana Pacers PG Tyrese Haliburton, each having torn an Achilles during the NBA qualifiers, we can fade them on the day of the recovery knowing that they will probably miss all season. There is no need to hide them. Don’t be fooled by anyone who misses the first months. They almost always miss more time than that.

• Year 1 with the 76ers did not go well for the veteran pf Paul George. He is not a sustainable player to start, so we could harass him missing half the season, but he has never become comfortable in his new offense. Do not blame Embiid either. They barely played together. Overall, George played passively, with an average of 13.9 FGA and marking 16.2 ppg. Things might not improve if the 76ers have relative health. George is already on the transmission of summer knee surgery, which should push his start date and his ADP from the Top 100. We have no problem investing in Ball, Morant, Williamson, Embiid, George and others if their ADP slips. The drafts are a question of value. George could have value.

  These are not always injuries

• The right thing about New York Knicks SF Mikal Bridges Is it never missing a match. Like, really, he plays each evening, and it surely counts in fantasy. The problem is that the fantastic figures are not special. Bridges has never contributed many rebounds and assists, and although he is a solid defender, he does not translate into blocked flights and shots. The volume is pleasant, certainly for points formats, but even an ADP of Round 5 remains too generous. His teammate Villanova / Knicks Josh Hart bounces and goes much more, so he is a better value.

• New Atlanta Hawks PF Kristaps Porzingis is far from sustainable and can belong to injured people, but he is not injured today, at least to our knowledge. Porzingis probably does not approach 20 ppg or 7 RPG in this Hawks team, with a PG with super-elevated use in Trae Young and Emerging C Onyaka Okongwu managing the boards. Porzingis no longer wears a top-50 ADP, but it can also disappoint investors several laps later.

• Give new PF mowers John Collins Credit to have an average of 19.2 ppg and 8.2 RPG for Utah Jazz from last season (even if it was only 40 games), but it is difficult to see that production came with its new team. The Clippers also have a heavy PG of use in James Harden, the scorers of Bradley Beal and Kawhi Leonard, and C Ivica Zubac led the NBA in total rebounds last season. Collins could make an average of figures like its last season with the Hawks (13.1 ppg, 6.5 RPG), which is good if you get it later than the first 10 laps.

• New Blazers PG trail Jrue Holiday Certainly had a successful career because he has won defensive praise and won a pair of NBA titles. It is no longer really a fantastic option, even with an ADP to come after the 10th round. Maybe PG Scoot Henderson (choice n ° 3 in 2023) will never become a star, but the Blazers must discover it. When Portland spends a vacation to a trade competitor, the figures still do not correspond to what we remember with its seasons of Milwaukee Bucks. We harassed this story a year ago by describing the Mavericks SG Klay Thompson, and Thompson offered his worst season since he was recruited.

• Mavericks SF / PF Cooper Flagg will immediately have any importance in fantasy, but it is the exception with regard to recruits. Most fail to produce fantastic relevant statistics during their first season. Last season, San Antonio Spurs PG Stephon Castle won the prize for the recruit of the year, but most of his numbers came after the stars break, and he did not finish in the player’s top 100. Flagg will do it. He is special. Do not expect PG / SG spurs Dylan Harper76ers SG VJ Edgecombe Or other draft choices to deliver relevant fantastic statistics during the year 1. The Flagg seems to be a rewriting in most leagues, because it would be surprising that it corresponds to most of his Duke statistics at the start (19.2 ppg, 7.5 RPG, 1.4 BPG), but it should be quite good.