Each week in the NBA is its own story -- full of surprises, both positive and negative -- and fantasy managers must decide what to believe and what not to believe moving forward. Perhaps we can help. If any of these thoughts come true ... don't be surprised!
Don't be surprised if ... Jonas Valanciunas is Washington's top fantasy option
One of the reasons why some fantasy managers opt to fade the top expected rebounding centers, such as the Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert, Hawks' Clint Capela and Suns' Jusuf Nurkic, is because of their rough free throw percentage. This is a bigger issue in roto/categories formats than points leagues, and these fellows don't get to the line as much as Karl Malone used to, but it still matters. In fact, these three gentlemen, each of whom averaged double-digit rebounds last season and probably will do so again, ranked 107th, 108th and 109th among the 110 scoring title qualifiers in free throw percentage, and Andre Drummond was last. There is a theme here.
So it is that some of us may wait a bit longer in drafts for centers who specifically don't hurt us in a category, and Valanciunas has long been one of those underrated options. OK, so Valanciunas did not average double digit boards for last season's Pelicans, breaking a four-year streak of doing so, but who is stopping him on these terrible Wizards? Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley III? Valanciunas will see his minutes rise, along with his scoring numbers, and he is a career .789 shooter from the line. He is durable, consistent and reliable. He is underrated.