Friends in fast breaks,
Trade Trade TRADE! The trade deadline swapped around plenty of players (and second round picks???). Was it enough to change fate? We'll see...
WEEK 16 PICKS
- Walking Bucket Wilt OAD
- The Worm Survivor
DAL and PHX have to be the two biggest upside swings, bringing in K. Irving and K. Durant respectively. Dallas won't need Doncic to drag them kicking and screaming to victories over bottom of the barrel teams any more. Phoenix lost a bit of defense but the offense should be out of this world as long as Durant recovers properly. But in terms of OAD, that probably hurts everyone involved right? Less herculean efforts needed from each player?
BKN, obviously, falls off a cliff. They still have talent, but no "stars". I'm hoping they stay surprisingly strong, just for the intrigue. People seem convinced UTA will embrace tanking a bit more.
This is our final week of Interval 2. We'll be on break next week for the All Star Game. Let's get after it for one more week and then enjoy the break.
PICK STATS
Walking Bucket Wilt OAD
- D. Lillard returns to the top of our pick list for 36 pickers
- Is it his continued dominance?
- Is it them refusing to get the man more help?
- Blessed be the Dame
- Our other big picks: K. Irving (26 picks), N. Jokic (24), and A. Davis (23)
- We hit 50 unique players picked this week, a new record!
- What does the Golden Spreadsheet show?
- Four players have been used by 70%+ of pickers
- Twelve players have been used by 60%+ of pickers
- As of now, every player has been picked twice! What madness!
- Interesting single picks: B. Beal, B. Ingram, C. McCollum, C. Sexton, S. Barnes, T. Rozier, T. Maxey
| Wilt Main Pick | Count |
| Damian Lillard (vs OKC | 2/10) | 36 |
| Kyrie Irving (@ SAC | 2/10) | 26 |
| Nikola Jokic (@ CHA | 2/11) | 24 |
| Anthony Davis (@ GSW | 2/11) | 23 |
| Joel Embiid (vs NYK | 2/10) | 15 |
| De'Aaron Fox (vs DAL | 2/10) | 14 |
| Jayson Tatum (vs CHA | 2/10) | 13 |
| Jaylen Brown (vs CHA | 2/10) | 12 |
| Klay Thompson (vs LAL | 2/11) | 12 |
| Pascal Siakam (vs UTA | 2/10) | 12 |
| Anthony Edwards (@ MEM | 2/10) | 10 |
| Devin Booker (@ IND | 2/10) | 10 |
| Donovan Mitchell (@ NOP | 2/10) | 10 |
| DeMar DeRozan (@ CLE | 2/11) | 9 |
| Trae Young (vs SAS | 2/11) | 9 |
| Jalen Brunson (@ PHI | 2/10) | 7 |
| Ja Morant (vs MIN | 2/10) | 7 |
| Jordan Poole (vs LAL | 2/11) | 7 |
| Kristaps Porzingis (vs IND | 2/11) | 7 |
| Lebron James (@ GSW | 2/11) | 7 |
| Paul George (vs MIL | 2/10) | 7 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo (@ LAC | 2/10) | 6 |
| Luka Doncic (@ SAC | 2/10) | 5 |
| Zach Lavine (@ CLE | 2/11) | 5 |
| Dejounte Murray (vs SAS | 2/11) | 4 |
| Jimmy Butler (vs HOU | 2/10) | 4 |
| LaMelo Ball (@ BOS | 2/10) | 4 |
| Darius Garland (@ NOP | 2/10) | 3 |
| Fred VanVleet (vs UTA | 2/10) | 3 |
| Julius Randle (@ PHI | 2/10) | 3 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (@ POR | 2/10) | 3 |
| Zion Williamson (vs CLE | 2/10) | 3 |
| Desmond Bane (vs MIN | 2/10) | 2 |
| Kawhi Leonard (vs MIL | 2/10) | 2 |
| Kevin Durant (@ IND | 2/10) | 2 |
| Stephen Curry (vs LAL | 2/11) | 2 |
| Bam Adebayo (vs HOU | 2/10) | 1 |
| Bradley Beal (vs IND | 2/11) | 1 |
| Brandon Ingram (vs CLE | 2/10) | 1 |
| CJ McCollum (vs CLE | 2/10) | 1 |
| Collin Sexton (@ TOR | 2/10) | 1 |
| Domantas Sabonis (vs DAL | 2/10) | 1 |
| James Harden (vs NYK | 2/10) | 1 |
| Jerami Grant (vs OKC | 2/10) | 1 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (@ MEM | 2/10) | 1 |
| Saddiq Bey (vs SAS | 2/11) | 1 |
| Scottie Barnes (vs UTA | 2/10) | 1 |
| Terry Rozier (@ BOS | 2/10) | 1 |
| Tyrese Haliburton (vs PHX | 2/10) | 1 |
| Tyrese Maxey (vs NYK | 2/10) | 1 |
The Worm Survivor
- We've got three big picks followed by a bunch of singles
- MIA (vs HOU) has 7 pickers
- ATL (vs SAS) was picked 6 times
- DEN (@ CHA) pulled 5 picks
- That's followed by 6 unique picks
- We do have opposing picks on PHX and IND, neat!
| Worm Pick | Count |
| Miami Heat (vs HOU | 2/10) | 7 |
| Atlanta Hawks (vs SAS | 2/11) | 6 |
| Denver Nuggets (@ CHA | 2/11) | 5 |
| Detroit Pistons (vs SAS | 2/10) | 1 |
| Golden State Warriors (vs LAL | 2/11) | 1 |
| Indiana Pacers (vs PHX | 2/10) | 1 |
| Memphis Grizzlies (vs MIN | 2/10) | 1 |
| Phoenix Suns (@ IND | 2/10) | 1 |
| Sacramento Kings (vs DAL | 2/10) | 1 |
WEEKLY AWARDS
Westbrook Bank Shot Moxie Award
Boldest pick WITH a comment. You can't win a SZN competition without a little Moxie!
@LeviLeo (C. Sexton): "Almost time for the third interval, my time to shine"
GM says: This ain't Middleton, you beautiful Sexton picker, you
"Who's the GOAT?" Award
Our best weekly comment (or three)
@MONSTERXXX (D. Garland): "Christmas is over but I'm still putting up the Garland , WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH !!!!"
GM says: The wordplay, Monster is starting to drop BARS
"I Could Sell You Kings Tickets" Award
Most convincing comment.
@kbanaian (D. Lillard): "In case you've noticed, I choose these more on the basis of who they are playing than whether someone is hot. This is the hardest week, post-trade deadline."
GM says: And Portland did absolutely nothing to help Dame, so he still has to be a one man army
KD Would Retweet This Award
The spiciest/wildest take.
@Merf (D. Fox): "ONE. MORE. WEEK."
GM says: Until... we continue to underperform some more?
MORE PICK COMMENTS
@Mr_Rodgers_Neighborhood (MIA): "I got nothing"
GM says: Except being still alive at this point. Enormous flex
@StatCzar (J. Tatum): "My grandma just FaceTimed me. When I asked her what she needed she said she didn’t know how she got me she was trying to watch Yellowstone on Peacock and that now that we were FaceTiming she didn’t know how to get out of it. I said bye and promptly hit the red X"
GM says: You can't compete with Kevin Costner
@YikesVikes (J. Brunson): "Jalen Brunson has won 0 championships, but he's my champ of this SZN week. "
GM says: He'll be in a good mood with his Nova buddy onboard!
@pheezy42 (J. Tatum): "milk carton: cam Thomas"
GM says: Nets went from two players on our roster to zero after the deadline. We won't be altering the roster mid-season, but you know Cam's hot streak puts him near the top for next time
@NEELERSBTB1 (J. Brunson): "New York, New York sooo great they named it twice!!!"
GM says: Alicia Keys never sang about Albany
@Mr_Rodgers_Neighborhood (D. Lillard): "Let me check my watch… oh, yeah, it’s Dame Dollar time! $$$""
GM says: Baby Dame approves. But also can't read a clock face
Yours in Roundball Rock,
The GM