What we know for sure: Brooklyn Nets PG/SG Kyrie Irving and Philadelphia 76ers PG Ben Simmons are awesome basketball players and they are certainly capable of helping fantasy basketball investors this season.
What we do not know for sure: When they will actually play basketball again.
Look, let us be pragmatists. We are playing fantasy basketball and we want to win our leagues. As we enter the final weekend prior to regular season action, there is little indication of when we will see these talented superstars on the court and accumulating their myriad fantasy relevant statistics. Forgetting everything else, that is the bottom line for fantasy.
Alas, there has been no shortage of words spoken and typed about these different, occasionally perplexing situations. The Nets are keeping Irving away until he becomes vaccinated. Meanwhile, Simmons suddenly returned to Philly after a holdout. For fantasy purposes only - my personal thoughts on these men and their situations, ideals, goals, whatevs, are irrelevant here - these are not top-50 picks this weekend. Not close.
Of course, in ESPN's average live draft results (ADP), they are going safely in the top 50. Perhaps it works out. Perhaps they are playing by the time you read this and I look silly. Won't be the first time for me, but I just doubt there is real clarity on either situation so soon.
Our ADP tends to run close to our site's head-to-head points rankings, which is our standard format, expertly handled by veteran Andre Snellings. Then again, Andre is always changing those rankings. So am I with H2H categories and our talented newcomer Eric Moody with the roto format. We must change. News dictates, and news can be anything from what is happening to Irving and Simmons to injuries, depth chart adjustments, just our gut feelings.