![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2246443802-1024x683.jpg\")
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Ryan Rollins has played far above his ADP, providing those who roster him a reason to be thankful. David Jensen \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll keep this piece short and sweet because I know how much you want to get back to conversing with the relatives. Since it\u2019s Thanksgiving week, this is my chance to give thanks.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what I am thankful for \u2026<\/p>\n
My faithful readers and editors.
\nJalen Duren\u2018s breakout. Duren is my second-most rostered player across all formats this season. My most rostered player is Kevin Porter. Life always finds its way to balance and humble me.
\nErik Spoelstra, not a rigid curmudgeon, is willing to do whatever he thinks is best for the team. Breakthrough Basketball\u2019s Jeff Huber put it best: \u201cWhat is soft is being a coach who\u2019s afraid to try something different because it might open them up to criticism.\u201d There is no soft in Spoelstra. Miami led the league for many years by employing a zone defense that most teams eschewed. Now, Spoelstra has changed the offense not only to play fast but also to incorporate many of the concepts the Memphis Grizzlies instituted \u2014 fewer pick-and-rolls and more driving, with off-ball players moving like an amoeba to fill in gaps. Miami is playing at the fastest pace and leads the league in points per game. Now they add Tyler Herro to the mix, who put up 24 points, seven rebounds and three steals in 29 minutes during his season debut on Monday.
\nAnthony Davis, who helped deliver a chip during COVID and was instrumental in bringing Luka Doncic to the Lakers. Thank you for your service. It\u2019s the universe\u2019s way of balancing out all those seasons I drafted you in the first round, only to tank my season after a month.
\nMichael Porter, who\u2019s hucking and chucking to his heart\u2019s content and has shown some playmaking chops. Porter is averaging a career-high 3.2 dimes and is showing Cam Thomas that it\u2019s OK to pass from time to time.
\nRyan Rollins. He\u2019s been like\u00a0manna raining down from the heavens for us fantasy nerds. Through 17 games, Rollins is averaging 31.7 minutes, 18.6 points, 2.5 treys, 3.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 50% from the field and 79% from the line. Unfortunately, I did not get him in my Main Event league, where I have Porter. Life always finds a way.
\nDillon Brooks reminding us that it\u2019s always Dillon Brooks time. Brooks was drafted as the 178th player on average in NFBC drafts during October. Kudos to those who predicted a 10% usage rate increase from the prior season and top-60 fantasy production on a per-game basis through two months.
\nNot drafting Joel Embiid, who\u2019s played a total of six games and averaged 23.3 minutes per game.
\nNickeil Alexander-Walker, who was drafted with the 194th overall pick on average in NFBC drafts during October and has garnered a 24.6% usage rate with Trae Young out of commission. NAW has posted top-75 production on a per-game basis. Alexander-Walker is the cousin of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the two have trained together in the offseason, so you know the offensive bag has more than rabbits and snakes in it.
\nDerik Queen, who has good size at 6-foot-10 and 248 pounds. The moxy, IQ and playmaking have been so impressive, but I am most thankful for Queen because I was once cut and Eddie Jones-esque, but eventually morphed into Boris Diaw \u2014 a larger playmaker who would set devastating back picks. Queen reminds everyone that players of all sizes and shapes can dominate hoops.
\nAndre Drummond\u2018s corner treys. For many offseasons, we were inundated with videos of Drummond making it rain from downtown with step-backs and pull-ups. Well, it\u2019s finally happening during the season, as the stroke is pure this season \u2014 0.5 of 1.3 attempts from behind the arc for a cool 40%. Oh, he\u2019s also been the guy when Embiid is unable to go, averaging 12 points, 14 rebounds, 0.8 treys, 0.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks in seven starts.
\nKel\u2019el Ware, who was chained to the Spoelstra doghouse since the summer and through the early part of the season. But Ware kept working, and it looks like he\u2019s finally taken to heart what Spoelstra has been preaching because the playing time and production have been robust. Over the past seven games, Ware is averaging 28.6 minutes, 16.1 points, 1.1 treys, 14.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.6 blocks while shooting 56% from the field and 86% from the line. Spoelstra recently said, \u201cHe\u2019s feeling the importance of the games; he\u2019s playing meaningful minutes. He understands the responsibility to play well, and he\u2019s recognizing if it doesn\u2019t go well, you know what, he needs to correct. That\u2019s a big-time improvement from last year, where he wasn\u2019t really recognizing what was happening.\u201d On Monday, Spoelstra then said, \u201cHe\u2019s playing with much more force than a year ago \u2026 I don\u2019t want to put a ceiling on him.\u201d From the doghouse to the penthouse, a true American story.
\nJosh Giddey, who is almost averaging a triple-double: 20.5 points, 1.7 treys, 9.9 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 1.0 steals. Unfortunately, with Coby White back, Giddey has seen a 4% downtick in usage rate. The counting stats may come down a bit, but Giddey will still be putting up plenty of them.
\nKeldon Johnson, who has been an excellent source of points and rebounds with Victor Wembanyama out. In four games, Johnson has seen a 4% increase in usage and has averaged 17.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.5 treys in 27.5 minutes per game. With Wembanyama, Johnson averaged 10.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 treys in 23.1 minutes.
\nMoussa Diabate, who has been decent from a fantasy perspective, averaging 10.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks, but he\u2019s only playing 23.2 minutes per game. What I most love about Diabate is his relentless energy when crashing the boards and running in transition. He smiles, I smile. He runs, I want to do the same, but then I remember I\u2019m old and my body wouldn\u2019t be able to handle it.
\nFor players like Caleb Love\u00a0and Daniss Jenkins, because it reminds everyone how amazing NBA players truly are. Both Love and Jenkins went undrafted, yet have balled out when given the opportunity.
\nFor all the late-round producers of dimes (ADP in parentheses):<\/p>\n
*Tre Jones has lost playing time with Coby White\u2019s return; Vince Williams\u2019 production has come primarily with Ja Morant out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I promised I\u2019d keep it short and sweet, so that\u2019ll be a wrap, but I wanted to thank everyone once again for making my dream a reality. Y\u2019all are the true MVPs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nov 26, 2025<\/p>\n
Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n
Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n
Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Rollins has played far above his ADP, providing those who roster him a reason to be thankful.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,91191,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-309256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-fantasy-basketball","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}