By Dimitris Minaretzis / info@eurohoops.net
Let’s dive in at the bottom of the EuroLeague fantasy rankings. We found three players worth 0.35 credits or less, worth spending on ahead of Round 4 of the competition.
These are: Khimki’s Vyacheslav Zaytsev (0.33), Barcelona’s Ronalds Smits (0.35) and Zalgiris‘ Rokas Jokubaitis (0.21)!
Khimki has plenty of absences in the guard position with Shved, McCollum and Timma out, so Zaytsev’s pick is the only choice. In the first three games of the Russian team he averaged 18.67 points, an incredible number really if we consider the fact that he will most likely return to the bench once the aforementioned players return.
Smits received some game time in the first two games of the season, but with Nikola Mirotic out of the picture due to his COVID-19 recovery, the 25-year-old Latvian elevated against Valencia. He spent 30 minutes on the court and registered 23 PIR points and we have reasons to believe he will be a top choice for Sarunas Jasikevicius against Panathinaikos OPAP.
Jokubaitis differs slightly from the other two players, as his talent has earned coach Schiller’s trust early in the season with an active presence in Zalgiris‘ roster.
The Lithuanian team is on to a three-game streak with Jokubaitis averaging 22 minutes and 12.1 fantasy points. A great budget-friendly pick for those looking to save credits and invest in higher-ranked players.
This also applies to Smits and Zaytsev, though most probably they won’t be of much use once the respective big guns return for Khimki and Barcelona.
P.S. We regret dismissing Nicolas Laprovittola from our roster last week. From restricted to no time on the court, he played for 20 minutes against Khimki with 23 rating points. His price is appealing (0.61), though beware of coach Pablo Laso’s game plans!
