• Praise be, Amen Thompson has been seeing an uptick in assists and steals over the past month, as he takes over additional responsibilities in the back court

• Naz Reid has been cranking along at 4 triples and over 2 steals a game seemingly after a quiet campaign from the 2024 sixth man of teh year.

• Brandon Millers hasn't missed a free throw in 2 weeks hitting 37 consecutive free throws while averaging 4 triples on his way to a 105 point week.

• Dillon Brooks has been making a name for himself in phoenix witha 115 points week bolstered by 32 free throw attempts and a .545 3point%

PG

608

Luka Dončić

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT22

PTS142

REB38

AST39

STL3

BLK0

TOV13

Leading the league in both points (142) and triples (22) combined with of 38 rebounds and 39 assists Luka Doncic has been on a terrific string of games, featuring a 46 point game with 12 assists and a 37/11/13 with 3 steals. It seems every night Luka puts a bit of extra gravy in your scoresheet every night and we are proud to select him as the bread and butter pick of the week.

It was an unlucky week 13 for Ja Morant after going down with an elbow injury in his first game of the week. They say he will be evaluated in 3 weeks, but the hope is that the frequently wounded former MIP winning point guard can find a home with another team. With this latest injury we may have to wait for the offseason for the exciting conclusion to the Morant in Tennessee saga. This week we saw some fantastic performances around the league lets see who impressed:

• Bam Adebayo put together the rare offensive showing hitting 11! 3s and 109 points alongside 51 rebounds. He's been on an absolute rip from 3 the last few weeks, helping boost his generally weak offensive production

• Jusuf Nurkić has reasserted himself as a rock distribution system leading the league with 41 assists for the week and pulling in an additional 70 points and 48 rebounds. Considering he was unrosterable a few months ago this could be a great window for the veteran center.

• Dylan Cardwell has decleared himself with a 10 block 5 steal week with 37 rebounds without requiring large amounts of playtime.

• SGA continues to be the leading scorer in the NBA but has seen a pretty significant dip in his 3 pointers, rebounds and steal rate. These marginal drops have taken still have been offset by scoring 32 per game and career high effeciency keeping him a clear top 3 pick.

PG

588

Immanuel Quickley

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT16

PTS101

REB27

AST27

STL8

BLK0

TOV7

The Toronto Raptors are on a 5 game winning streak. Scottie, Ingram and Mamukelashvili all put forward top 75 performances this week but those are not the raptor we seek this week. This guard quickly started the week with a 40 point performance and kept running with incredible peripherals, 4 3s, 7 boards, 7 dimes 2 steals, while keeping it under 2 turnovers. This weeks bread and butter pick of the week is none other than Immanuel Quickley who after a sluggish start to the season have been absolutely huge in the raptors success.

If i were to describe the 2026 All star starters in a single word that word would be "Picklestravaganza" as we have some godfathers of the pickle game in SGA, Joker, Wemby, Steph, and Luca. Now if that doesn't show the western dominiance let these lines convince you:

• The rockets as a whole seemed to put together a week where they met expectations, Amen, KD, Senguin, and even little Jabari Smith Jr all had great weeks across multple categories.

• With the Mavericks absolutely toasted by injuries Naji marshall has been elevated to starters minutes averaging 16/4/4 per and providing a stead stream of steals.

• Klay Thompson drained 20 3s the past week, leading the league and giving us a glimpse of past Klay, however even dropping six trebles a games isn't enough for the former great to break the top 100.

• Our boy Wussell shots over 50% from 3 on 29 attempts. Over the last few weeks he's gone from cooked to cooking over the past months providing 15 3s 90 points and 31 dimes!

SF

660

LeBron James

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT8

PTS126

REB35

AST34

STL5

BLK6

TOV17

Father Time be damned, thanks to a blessed 5 game week, the supposedly geriatric phenom was able to assemble a devastating 126 points, 35 rebounds and 34 assists with 11 stocks while going 93% on 30 free throws. Now I know he'll have to sit every other game afterwards but for now Lebron James you are the bread and butter pick of the week!

There are just over 3 weeks until the trade deadline and with Miles turner unlikely to be traded from the Pacers this year we have to search around for this years big deadline stories. Yer a wizard already Trae, or at least your salary is. As of now Trae Young's player option next season makes up over half of the wizards salary commitment for next season. Ja Morant has had a falling out with the Grizzlies leaving the shooter vulnerable to trade offers but what is the market value on a player who has only played 138 games over the last 4 seasons and is shotting at a career worst 40% and commiting 3.6 TO a game despite not getting over 30 minutes per game. Which of the kings spare parts will be able to fetch any return, with Lavine going quietly into the cold night and the only true signs of life seem to be coming from a 36 year old DeRozan.

So lets take a look at some of the breakout performances by players who might be moving around during the deadline:

• With Zubac out and Brook Lopez being old and slow the clippers have been looking for some creativity from their front court. And John Collins has answered the call. Putting together a league leading 11 blocks with 5 steals and 25 rebounds the defense was solid, and followed up with 13 3s and 77 points. This is likely Collins best week as it required him to shooting 65% from 3 to end up in the top 50% of scorers.

• Collin Murray-Boyles has been capitalizing on getting a run of starters minutes, putting up 39 rebounds and 10 steals on the week while keeping at nearly 60% on field goals.

• Donte DiVincenzo may not be part of the future in Minnesota but a hot streak from 3 had him sinking 18 this week with strong showings in points, rebounds assists and steals.

• Now unlikely to be traded with the current mile high big man situation Peyton Watson has been playing massive minutes and demonstrating a scoring touch that no one could have seen coming. Now the 70% from 3 is going to come down but even if it halves we are looking at going from 24 to 18 points a game and he will maintain his blocking and rebounding upside.

PG

570

Stephen Curry

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT16

PTS116

REB13

AST28

STL4

BLK2

TOV7

We've got an oldie but a goodie this week, a perennial first round player with a few extra miles, this 37-year-old is seeing a 3-year high in usage and has offset a loss in rebounding with generally improved efficiency. A week featuring 116 points with 18 3s combined with 28 assists and a reasonable 7 turnovers, this was done while shooting 8% below his career average on the long ball. This week we are proud to welcome back to the club Steph Curry to be our bread and butter pick of the week.

New Year new grove, lets look at the who's been ringing in 2026 with style:

• Despite losing their last six, Chet Holmgren did heavy lifting in the defensive end all week with a league leading 15 blocks, 43 rebounds and 4 steals.

• Paolo Banchero has been providing a standout performance since Franz went down giving the magic a 111 point week combined with 43 rebounds, while showing rare effeciency with 53% field goal shooting

• Despite playing fewer games than his brother, LaMelo Ball has been hammering 3s with 18 on the week and 8 steals.

• Norman Powell has been making the most with backcourt injuries and gambling investigations, with some additional playing time he's hot off a 115 point week powered by 21 triples.

SF

585

Deni Avdija

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT8

PTS107

REB57

AST39

STL5

BLK3

TOV17

This has been a player to watch all season since getting promoted to starter in the West. He's been averaging 25/7/7 on the season (and leads the league in Turnovers by a staggering 13). This past week he provided amaing contributions in points, rebounds and assists, while shoring up solid numbers in triples and steals on passable effeciency. Likely to go down as the steal of this years fantasy draft and likely another stain on the wizards talent evaluation Deni Avdija is this years first bread and butter pick of the week.

As we move past the NBA holiday schedule we were treated to a number of standout performances.

• Nikola Jokić has continued to put up numbers that no one else can touch. This week he led the league in points rebounds and assists, learning heavily on 56/16/15 and 34/21/12 games.

• Anthony Black is capitalizing on increased playing time with Jalen Suggs out. He's been averaging 25/5/5 compared to his 13/3/3 in November and 13/3/2 in October.

• Keyonte George is providing serious value in Utah by giving us 3.5 treballs, 25 points 5 rebounds and 6 assists per game. His playing time has been consistent over the last 3 months so we are really just seeing improvements in his scoring based on his fg% shifting 5 points upward.

• Trey Murphy III appears to be stepping up to be an elite 3 and d for the pelicans, with 10 steals and 3s on the week. He's really fit into that Herb Jones defensive role, but you need to be cautious as he's a Herro level never blocker.

PF

562

Kawhi Leonard

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT10

PTS133

REB57

AST54

STL7

BLK5

TOV15

It seems that the holidays are the best time for 50 p

This weeks pickle has rarely been eligable to compete, but we are sure glad his load wasn't managed this week because we hot to see a pair of 55 and 41 point games while only missing 1 of 65 free throw attempts. Combining ultra efficient scoring from 3 and the line with 27 rebounds and 8 steals on the week while only commiting 9 turnovers. Well if getting a pickle was your aspiration Kawhi Leonard then I hope this provides you with the equivalent of $28 million off the books, as this weeks bread and butter pick of the week. Also Kawhi was in an episode of American Dad?

With this week being spread across multiple weeks strange things can happen. Very strange unthinkable things. But we must trust the methods and thus we would like to give a very special pickle out to a source of great entertainment over the last 4 years. Despite having challenges with Lakers, spending overnight with the Jazz awaiting a buyout, Signing with the Clippers, getting traded back to the Jazz to be bought out again, spending a season in Denver and finally taking a rest at the island of broken toys known as Sac-Town.

Known for his creative interpretation of the 3 brick, this future hall of famer is 35th all time in 3pt% despite never hitting 35% of this 3s in a single season. An avid Pilsbury fan he has led the league in turnovers in 4 different NBA seasons, and sits at the 2nd highest of all time.

His extended era of ball dominant play has him 19th All time in scoring and 8th all time in assists and is goated at triple doubles, having 207 in his carreer He also is the only player to have more than 2 cripple doubles where he combined a triple double with 10 turnovers.

PG

522

Russell Westbrook

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT3

PTS49

REB22

AST29

STL5

BLK1

TOV9

So the unthinkable has happened and we are here celebrating the one and only Russell Westbrook, who has snuck in with a clutch performance in garbage time to become out holiday bread and butter pick of the week

As all good things must inevitably come to an end, the Bulls have lost their last 7 games. The are lucky that they played the wizards or they would be staring down a 9 game losing streak starting with a 35 point spanking by the heat. But this is to be expected of any team top 10 3 points attempts and turnovers and bottom 5 in shooting from the field and from 3. The Minnesota Timberwolves has won their last five raising them to 6th in the west in a tight race with the rockets and spurs. And the Grizzlies are starting to show life going 8-3 since Ja Morant went down with a 'calf injury'. This has begun to course correct for the 4-10 start prior to Morant's injury. Now while we wait for the Kings to make a major push for the disgruntled Morant, lets take a look around the league to see where the big dills are happening:

• In Brooklyn a very positive week for both Nic Claxton and Michael Porter Junior. Claxton has been utilized as a playmaker having 9 and 10 assist games last week, this is well outside of the average of 0.9-2.2 over the last 5 seasons. If this remains Claxton shows great promise as a punt Ft source of dimes. Carrying over the career high play making numbers MPJ has broken the 2 assist per game threshold for the first time in the last 5 years. however unsurprisingly with his new role on the Nets he has set highs in 3 point shooting, free throw percentage, and scoring.

• Deni Avdija has emerged as the most fantasy relevant player in Portland, providing a little bit of everything except turnovers, he gets a lot of turnovers. 17 over the past week.

• Kawhi put together his biggest week of the season, suggesting that his play schedule was well spaced. Shooting 19/20 from the line as the basis for a 101 point week combined with 6 steals and 24 rebounds.

• Kyle Filipowski has been providing excellent across board stats in Utah, jazzing his way to solid contributions for a waiver wire pickup of 58 points, 33 rebounds and 7 steals.

PG

583

Kevin Porter Jr.

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT16

PTS108

REB17

AST27

STL11

BLK1

TOV13

Do your best Maxey impression must have been what Kevin Porter Jr heard heading into last week, because thats exactly what he did. If you thought last week was unexpected, I was worried that Porter had gone undrafted and would be hard to assign to a manager. A 108 point week with 11 steals, 16 triples and 27 assists out of left field replacing the offensive output of Giannis when previously completely out of the rotation is an incredibly impressive feat and one worth of the bread and butter pick of the week.

Welcome managers to week six of the nba season and the standings have been full of surprises. To start, there are seven teams in the west worse than the Phoenix Suns. This is the suns team that removed Beal and Durant and replaced them with Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, and the results are an amazing 12-9 which is exactly where they were last year, except they were expecting to be contenders. In the east, the Bucks 9-12 start have Giannis looking from the outside in at the playoffs despite putting together an MVP class season where he is riding a 5 year high in both scoring and assists. Lets take a look around the league to see who the best dills are this week:

• Keegan Murray is back in Sacramento and easily getting big minutes due to Kings, He's struggled a bit from 3 but combined for an impressive 18 stocks and didn't commit a single Turnover in week 6.

• Saddiq Bey has kind of returned from irrelevance but is still on the NOP, averaging 36 minutes per game over the last week, he's taken that time to put up really strong 20/10 double-double with 3 3s a game. All it took was all five starting pelicans to be out with injury.

• Jay Huff has been grabbing additional minutes at center Indiana edging out Isiah Jackson for the starting role over the last week. He rewarded this additional playing time by providing a league leading 13 blocks

• Russell Westbrook continues to play 28 a night for the kings, if you can stomach his 15 weekly turnovers and general bricklayery, you will be treated to 33 rebounds 31 assists and 8 steals.

SF

611

Josh Hart

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT9

PTS68

REB47

AST28

STL11

BLK2

TOV10

Josh Hart has provided us with an incredibly ethical performance with only 12 free throws. Leading with 11 Steals to league and 47 rebounds, he also brought us 28 dimes, 9 triples and 68 points. No one provides a better out of position of boards and when the Knicks needed him, he was able to elevate his scoring, defense and play-making. Maybe if he got to the line more he's be pushing 75 points, but by filling the board like we never thought possible we are proud to crown Josh Hart bread and butter pick of the week.

At the time of this article there are currently 126 reported player injuries ahead of tonight. Managers have had to Sophie's choice their pet player and have spent their focus responding to injuries rather than executing a strategy. We are one step away from online sports books offering futures on a players MCL. The waiver wire pool has been so diluted that player recognition is usually for a bad reason. But all these roster holes has left plenty of opportunity for the remaining stars. Here are some big dills showing how availability is the best ability:

• Trey Murphy III leads the pelicans in both minutes and scoring, but the impressive part is he also led the league in steals over the past week while going 19/20 from the line.

• Tyrese Maxey is continuing his early season dominance, with a 144 point week, allowing to Philidelphia to fulfill gameplan of have someone drop 50.

• Immanuel Quickley is showing signs of life in Toronto throwing out a 68 points week with 24 boards, 21 assists, 7 steals on only 5 turnovers.

• In Case you were wondering how Josef Nurkic was handling the increased role Kessler out, he had 18 shot attempts the week and went 3/7 from the line.

PG

544

Jalen Johnson

Volume

Efficiency

FG

FT

3PT9

PTS97

REB39

AST36

STL6

BLK2

TOV12

Last week I stated that it was hard to imagine what kind of performance would be superior to Jalen Johnsons performance last week, and he took that personally. As last weeks reining assists and rebounds leader. He repeated his 24ppg week, but alongside 9 rebounds and 9 assists. He also kept it efficient from the field shooting a clean 500 and still hitting 9 3s. It seems like no matter who Atlanta needs him to be he's able to provide. And that is why we are proud to proclaim Jalen Johnson bread and butter pick of the week.