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Industry Pickup Week 3 recap

Written by @Rhett_Bauer

Week three was filled with significant injuries, which led to more action on the transaction front than usual for a games cap format. Some big claims were thrown out for players that project to have a dramatic increase in value for the foreseeable future, and teams are starting to solidify their strengths and weaknesses which increased some bid pricing.

This week might go down as one of learning, as a few matchups would have ended differently if managers had been more selective with their 40GP limit. Just goes to show that, no matter the league, it’s still possible to squeeze a win out of thin air by paying closer attention to certain rules than their opponent.

One interesting note for this week: turnovers were the swing category in more matchups than not. Three of the six winning managers had turnovers as one of their winning categories, two of which ended 5-4, and two other matchups had turnovers decided by less than five. The tendency for most people is to disregard turnovers, but it’s a category just like the rest. Don’t throw it completely out the window when building your team!

Pickups of the week

13 bids of more than 1% of the $1,000 FAAB budget this week, but six of them were over 5%:

-        Dyson Daniels, $90, Monday to Noah Rubin

• (right after CJ McCollum’s injury news)

-        Jordan Hawkins, $89, Tuesday to Josh Lloyd

• (shoutout to Rhett Bauer for dropping Hawkins about 12 hours before the McCollum news came through, big oof)

-        Alex Caruso, $87, Thursday to Mitch Casey

-        Reggie Jackson, $99, Friday to Alex Rutha (right after Jamal Murray’s injury update)

-        Marcus Sasser, $75, Friday to Noah Rubin

-        Skyler Mays, $66, Saturday to Josh Lloyd

For a full list of the transactions, check HERE

Matchup recaps

Rhett Bauer over Adam King, 5-4

Bauer took this week in a way that would make Daryl Morey blush, winning points, threes, both percentages and turnovers. Tyrese Haliburton’s 17 assists on Sunday were almost enough to swing a 6-3, but James Harden was in true playoff form with only three assists while Anthony Davis had six assists to tighten up the final result.

This was a tale of two builds, with both teams having pretty clear strengths and weaknesses and assists being the only category that was even close. Both managers ended with just 39 games played, but King having the worst week in the league in points, FG% and threes was too much to overcome.

Drew Dinkmeyer over Noah Rubin, 5-4

Despite Damian LIllard, Terry Rozier, Jamal Murray and Herb Jones all missing significant time due to injury, Dinkmeyer was able to hold off a commendable Sunday push from Rubin and his expensive waiver reinforcements. Not only that, but a solid night from Nikola Vucevic didn’t end up counting because of too many games played at Dinkmeyer’s center spot. Six threes, six steals and one block was all that separated this matchup, and that’s even with Rubin maxing out his 40GP while ETR only had 35.

Ironically, Rubin actually rose in the standings after the loss, while Dinkmeyer dropped a spot even with the win. One of the funnier things about early season standings when counting each category as a win! Dinkmeyer stashing Miles Bridges and Trey Murphy III on IR with all these other injuries is a risky move, but it has paid off so far and could lead to a monster team for the second half of the season.

Alex Rikleen over Alex Barutha, 6-3

A close week for two of the top teams heading into the week, decided by four blocks, two steals and one turnover. Barutha was a bit inefficient this week, from the field and from a manager perspective. First, getting up to 43 games meant that LaMelo Ball, Fred VanVleet, Julius Randle and Paul George all ended up not having their last game count in their starting spot, while worse players like Deni Avdija, Bruce Brown, Zach Collins, and Spencer Dinwiddie all ended up counting in flex spots on the same day.

Not only that, but Barutha having eight players shooting 43% or worse from the field makes it basically impossible to win when also surrendering points, threes, and steals. Rikleen ending this week in third place despite being without Devin Booker and Ja Morant for most/all of the week should inspire a lot of confidence in the squad moving forward.

Brendan Woodward over Mike Catron, 5-4

A week coming down to .002 in FG% is always a good one, though WTB may disagree as he looks at guys such as Kyrie Irving, Franz Wagner, Onyeka Okongwu and Grant Williams massively underperforming from the field. Not too many missed games due to injury here, and both managers ended up with at least 40 games…but Catron might look back at this week with disgust depending on how the rest of the year goes. Kyrie Irving and Deanre Ayton combined for 47 points on 65% from the field on Sunday, but that was left out of his final tally due to meeting the 40GP limit on Saturday for his PG and C slots.

Mitch Casey over Mike Barner, 5-4

Casey had a 7-2 lead going into Sunday, but Barner ended two steals short of pulling off quite the comeback. Casey was missing quite a few of his assists due to injury, but Barner missing a comparable amount of his bigs might have been what ultimately decided this one.

Ironically, Barner actually “rose” in the standings despite the loss, going from 12th to tied for 12th thanks to the matchup that rounds out this week’s recap and holding on to a couple close categories even in a loss. (Remember that thing at the beginning about turnovers sometimes mattering?)

Josh Lloyd over Dan Titus, 8-1

You know how sometimes the final score isn’t quite indicative of how the match played out?

This…isn’t one of those times. To be fair though, Titus had a rough week. Started the week without Robert Williams III, then got struck by the “busy life” bug and missed out on four Monday games, then lost Tyler Herro to an ankle sprain just eight minutes into Wednesday’s slate.

Credit where credit is due, Josh’s team was dominant. He ended the week top-3 in FG%, points, assists, blocks and turnovers, which would have been good enough to beat everyone in the league, while Titus would have actually beaten a couple teams had the head-to-head schedule been different. Josh now leads the league with a 70.4% win percentage, and Titus has an uphill climb with injuries to some of his mid-round picks dragging him down.

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Industry Pickup Week 2 recap

Written by Alex Rikleen

The NBA’s first full week of games meant the first normal week of roster management for Industry Pickup. Every team could comfortably fill their 40 starts with already rostered players. In Week 2 – and most weeks going forward – there will be no streaming. Some category specialists will be added mid-week for each particular matchup, but most waiver moves are now focused more on the quality of the payers added. As expected, most of the pickups were either short-term producers in expanded roles due to teammates’ injuries (e.g. Dorian Finney-Smith) or longer-term potential breakouts (e.g. Jordan Hawkins).

 The first normal week also gives us a better glimpse into what rosters’ strengths and weaknesses will be. For example, in Week 1 I masqueraded as a decent rebounding team. This was in part because I was starting Kevon Looney every game, even though he would normally be an as-needed reserve for me. In Week 2, when we didn’t need to start our bench guys every night, Looney was banished. I went from tied for fifth in the category in Week 1 to ninth in Week 2.

 The evened playing field contributed to a lot of close outcomes – no manager won more than five categories in Week 2.

Pickups of the week

Only four waiver adds received bids of more than 1% of the $1,000 FAAB budget:

-        Robert Covington, $35, Tuesday (first waiver run after the Harden trade) to Mitch Casey

-        De’Andre Hunter, $15, Tuesday, to Mitch Casey

-        Mo Wagner, $87, Friday, to Mitch Casey

-        Dario Saric, $14, Sunday, to Brendan Woodward

Matchup recaps

Alex Rikleen over Brendan Woodward, 5-3-1

This was even closer than the final score implies. Some of the winning margins were just two blocks, 10 assists, and 25 points. Three categories flipped on Sunday. And both managers leave with some regret. As Woodward pointed out on twitter (https://x.com/HiddenUpside/status/1721408370849325086?s=20), simply choosing a different Sunday streamer would have swung two categories to him. Rikleen, on the other hand, was travelling when it was announced that Devin Booker was available to play Thursday, so therefore missed the opportunity to switch Booker into the starting lineup – Booker’s 13 assists would have flipped that category, too.

Mike Barner over Alex Barutha, 5-4

After a managerial error cost Barner in Week 1, he turned the tables and won due to strategic management in Week 2. Barner entered Sunday with comfortable leads in four categories and no realistic path to catching Barutha in four more. That left turnovers, where Barner trailed by one. He elected to sit his entire lineup, guaranteeing zeros for the day. Barutha kept his starters in, either because he didn’t notice Barner’s benching or because he was hoping to pick off points (where he trailed by 99). In any case, the gambit worked for Barner – Barutha’s team racked up four TOs, flipping the category, while failing to close the gap in points. Barner paced the league in FG% in Week 2, while Barutha led the way in threes and assists.

Mitch Casey over Dan Titus, 5-4

Though Casey was highly active on the waiver wire this week (see above), all of that was with an eye towards the future – he didn’t start any of his three “expensive” pickups. There’s not a ton to say about this matchup, as none of the final margins were all that close. The closest categories were steals (8) and blocks (6), both won by Casey. Casey led the league in rebounds in Week 2.

Josh Lloyd over Noah Rubin, 5-4

It’s fair to say Lloyd escaped here, as four of the week’s five closest categories went to him – he won by five threes, four blocks, 14 points, and 16 assists. Only steals, which Noah won by three, broke against Lloyd. Regardless, both managers will need to get more out of their teams ASAP – these two would have finished 11th and 12th in the league in Week 2 roto scoring. Rubin’s 48 turnovers set the mark for the best in the league in Week 2.

Adam King over Mike Catron, 5-4

Despite the loss, there’s a lot for Catron to be happy about here. He led the league in points and steals and placed first in weekly roto scoring. King continues to trounce the league in blocks, and he snuck ahead of Rikleen for the top spot in FT% in Week 2 (what a weird pair of strengths).

Drew Dinkmeyer over Rhett Bauer, 5-4

This one also came down to the last day. Entering Sunday, TOs were tied and Bauer led by a mere five points. Both ended up tilting Dinkmeyer’s way by nightfall. Notably, Malcom Brogdon had four TOs for Bauer that day – bad timing for Bauer, as Brogdon has notched two or fewer in every other game this season. Though neither team won a category during the week, Dinkmeyer’s squad would have placed second in weekly roto scoring.

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Industry Pickup Week 1 recap

Written by Alex Rikleen

The Industry Pickup league uses a strict games max – four starts per position per week, for a hard cap of 40. In most weeks, that means bench players will start only a handful of games. But the opening week sees fewer NBA games than a normal week, so 11 managers fell short of their allotted 40. Streaming was more relevant than it would usually be, and bench players had a bigger impact on a team’s strengths and weaknesses. This particularly punished teams holding long-term breakout prospects like Jonathan Isaac, Obi Toppin, Jalen Suggs, etc. (the rosters holding those players all lost in Week 1).

Pickups of the week:

Most of the big Week 1 breakouts – Jalen Johnson – were drafted.

Four players received bids over 3% of the $1,000 budget:

-        Andrew Nembhard, $42, Thursday, to Brendan Woodward

-        Isaiah Stewart, $33, Thursday, to Dan Titus

-        Kelly Oubre, $40, Saturday, to Josh Lloyd

-        Keyonte George, $82, Sunday, to Josh Lloyd

Matchup recaps:

Adam King over Alex Rikleen, 5-4

King’s lead was bigger for most of the week, so Rikleen narrowing the gap to 5-4 counts as a minor coup. That said, perhaps Rikleen would have been better served chasing FG% and rebounds with his streamers instead of assists and steals – Rikleen lost by .001% and 15 rebounds; he ended up losing badly in steals, and won assists by more than he gained from his streamers. Rikleen led the league in FT% in Week 1, while King led in steals.

Notable aside: After Friday’s games, it was the two categories that appeared most in doubt were assists and steals. On Saturday morning, King outbid Rikleen 12-to-1 to win a one-game Alex Caruso stream. The final margins ended up barely making that stream irrelevant, though only barely. It’s a good reminder when managing FAAB bids for a streamer, especially late in the week: you’re not just bidding for the opportunity to start Player X, you are also bidding to prevent your opponent from streaming that player against you.

Drew Dinkmeyer over Mike Catron, 5-4

Dinkmeyer enjoyed a two game advantage over Catron, fitting in 38 starts to Catron’s 36. The extra games don’t seem to have mattered much, however, as Catron won the only category that ended up being competitive (rebounds, by a margin of 10). Neither team made much attempt to stream, but that makes sense given how decisive each of the categories were.

Josh Lloyd over Mitch Casey, 6-3

Lloyd was the only manager to hit the full 40 games played, and Casey was close behind with 39. The extra game probably wasn’t decisive, but it was close – Lloyd won by just 10 assists and four steals. Both managers were actively streaming throughout the week, which explains their high games played. With all their games played, it’s no surprise that these two led the league in a few categories. Lloyd tied for the lead in threes (and was second in three more categories), while Casey won the week in Rebounds and tied for the lead in Blocks.

Brendan Woodward over Mike Barner, 8-1

Barner was late to the realization that the short week meant he’d need his bench more – a common mistake for managers during a weird week in a games max format. Just because we work in the industry doesn’t make us immune from mixups. The mistake would cost him, as he would have easily caught Woodward in threes and might have caught up in steals.

Rhett Bauer over Noah Rubin, 5-4

Bauer’s team got hot from the charity stripe Sunday, and that’s what proved decisive. Though both of these managers usually focus on dynasty leagues, geezers like Tobias Harris and DeMar DeRozen both played major roles in this matchup. Bauer led the league in FG%, while Rubin tied for the blocks title.

Dan Titus over Alex Barutha, 5-4

These teams have very different strengths. Barutha dominated the entire league in assists, with fully 31% more dimes than the second place team – Titus finished, well, not second. Barutha tied for first in threes. (Further emphasizing Barutha’s ball-dominant build, he also led the league in turnovers and finished last in FG%.) Titus paced the league in points and tied for second in rebounds. Free throw percentage was the only category that was all that close here, and it determined who escaped with the narrow win.