D.J.

Augustin

Augustin will provide some point guard depth for Houston, but it’s unlikely he plays a large role for them consistently. If he does see minutes, he won’t provide much aside from triples.

He literally did nothing else but his shooting was a much-needed relief for the Lakers. This was easily his best game for the Lakers after he’d failed to score more than nine points in any of his previous six games. He’s only worth a look if Russell Westbrook misses a game, at least for now.

This was DJA’s first decent game for the Lakers but as long as Russell Westbrook is starting at point guard, Augustin’s not worth a look in fantasy. Austin Reaves added 17 points and three triples, Carmelo Anthony scored 13 and LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Malik Monk all played very well but were just beaten by a Rockets team that was somehow better tonight.

With it being reported before the game that some members of the Lakers organization believe that he should be benched, all eyes were on Westbrook Saturday night. While he was responsible for a team-high five turnovers, the 20 points are the most that Westbrook has scored in a game since January 30. Just as concerning has been the assist tally, with Westbrook dishing out less than five in four of his last five games. That’s an area where his production will suffer due to the presence of LeBron James, and the addition of D.J. Augustin (6/2/4 with two 3-pointers in 19 minutes) will have an impact as well. But if the Lakers are to have any chance of being the threat that many expected them to be before the season began, they’ll need more production out of Westbrook. Hopefully, Saturday’s line represents a step in the right direction.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel said he wasn’t sure whether either would actually play tomorrow despite their confirmed availability, so there aren’t any fantasy moves to make here. Russell Westbrook has been awful and they may turn to Augustin at times if Russ continues to play like he is, but Augustin’s upside isn’t the highest and his role is unclear at the moment.

He shot it poorly, didn’t score much and the Lakers lost their third straight game since the All-Star break, but hey, he didn’t have a turnover! The Lakers are a mess and now find themselves fighting for their play-in lives. D.J. Augustin didn’t play for the Lakers tonight but it will be interesting to see how they use him once he’s ready to make his debut for his new team. It’s possible he could see minutes down the stretch over Westbrook, who hasn’t exactly been the answer for the Lakers thus far.

DJA is being brought in to provide backup relief for Russell Westbrook but the way things are going in L.A., it wouldn’t be all that shocking to see DJA get a big role. But there’s no need to race to the wire for Augustin unless you’re in a very deep league. Westbrook is still the starter. Woj is reporting that the Sixers will make a run at Jordan as a backup to Joel Embiid, which makes sense.

Augustin last played meaningful minutes in Orlando in 2019 and Houston in 2020 but hasn’t really been heard from since. Even with a big role for the Magic in 2018 he averaged 11.7 points and 4.3 assists, and is not a big steals guy. Just keep an eye on him in case he ends up stealing Russell Westbrook’s job.

Augustin hasn’t been a consistent member of the Rockets rotation, and the team is now at the point where it wants to give its younger players as many minutes as they can handle. Augustin should fetch some interest on the buyout market among teams in need of depth at the point guard position.

KPJ was already questionable with an illness, so it looks like it wasn’t a non-COVID illness after all and he’ll be forced to miss some games. Guys like D.J. Augustin and Armoni Brooks will get some more time to shine for however long Porter Jr. is out, but we recommending using a wait-and-see approach before picking either one up.