Yves

Missi

It wasn’t a dominant stat line, but Missi met the minimum requirement to post a double-double. This was his second straight after recording the first of his career two nights prior to this. Missi is rostered in just 17% of Yahoo leagues, but he should be locked in as the team’s starting center for the remainder of the season. He’s starting to figure things out, and there should be a lot more double-doubles in his future. As those happen, his 9-cat value will only rise.

In their last game, Missi had one of his worst performances of the season. He was held scoreless and grabbed just one rebound in 20 minutes. However, he bounced back in a big way on Monday, setting career-highs in both points and rebounds as he finished with the first double-double of his career. The big man has been inconsistent, but he has shown so many flashes of fantasy dominance. Their next game is in OKC on Wednesday, and they started all perimeter players on Monday due to the injuries to their centers. This could be a great opportunity for Missi, or it could be a recipe for an underwhelming performance.

Missi was already playing more minutes per game than Daniel Theis, so it may have been a matter of time before the rookie moved into the starting lineup. Friday was that night. Missi didn’t offer much as a scorer, but the 10 rebounds will undoubtedly play. Theis played 13 minutes off the bench, finishing with three points, five rebounds, one assist, and one 3-pointer. Missi offers a much higher ceiling, especially if he continues to hit the mid-20s in minutes.

Missi is the lone change from the quintet that started Wednesday’s loss to the Warriors, replacing Daniel Theis. Missi was already playing more minutes than Theis; the question is whether the gap will increase now that the rookie is starting. Make sure Missi isn’t sitting on your league’s waiver wire.

Hawkins, Theis, and Missi are available after initially being listed as questionable for Friday’s game. Hawkins and Missi will start, with the latter offering a higher fantasy upside than Theis. Hawkins needs to be streamed wherever available, as CJ McCollum and Herb Jones are both sidelined (as are Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy).

While Missi started the second half of Wednesday’s loss to the Warriors in place of the injured Daniel Theis, he only played 12 minutes due to an abdominal injury. If both cannot play against the Pacers, the Pelicans will have to go small, with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl figuring prominently in the rotation.

Daniel Theis exited this game early with an ankle injury, which allowed Missi to start the second half in his place. Unfortunately, he only played the first five minutes of the second half before sitting out the rest of the game. Willie Green said that he is dealing with some pain in his hip, which can explain why Missi didn’t play a ton of minutes or provide much in the box score. Before this game, the rookie had gotten off to a strong start to the year, and if Theis remains out on Friday, Missi could get his first career start against the Pacers.

Yves Missi will start the second half at center in place of Theis, which will make fantasy mangers happy. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl should also see some of the center minutes behind Missi.

Missi may have come off the bench in his official NBA debut, but give the rookie credit for making the most of his opportunity. The first-round pick out of Baylor was active on both ends of the floor, using his athleticism to make things happen as a finisher, rebounder, and defender. Daniel Theis may be the starter, but he played 19 minutes to Missi’s 23. If Yves continues to crack the twenties in minutes, he’ll need to be rostered in more than 3% of Yahoo leagues as he currently is.

Theis was Willie Green’s choice to start at center in Monday’s preseason opener, with the veteran pivot playing into the third quarter. Theis shot the ball well for the Pelicans, but there was likely a desire for more production on the glass. The competition between him, Yves Missi (five points, five rebounds, two steals, and one block in 16 minutes), and Karlo Matkovic (two rebounds in eight minutes) is one to track throughout the preseason, as the starter may be worth a late-round flier in some fantasy leagues. If Monday’s minutes distribution offered any clues, this appears to be a competition between Theis and Missi for the starting job.