NBA Fantasy Salary Cap Edition: Week 1 storylines

Tyrese Maxey and LeBron James led Philadelphia 76ers to a victory in Madison Square Garden on Opening Night.

The starting gun has been fired. Players have left the starting line. On Tuesday, the race for fantasy points began.

A new season of

NBA Fantasy: Salary Cap Edition

is underway, and the first two Gamedays are already in the books. They’ve given us a small but potentially useful sample size.

Here’s what you need to know midway through Week 1:

Early Storylines

The New York Knicks’ ring night of championship celebration was spoiled by the Philadelphia 76ers, who entered Madison Square Garden on Tuesday and left with a 106-100 victory.

Tyrese Maxey

,

Joel Embiid

Jaylen Brown

and

LeBron James

each recorded 43 or more fantasy points.

Maxey, a two-time All-Star now in his seventh season, submitted an all-around effort with 28 points scored, four rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals — good for a team-high 60 fantasy points. Embiid and Brown were the next closest with 51 and 45, respectively.

New York was led on the fantasy front by

Andre Drummond

, who pitched in 43 by way of a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double as well as four assists, two blocks and one steal.

Karl-Anthony Towns

Josh Hart

Jalen Brunson

each had 32-plus fantasy points.

Wednesday marked the official debut of

Anthony Edwards

LaMelo Ball

as a pairing in Minnesota, and it was quite the debut. The two backcourt stars balled out for a combined 111 fantasy points, accounting for 73.5% of their team’s entire fantasy output.

The Timberwolves defeated the Miami Heat that night, 131-106, to commence the Edwards-Ball era. They also got key contributions from

Jaden McDaniels

(36 fantasy points),

Jonathan Kuminga

(34) and

Ayo Dosunmu

(27).

Top Performances

Edwards turned in the league’s best fantasy showing so far with 70 fantasy points in Wednesday’s victory for Minnesota. He did so with 45 points scored, 10 rebounds, three assists, one block and two steals. The seventh-year guard, who’s already a four-time All-Star at 25 years old, has been selected by 8.3% of fantasy general managers. He delivered on his $16.5M salary in his first game, and if the games to come are similar, he’ll provide excellent value.

Also in the Western Conference,

Ty Jerome

went off. He earned 67 fantasy points Wednesday as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Utah Jazz, 123-103. With 45 points scored — a new career high — seven rebounds, six assists and one block, the guard/forward assembled a more-than-memorable night of his eight-year career. Jerome also provided exceptional value for his $9.5M salary, but time will tell if he can maintain that level.

Paolo Banchero

rounds out this mid-week top trio with an impressive performance of his own. For the Orlando Magic, he posted 65 fantasy points despite a 132-125 defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks. The fifth-year forward had 35 points scored, seven rebounds, 10 assists and one steal in the loss. He produced well above his average of 44.7 fantasy points per game (FPPG) from last season. For now, Banchero’s salary is set at $14.5M.

Players To Watch

It’s too early to consider overhauling your roster or give up on stars who have underperformed so far. More games need to be played before such decisions can be made. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be looking for players who are proving their worth.

Keep an eye on

Paul George

. To begin his 17th year in the league, he had a terrific debut with the Boston Celtics, putting up a team-high 64 fantasy points in their loss to the Detroit Pistons. He flexed some fantasy value, though he’s no easy roster addition at a salary of $12.0M. Using a transaction on him now might be unwise, since he’s with a new team and has a history of injuries, but how he fares in the next week or two will be worth watching.

There’s also a lot still to learn about

Keaton Wagler

as he embarks on his rookie season. The Illinois product was selected by the LA Clippers with the No. 5 overall pick in this year’s draft, and made his NBA debut Wednesday. He delivered 36 fantasy points on a salary of $7.5M. Wagler could sustain that production, though he’s playing behind

Darius Garland

at point guard, so his usage will vary from game to game.