It’s a point guard theme this week. A couple injuries to established star point guards have opened up opportunities for two unlikely heroes to lend a helping hand to your fantasy squad. Meanwhile, in the Windy City, the fantasy basketball groundhog popped his head out, had his usual 3-4 game hot stretch, and is now scurrying back into his underground bunker.
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Players to Buy
Spencer Dinwiddie (PG – BKN)
Guess who is a top-15 fantasy performer over the last week. This guy. No, not me, Spencer Dinwiddie. Hey, that rhymed. Anyway, this is a player that needs to be on all rosters, regardless of league size. Well, not four or six team leagues, but those don’t even count as leagues. In all standard leagues, Dinwiddie should be a solid asset while D’Angelo Russell is sidelined.
When Russell went down he was averaging nearly 21 points and six assists per game. That production has to be made up somewhere. It’s going to be tough to completely fill Russell’s shoes, but a lot of it is going to be done by Dinwiddie. He’s already proving his worth too. In the three games since Russell got hurt, Dinwiddie is averaging 19.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 3.0 3-pointers, and only 1.0 turnover. Pretty impressive.
Will that production continue? Probably not, but you can pencil him in for 15 points, seven assists, and two triples per game. That’s easily a top-100 player and someone you want on your roster. If he’s available, add him now. If not, make a trade offer before his value continues to rise.
Mario Chalmers (PG/SG – MEM)
Remember him? Mario Chalmers’ inclusion this week is due to his teammate listed a little further down. Mike Conley is out indefinitely, and it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be back anytime soon. In his absence, Chalmers is expected to run the point in Memphis. In three games without Conley, Chalmers has averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.7 steals. He’s basically a less intriguing Dinwiddie.
If you need a point guard, Chalmers can get you through for the next few weeks. Don’t expect anything spectacular, but late-round value should be attainable for however long Conley is out. Give Chalmers a look.
Chandler Parsons (SF/PF – MEM)
Proceed with caution. Danger ahead. Fragile, handle with care. Take any cautious saying you can think of, they all apply to Chandler Parsons. Once upon a time, Parsons was a highly productive fantasy asset. I’m not talking an early-round talent or anything, but a mid-round contributor that helped you out across the board.
So far this season, he has played in 14 of 16 games and his minutes have been creeping into the mid-20’s over the last week or two. This is purely a speculative, keep an eye on him recommendation, but Parsons has the talent to put up late-round value if he can stay healthy and continue to play over 20 minutes a night.
If you’re in a deeper league, it makes sense to add Parsons and cross your fingers. But for all standard league owners, this is just a wait and see for now.
Players to Sell
Mike Conley (PG – MEM)
Like I mentioned above in the Chalmers space, Conley is going to be out for the next few weeks with an Achilles injury. Point guards and Achilles injuries don’t usually go together overly well. And when the “indefinitely” word has been thrown about to describe the recovery timetable, that’s never a good thing.
Before the injury, Conley was having a lackluster start to the season by his standards. His assists were down to 4.1 per game and he was only shooting 38.1% from the field. With him on the wrong side of 30, it’s fair to wonder how he’ll bounce back from this Achilles injury.
Trading him now might not seem like an ideal time to do so, but the last we heard was “out for another two weeks.” While I don’t believe he’ll be back in two weeks, I bet you can find a point guard needy owner in your league that does.
Ricky Rubio (PG – UTA)
Racking up the assists has always been the one area that Ricky Rubio has really thrived. Until this year that is. He started out business as usual, averaging 8.2 APG through his first five. However, it’s been all downhill since game six. For reference, game six was Donovan Mitchell’s first 20-point game of the season.
That’s really been Rubio’s downfall right there. Mitchell has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in this Utah offense. He’s not a pure point guard, but Utah has wanted the ball in Mitchell’s hands a lot which has seriously depressed the value of Rubio. He’s not a 20+ PPG scorer. No, sir. Rubio is a passer and one who’s not getting a lot of chances to pass the ball much lately.
With his minutes and best fantasy asset trending in the wrong direction, it’s time to see what you can get for Rubio in fantasy. Mitchell isn’t going anywhere, folks, and that means Rubio is going to need a trade out of Utah to salvage his fantasy value.
Bobby Portis (PF/C – CHI)
I feel like this is going to become an annual occurrence with Bobby Portis. Every year, just when you need him the most, he’s going to have a fantastic few games and look like the hottest pickup of the season. So, you rush to add him and sit there feeling pretty darn proud of yourself for it. Then, like clockwork, he’s back on your waiver wire two to three weeks later.
After missing the first eight games of the season due to injury, Portis stormed onto the scene in his first three games back. He averaged 19.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 2.0 3-pointers per game in that three-game stretch. All it took was one game for the Portis hype train to gain steam though. Tens of thousands flocked to add him after his 21 point, 13 rebound, 4 assist, 3 triple debut against the Raptors back on November 7th.
There are just not enough minutes to give Portis for him to make a significant fantasy impact. At least, not while Chicago is still giving 30 minutes a night to Robin Lopez. Rookie sensation, Lauri Markkanen, isn’t budging from his starting power forward position anytime soon either with how well he’s been playing. Keep an eye on Lopez at the deadline and add Portis back if he gets dealt, but for now, Portis is droppable in all formats.
Eric Cross is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Eric, check out his archive and follow him @EricCross04.