Happy New Year, all. We’ve been following the NBA regular season since Night 1, but to the masses, Christmas is considered the “start” of the NBA when they really start paying attention to what’s going on. 

NBA teams should start realizing where they’re at, too, as the trade deadline is slowly creeping up on us. You should see some younger players on teams going nowhere getting opportunities moving forward, too.

Eric Wong at The Athletic wrote a good piece looking at players who are making the most of limited minutes but could see their minutes increase over time. I recommend checking it out.

Speaking of teams who are going to realize where they are at, you should see Minnesota, with their recent rash of injuries and poor play after a nice start to the season, give some more run to their younger guys.

I touch on three T’Wolves below who you can pick up for a short- and long-term boost.

Every other week, I’m going to be looking at players who are widely available and rostered in fewer than 60 percent of fantasy leagues on Yahoo. We’ll be focusing in on 8-cat leagues because turnovers are a waste of a category if we’re being honest. We’ll be looking at players who can help you in each of the eight categories who you can get before your league mates catch on.

The eight categories we’ll focus on each week are:

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists
• Steals
• Blocks
• Threes
• Field-goal percentage
• Free-throw percentage

Let’s get to it.

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Points

Damion Lee (SG – GSW): 53% Owned
Spin. The. Wheel! This time, the random Warrior who is on a hot streak is Lee. Lee’s played at least 31 minutes in five of his last six games and has dropped 20 points in three of his past six games. He’s on a two-way contract, which means that this ride won’t last forever with Lee, but you don’t need it to. Pick him up and enjoy the points (and threes) and then drop him once he either cools off or after his 45 days are up.

Rebounds

Gorgui Dieng (PF/C – MIN): 41% Owned
Here is our first Minnesota player, and he’s been red hot filling in for the frustrating, I mean injured, Karl-Anthony Towns. Since Dec. 18, Dieng is averaging 13.6 points and 10 rebounds per game. When Towns returns, Dieng will be an automatic drop, but with the Wolves looking more and more like they are going to be punting on the season, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are even more cautious with KAT than we originally expected them to be. Get the big-man stats with Dieng. 

Assists

Jarrett Culver (PG/SG/SF – MIN): 14% Owned
I think I’m the unofficial leader of the Culver and Brandon Clarke bandwagon in the fantasy basketball community. One has paid off, while the other hasn’t. But I’m not letting go of Culver. Not only has he been a benefactor of the injuries Minnesota has been dealing with, playing 38 and 33 minutes in his past two respective games, but he’s one of the young core players that should see even more of an expanded role as the season goes on. It hasn’t been pretty with Culver this year. We know that. It’s been a rollercoaster, but in those last two games, he’s offered across-the-board production. As is always the case with him, if you can take the hit at field goal percentage, Culver is worth an add for the long term this season.

Steals

Gary Payton II (SG – WAS): 32% Owned
The Glove Jr.? The Mitten? Whatever you want to call him, Payton has made an impact for the Wizards with Bradley Beal out. The scoring output isn’t sustainable, but the steals sure as hell are. Defense is his calling card, and even as the Wizards get to full strength, Payton should get enough playing time to make a difference for you in a hard category to fill. 

Blocks

JaVale McGee (C – LAL): 38% Owned
God, we’re doing this again, aren’t we? McGee and Norm Powell feel like two guys who at some point during the season are players we pick up and then drop. Then we pick them up, and then we drop them. It’s time for another pick up for McGee. He’s going to give you field goal percentage, blocks, and rebounds. He’s a Per 36 darling, but he’s not even averaging half of those minutes per night. An injury to Dwight Howard would open up more playing time, but he’s still doing enough in his limited time to make a difference for fantasy managers each night. 

Threes

Terrence Ross (SG/SF – ORL): 48% Owned
The Jonathan Isaac injury on New Year’s Day was scary, as he was stretchered off the court with a hyperextended knee. We’re all hoping that he misses little time, of course, but if he does, Ross is going to be a hot name off of the wire. I want him mainly for points, but he’s put up the 39th most three-point attempts this year; never mind that he’s 133rd in the league in three-point percentage. Ross is going to keep shooting and keep shooting. If Isaac is out any stretch of time, Ross needs to be scooped up.

Field-goal percentage

Dwight Powell (PF/C – DAL): 49% Owned
Powell, like Culver, has been another rollercoaster player this year. He’s in the midst of a hot streak, though, and is rewarding those managers who stuck it out with him. He does enough to help you across the board without really thriving in one area, but that’s OK. Powell doesn’t qualify because of the time he missed at the beginning of the season, but if he did, his .606 field goal percentage would rank 8th in the league.

Free-throw percentage

Shabazz Napier (PG/SG – MIN): 10% Owned
And our last Minnesota player is kind of like Norm Powell and McGee, where it feels like once or twice a year, we grab Napier and add him for a stretch. He’s coming off back-to-back 20-plus point games, and like so many of his teammates, he’s playing major minutes. He’s the definition of a streamer, but we’ll take the production. 

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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.