It’s that time of the season where you look at your starting lineup some nights, and you just let out a laugh. Seeing some of the names in there, whether it’s Denzel Valentine or Brad Wanamaker, you are starting players you wouldn’t have thought you’d be playing in a million years in October.
Welcome to March basketball, friends.
For many of you, your playoffs start soon, so keep that in account when you are making your moves and decide who you not only want to start, but also who you want to roster.
With the season in the home stretch, we are stepping our coverage up a notch to help you chase that title.
Instead of having this column appear every two weeks, we are going to be here each week from now until the end of the season.
Every 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 leaguemates 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.
Points
Norman Powell (SG/SF – TOR): 56%
Powell returned with a vengeance, and after his second injured stint of the season, he didn’t miss a beat. Heading into Thursday, in the three games since his return, Powell has dropped 22, 24, and 26 points, respectively. It is worth noting that Fred VanVleet has missed each of those three games, so it’s a situation to monitor when FVV returns. However, Powell’s played at a rate all season where you need to roster him going forward.
Rebounds
Naz Reid (C – MIN): 30%
It’s been a rollercoaster ride so far for Reid managers, but in his past three games, he’s given you double-digit rebounds in all of them. Right now, it’s his rebounding and defense that is giving him value, but being that he’s only 20 years old and really green still, he’s still finding his groove on the offensive side of the ball. If he puts that together, look out. You’ll be looking at everyone’s favorite breakout candidate heading into the 2020-2021 draft.
Assists
Shake Milton (PG/SG – PHI): 53%
Milton put up 20 points in 27 minutes against the Kings. He came back to earth after his amazing 39-point performance against the Clippers where he only had 12 points against the Lakers, but the assists remained for Milton. As long as Ben Simmons remains sidelined, Milton is a must-start streaming option.
Steals
Donte DiVincenzo (PG/SG – MIL): 15%
DiVincenzo has lost a lot of the value that he had in the first half of the season, but he’s still making an impact off the bench for the Bucks. He had three steals his last time out, and he’s averaging 2.1 steals per 36 minutes.
Blocks
Kleber put on a show Wednesday night, as he blocked Zion Williamson not once, not twice, not three times, not four times, but FIVE times on the evening. If you’re looking for blocks, he’s the best option available on the wire.
Threes
Cameron Johnson (SG/SF – PHO): 12%
You need to look carefully before adding Johnson, who is missing Friday’s game with an illness. The sharpshooter out of Pitt also only has two games next week, so take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to add him. He’s appealing with Kelly Oubre missing what appears to be the rest of the season, and also the fact that he hit five three-pointers his last time out.
Field-goal percentage
Jordan McRae (PG/SG – DET): 7%
McRae was claimed off waivers, and he instantly made an impact for Detroit. He played 26 minutes and scored 15 points, but the opportunity for more is going to be there moving forward. Remember, Derrick Rose, Luke Kennard, and Bruce Brown are all dealing with short- and long-term injuries, so the path to minutes is clear for McRae. Scoop him up right now.
Free-throw percentage
This is just a Curry appreciation post. He’s in the shadow of his older brother, but he’s just been on a ridiculous heater of late. In February, Curry was averaging 18.5 points, four rebounds, and 2.8 assists with a 19.6 usage rate, while shooting 59 percent from downtown and 82 percent from the charity stripe. Ride the hot streak.
Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
