It’s Friday. You know what that means.
We’ll be looking at players who are widely available and rostered in fewer than 60 percent of fantasy leagues on Yahoo. We’ll be focusing on 8-cat leagues because turnovers are a waste of a category, to be honest.
But if you find the turnovers helpful, let me know. I’m happy to include them if enough of you play in 9-cat leagues.
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.
View the best player prop bets for tonight’s slate with our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet 
Points
Bones Hyland (PG/SG – DEN) 58%
After a slow start to the season – in terms of production and minutes – Hyland has played at least 24 minutes in four straight games. In those games, he’s eclipsed the 24-point mark twice and has six steals. The playing time is the big obstacle for Hyland to overcome, but with Denver wanting to take it easy with Jamal Murray‘s knee, expect Hyland to keep getting minutes in the mid-20s as long as he’s producing. He’s been a top-45 player over the last two weeks, so despite the ups and downs over the course of the season, he’s an intriguing player to keep around.
Rebounds
Isaiah Hartenstein (C – NYK) 57%
The last two games have been frustrating, with Hartenstein playing 21 and 15 minutes, respectively, without Mitchell Robinson in the lineup. Coach Thibs has been playing – wait for it – Jericho Sims in his place, but it can’t last forever, right? Hartenstein is the best center on the team, as he has the second-highest fgDR% and third-highest fgOR% on the team. It’s going to require some patience, but it’ll pay off.
Assists
Malik Monk (SG/SF – SAC) 37%
Monk could go in several spots here, but we’ll slot him in here, as he has 21 assists in his last four games. The Kings are sneaky fun and have many players with solid fantasy games. But they all kind of blend in – hello, Kevin Huerter – but Monk was a key piece for the Kings and will continue to get regular rotational minutes and can contribute assists, points, and threes.
Steals
Lu Dort (SG/SF – OKC) 54%
I wanted to put Alex Caruso here again, but since we just had him in this spot last week, I opted to go for Dort. Dort is the definition of a better real-life player than a fantasy player. Still, as a backend player in 12-team leagues, his defensive stats – seven STOCKs over his last seven games – and high volume of minutes make him usable in the right situation.
Blocks
Chris Boucher (PF/C – TOR) 43%
It’s kind of hard to recommend Boucher after he’s combined for two points in his last two games (27 minutes). But with Precious Achiuwa and Pascal Siakam both injured for a few weeks, Boucher should get another opportunity to make a fantasy impact on a short-term basis. It could be, of course, rookie Christian Koloko and/or Otto Porter Jr. who makes more of an impact.
Threes
Jalen McDaniels (SF/PF – CHA) 41%
McDaniels has been balling this year but has cooled down of late. But with the news that Cody Martin will be out the next six weeks, McDaniels – and Kelly Oubre – should continue to hold value in standard leagues. In his last game, he hit three shots from downtown. Charlotte is attempting 33.5 percent of their shots from behind the arc, which is the eighth-fewest in the league, and converting the seventh-fewest. An expanded outside game would be welcome from the Hornets from McDaniels.
Field-goal percentage
Daniel Gafford (C – WAS) 11%
Last year was supposed to be the year for Gafford, but it just didn’t happen. Going into this year, we were concerned because of Kristaps Porzingis and Gafford finding enough run behind him. But as we’ve seen in the past, when Gafford gets the minutes, he produces. In 25 minutes Thursday night, Gafford posted a double-double and raised his FG% to 71.4 percent on the season.
Free-throw percentage
Patrick Williams (SF/PF – CHI) 32%
With this category, we typically highlight a player who doesn’t fit in the other areas but can be a sneak deep-league pickup. This week, Williams is showing flashes of the player we saw in 2020-2021. Perhaps rust was the issue, as missing an entire season has to play a part in a player’s instant production. Over the last two weeks, Williams is the No. 55 player in fantasy, posting 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2.3 STOCKs, and shooting 100% from the charity stripe. Pick him up as a long-term contributor.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
