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.
Check out the latest fantasy basketball expert consensus rankings
Points
Donte DiVincenzo (PG/SG – GSW) 33%
Steph Curry is going to miss the next few weeks with a partially dislocated shoulder, which is terrible news for the Warriors. While Jordan Poole is a clear fantasy “winner,” don’t overlook Donte DiVincenzo. The guard is expected to see more minutes as the first guard off the bench and take on more of a scoring role for Golden State. He’s averaging 15.5 points per game over his last two, and I expect him to be a good source of scoring for fantasy managers while Curry is out.
Rebounds
Jalen Duren (PF/C – DET) 46%
Duren’s name was all over NBA Twitter Wednesday night after he pulled in 19 rebounds (!) in 36 minutes. Sure, it was against Charlotte, but 19 rebounds are 19 rebounds, and he’s had at least 12 boards in four straight games. He’s a priority add in 10-team leagues and larger for his rebounding potential alone.
Assists
Markelle Fultz (PG/SG – ORL) 41%
Fultz is looking pretty, pretty good since returning from his ACL injury. In fact, in his last game, he just missed a double-double and even sniffed at a triple-double. The scoring we expected, but it’s nice to see him get his teammates involved so often. He’s averaging 5.5 assists per game in his last four, and he’s still ramping up his minutes on his way back. All good signs for Fultz.
Steals
Jordan Goodwin (PG – WAS) 26%
While Monte Morris‘ return to the Wizards’ lineup means that Goodwin goes back to the bench, he’s still worth picking up and using, given his elite steals numbers. Over the last week, he’s averaging 3.3 steals per game; over the last two weeks, the number is at 2.3. The Wizards are terrible again, and Morris isn’t the long-term answer. Goodwin should continue to earn regular rotation minutes and may take over the starting role from Morris.
Blocks
Walker Kessler (PF/C – UTA) 58%
We had Kessler here last week, too, and he was 15 percent rostered. It’s nice to see that huge spike in rostership, and this will be the last time he’ll appear here since he’s likely to climb over 60 percent by next week. Kessler now has three straight games with three blocks; over the last two weeks, he’s averaged 2.7 blocks per game. Yes, that includes the game in that he had zero blocks.
Threes
Trey Murphy (SF/PF – NOP) 60%
Murphy has cooled off of late, but he still brings elite-level three-point production for fantasy managers. Brandon Ingram is on his way back, but he’s not back yet, meaning there’s still more juice to squeeze out of Murphy. He hit three three-pointers in Thursday’s loss to Utah – including the game-tying three to send the game to overtime. Stream him for the next couple of weeks.
Field-goal percentage
Charles Bassey (PF/C – SAS) 8%
There was a ton of excitement around Bassey as a streamer given the injuries in the San Antonio frontcourt. But foul trouble got in the way of any real production for him. But he’ll continue getting his shot – even if Zach Collins returns soon.
Free-throw percentage
Onyeka Okongwu (PF/C – ATL) 51%
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, it’s Okongwu. I mentioned him in my waiver wire column, but we now know that Clint Capela will miss around 3 weeks or so, making Okongwu a must-add player. He had a double-double in his last game – where Capela got hurt – and he can offer across-the-board production minus three-pointers. Grab him.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.