The All-Star Break means three more weeks, or 2.5 more matchups, until the head-to-head playoffs begin in most leagues. And even for Roto-Leaguers, we’re already 70% of the way through the season. At this point, you know your teams. Or, at least you can if you take a few minutes to examine them. Odds are that there are stat categories that hardly matter to you by now. Once again, that can be because of a punt strategy or simply because of the way your team and league shook out. For example, though I didn’t intend to punt any categories this season, I ended up dead last in FG% in a roto league with no chance of catching up. That category doesn’t mean anything to me now, so I can ignore it. Similarly, in the head-to-head Razzball Experts League, I have little chance to win assists in any given week. I could try to make that up or I could double down and load up on the other categories. I have a feeling your teams may have also lost some categories early. Or maybe more likely, you have a team that just dominates a category or two to the point that you can ignore it and still win. And even if you don’t find yourself far out in front or way behind in any categories, there are likely a few roto stats where you’re too far away from the teams above and below you to worry about them.
So, today it’s time to check up on who might be available and extra-valuable to YOUR team. We’re not just looking at traditional hot waiver wire pickups. Some of them would apply, but glance through this list after you know what stats you can safely ignore, and see if somebody’s right for you. Consider using the opposite train of thought when deciding who to drop, too. You’re lapping the competition in rebounds? You may want to drop an end-of-the-roster big instead of a worse overall player.
You’ll see the top players I recommend that are available in at least one-third of Yahoo leagues here, along with their 8-category and 9-cateogry punt rankings that are based on the per-game performances of the past 60 days (through 2/12) according to Basketball Monster.
8-Cat Rankings
58 – Dewayne Dedmon
64 – T.J. Warren
69 – Derrick White
8-Cat Punting Points
44 – Dewayne Dedmon
51 – Derrick White
53 – Mikal Bridges
61 – Kyle Anderson
66 – Marcus Smart
8-Cat Punting Rebounds
49 – T.J. Warren
50 – Derrick White
8-Cat Punting Assists
42 – Dewayne Dedmon
46 – T.J. Warren
8-Cat Punting Steals
52 – Dewayne Dedmon
8-Cat Punting Blocks
none
8-Cat Punting Threes
57 – Kyle Anderson
58 – Derrick White
8-Cat Punting FG%
56 – T.J. Warren
8-Cat Punting FT%
62 – Kyle Anderson
63 – T.J. Warren
64 – Dewayne Dedmon
66 – Mitchell Robinson
67 – Derrick White
9-Cat Rankings
49 – T.J. Warren
51 – Dewayne Dedmon
54 – Mikal Bridges
58 – Marvin Williams
60 – Derrick White
61 – Malik Beasley
68 – Mitchell Robinson
9-Cat Punting Points
33 – Mikal Bridges
37 – Mitchell Robinson
38 – Dewayne Dedmon
43 – Marvin Williams
47 – Andre Iguodala
48 – P.J. Tucker
50 – Derrick White
55 – Marcus Smart
58 – Kyle Anderson
9-Cat Punting Rebounds
36 – Malik Beasley
38 – T. J. Warren
41 – Mikal Bridges
45 – Derrick White
55 – Marcus Smart
56 – Marvin Williams
9-Cat Punting Assists
38 – Mitchell Robinson
39 – T.J. Warren
42 – Dewayne Dedmon
44 – Marvin Williams
46 – Malik Beasley
48 – Mikal Bridges
9-Cat Punting Steals
44 – Mitchell Robinson
46 – Dewayne Dedmon
9-Cat Punting Blocks
47 – Malik Beasley
50 – T.J. Warren
59 – Mikal Bridges
9-Cat Punting Threes
35 – Mitchell Robinson
47 – Kyle Anderson
49 – Derrick White
58 – Richaun Holmes
60 – Mikal Bridges
9-Cat Punting FG%
45 – Marvin Williams
48 – T.J. Warren
53 – Mikal Bridges
55 – P.J. Tucker
60 – Marcus Smart
9-Cat Punting FT%
34 – Mitchell Robinson
55 – T.J. Warren
58 – Mikal Bridges
59 – Kyle Anderson
60 – Derrick White
61 – Dewayne Dedmon
64 – Marvin Williams
9-Cat Punting Turnovers (see 8-Cat rankings above)
This week’s classic fantasy line:
Using today’s criteria, if you punt both percentages in an 8-category league, guess who’s ranked #4 (and just barely behind #2 and #3). Of course, it’s Russell Westbrook!
That would be 20.8 PTS, 1.1 3PTM, 11.6 REB, 11.9 AST, 2.3 ST, 0.5 BLK over the last 60 days.
