We are approaching the final weeks of the fantasy basketball regular season, which means we’re getting closer and closer to silly season: that magical time of the year when players you’d never normally own in a million years suddenly become insanely valuable due to everyone around them getting shut down. You never know who will be a silly season champion (I still have fond memories of Ramon Sessions suddenly becoming an unstoppable fantasy god towards the end of the 2009 season), but what matters is that you must prepare for it if you’re going to compete for a title in fantasy basketball. You have to be willing to adjust on the fly and accept the new normal that’s thrown at you, or else you’re liable to get left in the dust.
What that means in terms of specific advice is that I recommend starting to be very, very aggressive in terms of adding players who look like they could be awesome down the line if they’re available in your league, even if that means potentially cutting bait with players who aren’t unproductive for you but who are liable to be useless at the tail end of the season. 2009 Ramon Sessions might not necessarily be sitting on the waiver wire right now, but he could be. And if he is, you want to be make sure that you’re the one who gets him instead of somebody else.
Other notes from this weekend:
Cason Wallace finished with 20 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals on Sunday. He hasn’t become a scoring monster since taking on a bigger role with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out, but he’s averaging 4.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game in February and that’s absolutely enough to justify rostering him until SGA returns.
CJ McCollum moved into the starting lineup for the Hawks on Sunday and produced 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. His stats should remain consistent with what they’ve been since he arrived in Atlanta.
Cam Thomas had 15 points in 21 minutes off the bench on Sunday. His scoring has been solid since joining the Bucks, but the most minutes he’s played in a game with them is 25, and this is with Giannis Antetokounmpo out. And when you factor in the practically nonexistent production he gives you in other categories, he is a glaringly obvious player to sell high on (relatively) in fantasy right now.
Marvin Bagley III had 12 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Mavs. That makes three double-doubles in five games for Bagley, who has outperformed starting center Daniel Gafford during that time. Neither player is going to be all that exciting to roster so long as they’re in a timeshare with each other, however.
Khris Middleton was terrific on Sunday against the Pacers, putting up 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in 30 minutes. Cooper Flagg being out made this possible; under normal circumstances, Middleton will be far too risky a player to trot out in fantasy, even if he’s still starting.
Jarace Walker continued his solid play lately against the Mavs, getting 18 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in 34 minutes. That’s actually his third straight game with at least 12 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, and given that the Pacers should be in tank mode for the rest of the year, Walker looks like he could be a sneakily strong fantasy producer from here on out. He’s only owned in 31% of Yahoo leagues and about 19% of ESPN leagues as of this writing, but he is absolutely worth investing in if he’s available.
Alondes Williams played 34 minutes on Sunday and got 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists one game after going for 25-10-4. Williams is getting a surprising amount of playing time since joining the Wizards, but the Wizards have so many guards and wings vying for minutes that it’s impossible to trust him.
Nikola Vucevic had 9 points, 8 rebounds and a steal in 21 minutes off the bench for the Celtics against the Lakers. That’s back-to-back games with just 9 points for the Vuc, whose fantasy value has taken an undeniable blow since getting moved to Boston. Unless he can somehow ascend to the starting lineup, he’s not a must-own player in fantasy basketball anymore.
Jalen Smith left Sunday’s game with calf tightness, which allowed Guerschon Yabusele to play 30 minutes and go for 11 points and 13 rebounds. Between Smith, Yabusele and Nick Richards, Smith is the best fantasy option on paper, but he gets hurt so routinely that it’s hard to get that excited about him, unfortunately – leaving the Bulls center situation something to ignore in standard leagues.
Gui Santos put up 17 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds on Sunday. Kristaps Porzingis was out and is an immediate threat to start carving into his production soon, but it’s worth mentioning that in his time as a starter, Santos has been really, really strong. In the event that he can somehow stay in the starting lineup even after the Warriors get healthy, Santos would still be worth owning in fantasy leagues.
Brandin Podziemski had a spectacular stat line for the Warriors, putting up 18 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 threes and a steal in 37 minutes off the bench. Were there caveats to this performance? Absolutely, because Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Porzingis were all out, but Podz looks more and more like a must-own player given the increased role he’s taken on with Jimmy Butler out for the season.
Scoot Henderson played 30 minutes against Phoenix and went for 11 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. He’s scored in double-digits in all six games since returning from injury, and while his numbers aren’t wowing, the potential for him to be a silly season stud is not nonexistent.
Jalen Green collected 13 points on Sunday. Repeated injuries have hampered the hell out of his debut season in Phoenix, but with Dillon Brooks possibly out for the rest of the season with a broken hand, Green is in a very good fantasy situation from here on out.
Bennedict Mathurin notched 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists for the Clippers against Orlando. Mathurin has been a fantasy riser since moving to the Clippers and given how old and fragile the Clippers are, it wouldn’t be surprising at all for Mathurin to average 20 a game from here on out for them, regardless of if he’s starting or not.
Jordan Poole alert! After going almost an entire month without playing a second for the Pelicans, Poole played for the second straight time on Saturday and produced 23 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. It’s difficult to know how much playing time Poole will get from here on out and it’s worth mentioning that Trey Murphy III missed both of the games that Poole just played in and that Poole was lousy this year even when he was playing. But Poole’s fantasy ceiling is still pretty high in a best case scenario, and for that reason, he’s not the worst guy in the world to take a flier on if he’s still available in your league.
Oliver-Maxence Prosper collected 9 points, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 rebounds on Saturday, a game after going for 23 points and 5 rebounds. On the one hand, the Grizzlies spread the wealth around pretty evenly when it comes to playing time, so even though Prosper is practically the only big left standing in Memphis, he’s unlikely to get more than about 25 minutes a night for them. On the other hand, the Grizzlies are so depleted that Prosper – who’s scored 20 points in two of his last four games – should be on the fantasy radar for the rest of the season, as a streamer if nothing else.
Playing in his second game back from injury, Keegan Murray went for 20 points in 36 minutes. With Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis now out for the season, Murray has the runway to be a possible fantasy monster from here on out; now is the time to either add him in your league if he’s still available or try to trade for him.
Maxime Raynauld went for 16 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday, his second straight game with at least 16-and-12. With Sabonis finished for the year, there’s little stopping Raynauld from being a steady double-double guy the rest of the way. Congratulations if you managed to scoop him up earlier.
