Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week 13! In this post, I identify widely-available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup. If you saw last week’s post, I hope you benefitted from investing in the Marshall Plan – Naji Marshall, that is. He was a far better investment than Patrick Beverley, who promptly ceased to produce after I thought it was safe to promote him again.
Schedule Notes: The Grizzlies, Pelicans, Suns, Wizards play only one more game to close out the week, while the Blazers, Sixers, Thunder, and Mavericks have three remaining games. I’ll spare you the barfing Team America marionette this week, but it’s soul-crushing to see the Mavs among the precious few teams with a favorable schedule for a second straight week. Nevertheless, there are always opportunities to exploit.
Here are the players I’m watching and adding to close out the week.
Four Category Contributor
- Royce O’Neale (Threes, Assists, Steals, Blocks): An improved passing game makes Royce a serviceable 12-team league asset this season. With KD on the shelf for a few weeks, he should pick up some additional usage and improve on the already solid mark of 4.2 dimes per game (Plays Thurs, Sun).
Three Category Contributors
- Patrick Williams (Threes, Steals, Blocks): I don’t often reference Churchill when discussing fantasy hoops, but his “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” statement about the Soviet Union can also be applied to Williams’ fantasy game. Somehow, Pat’s usage actually decreased with DeMar DeRozan out of the lineup on Wednesday, and he managed just six points (38% shooting), six rebounds, and a block. However, I’m inclined to stick with him with Javonte Green out for at least a month and DeRozan potentially missing more games this week (Plays Fri, Sun).
- T.J. McConnell (Assists, Steals, FG%): Tyrese Haliburton is likely to miss at least one end of the Pacers’ upcoming back-to-back set after injuring his knee in Wednesday’s loss to the Knicks. After assuming the lead playmaking role in that one, McConnell produced 7 assists and 2 steals in 26 minutes. Andrew Nembhard (Threes, Assists, Steals) figures to be the other Pacer guard who will pick up some additional responsibilities in Haliburton’s absence (Plays Fri, Sat).
- Robert Covington (Rebounds, Steals, Blocks): Three consecutive outings of 20+ minutes has me looking in RoCo’s direction again. Like every other role player on this squad, his production is mostly beholden to the statuses of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, but at least for now, the Clippers seem intent on featuring a more defensive minded group (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Seth Curry (Points, Threes, Assists): Playing in a reduced role compared to last season, Curry hasn’t been a consistent source of points and treys so far. However, in the 19 games in which he’s received at least 20 minutes this season, he averaged 12.1 points and 2.3 triples. It’s likely that he’ll be asked to play more than 20 minutes while KD is out, which makes him a more reliable streamer than he’s been up to this point (Plays Thurs, Sun).
- Kenrich Williams (Threes, Rebounds, FG%): An upcoming 3-game slate and recent spate of good playing time suddenly makes Kenrich Williams a useful commodity. In his past 3 outings, he posted 11.7 points on 75% shooting, 1.7 threes, and 5.7 rebounds (Plays Thurs, Fri, Sun).
- Deni Avdija (Rebounds, Assists, Steals): Monitor the statuses of Kristaps Porzingis and Daniel Gafford heading into Friday’s game. Avdija went wild on the boards with those two sidelined, grabbing 20 in a win over the Bulls on Wednesday to go along with 3 assists and a triple (Plays Fri).
Two Category Contributor
- T.J. Warren (Points, Steals): Folks are pining away for the 2019-20 version of Warren, who averaged 19.8 points as a key contributor in the Pacer offense. KD’s absence opens up a giant void in the Nets’ attack, so all eyes should be on the Brooklyn minutes distribution against the Celtics. If TJ receives 25+ in the next two games, he will be a viable short-term option (Plays Thurs, Sun).
One Category Contributor
- Terance Mann (Steals): Mann garnered 41 minutes in Tuesday’s win over Dallas while playing ahead of John Wall and Reggie Jackson. His skill set isn’t particularly fantasy friendly, but his averages over the past four games (12 points, 1 three, 4 rebounds, 1 steal) can be helpful, and he’s getting enough playing time to reach his ceiling for now (Plays Fri, Sun).
Hit me up in the comments with any questions or feedback. Good luck!
