Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week 18! In this post, I identify widely available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup. We’re about two thirds of the way through the weirdest portion of the fantasy season, when fantasy and actual teams are disrupted by trades leading and teams pack on extra rest days for their players leading up to the All-Star Break (ASB). To make it even more strange, Week 18 spans 13-26 February in most formats, which gives us a total of eight game days to consider. Enjoy the next few days of maybe not thinking as much about fantasy hoops (who am I kidding), because for most of you, the chance at postseason glory is right around the corner!
Schedule Notes: There are 12 teams with three games left in Week 18. Six of them – Bulls, Bucks, Suns, Wizards, Clippers, and Wolves – that play one of their three remaining games tonight. The other six squads – Cavs, Nuggets, Warriors, Thunder, Kings, and Raptors – play their three games after the break. Now is the time to start considering playoff schedules if you start on Week 19, so check that week’s schedule out to see how you can best use any left over moves from this week.
Note 1: Next week’s midweek guidance will likely be published on Friday the 24th in order to allow the overall situation to develop after the ASB.
Note 2: If you want to hear about my general approach H2H leagues, check out my appearance on The Son Pod here!
Now that we have all the housekeeping out of the way, here are the players I’m watching and adding at the midpoint of Week 18.
Three Category Contributors
- Josh Okogie (Threes, Rebounds, Steals): I reckon we have one or two more games of good run for Okokie before Kevin Durant returns and gets the party started in Phoenix. Since he’s never averaged more than 12.5 points on a per-36 MPG basis, it’s difficult to envision him continuing to put up the 20.3 points he averaged over the last three games. At the same time, there’s no reason for the Suns to replace him in the starting lineup until KD is back, which locks him in for a healthy dose of minutes tonight (Plays Thurs + 2 games post ASB).
- Kyle Anderson (Assists, Steals, Blocks): Back spasms nuked his value for a 5-game stretch, but he was back to playing 24 minutes on Monday, resulting in 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. That’s the quintessential Kyle Anderson line right there. As Karl-Anthony Towns’ return creeps closer, it’s worth at least riding it out with Anderson unless injuries prove to be a persistent issue (Plays Thurs + 2 games post ASB).
- Gabe Vincent (Threes, Assists, Steals): If he didn’t shoot 39% from the field over his six consecutive starts, he’d be in much better standing as a fantasy asset. However, that’s the price of admission to the favorable stats he put up over the same period – 14.2 points, 2.7 threes, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 89% from the line on 3.2 attempts per game. With Kyle Lowry’s status unknown beyond the ASB, Vincent is worth holding onto, particularly if your playoffs start on 27 February (Plays February 24th and 25th).
- Josh Green (Threes, Assists, FG%): The last two games poured cold water on what has otherwise been a great February for Green. The differentiating factor? A combined 5 of 19 from the field in those outings and 0 assists in one of them. Considering the fact that Green relies on FG% to maintain a lot of his fantasy value, it’s something to keep in mind if you’re considering him for next Thursday’s slate (Plays February 23rd and 26th).
- Donte DiVincenzo (Threes, Assists, Steals): Stephen Curry thinks he’ll be out beyond the break. Can we trust him? I’m not totally sure, but I know the Warriors will exercise caution with his injury. Therefore, we keep looking Donte’s way until told otherwise (Plays February 23rd, 24th, and 26th).
Two Category Contributors
- Talen Horton-Tucker (Points, Assists): Collin Sexton left last night’s game with a hamstring injury, which could cost him games beyond the ASB. If THT isn’t already on a squad, now is a good time to nab him (Plays February 23rd and 25th).
- Patrick Williams (Rebounds, Steals): If DeMar DeRozan is in tonight, you can comfortably pass on Williams, as he is the amorphous blob of stream candidates. You don’t know what you’re going to get from him or when you’re going to get it. That being said, injuries to other players on the Bulls would at least give him enough opportunity to put up numbers if you need a streamer for tonight only (Plays Thurs + 2 games post ASB).
- Delon Wright (Assists, Steals): He played 29 minutes against the Blazers on Tuesday, despite the Wizards fielding a fully healthy roster (6 assists, 4 steals). Wut. Now, it was a blowout, but this is the type of playing time he needs to be considered a hold candidate in 12-team leagues. At the very least, he’s a good option to try out tonight to see if a positive playing time trend develops (Plays Thurs + 2 games post ASB).
- Charles Bassey (Rebounds, Blocks): Guess who’s back AND on a four-year deal with the Spurs? Yes, in a scenario similar to the one we saw earlier in the season, Bassey once again figures to be the first beneficiary in the event that an injury befalls Zach Collins. So long as Collins is healthy, it looks like Bassey will receive 10-15 MPG and put up solid per-minute stats (Plays February 23rd and 25th).
Hit me up in the comments with any questions or feedback. Good luck!
