Welcome to your midweek guidance for Week 20! In this post, I identify widely available players who can help you win your head-to-head matchup. Ideally, you’re either in the midst of a playoff matchup, or resting easy in a bye week. Regardless of your status, there are always moves to make to outmaneuver your current or future opponent(s). As the season stretches into its fifth month, you might find yourself unable to devote the same amount of attention to fantasy hoops as you did in the early going. Never fear, because I never stop watching! There is still plenty of player value to mine in these proverbial waiver wire hills.
No teams play three games this week. The Nuggets and Warriors are the only teams to play on both low-volume game days – Thursday and Saturday. Meanwhile, the following teams play only one more game this week: Hornets, Bulls, Bucks, Thunder, Blazers, and Kings. Here are the players I’m watching and adding to close out the week.
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Three Category Contributors
- Bruce Brown (Rebounds, Assists, Steals): Brown’s fantasy value has survived Kevin Durant’s return so far. He continues to start and rack up counting stats. As a top 40 player in his last seven games, he put up 14.9 points, 1.4 threes, 6.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.6 blocks (Plays Thurs, Sun).
- Immanuel Quickley (Points, Threes, Assists): It helps that the Knicks are missing two veteran guards, but Tom Thibodeau is suddenly playing Quickley more than 25 minutes. A 15 minute outing may be just around the corner, but Quickley is a hot hand to use for now (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Donte DiVincenzo (Threes, Assists, Steals): Just when we thought it was safe to add him, he plays 12 minutes and puts up a goose egg across multiple categories. In the four games previous to that, he played 28 MPG and averaged 2.3 threes, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2 steals. If you have some flexibility to make a speculative add for next week, Sacramento boasts an attractive four-game slate. If you’re playing for a win this week, on the other hand, there may be safer options out there (Plays Sat).
Two Category Contributors
- Marvin Bagley III (Points, Rebounds): Typically, I live by the adage that “friends don’t let friends add Marvin Bagley III in category leagues.” However, I will make an exception while Isaiah Stewart is out (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Isaiah Hartenstein (Assists, Blocks, FG%): Admittedly, I haven’t given Hartenstein the attention he deserves throughout the season. He’s one of those players who follows up 1-2 useful outings with a string of duds, so I’ve never felt comfortable hyping him. Case in point: After playing 20+ minutes in three straight games, he played only 19 minutes on Wednesday and scored 4 points to go along with a steal and 3 blocks. The three blocks are very helpful, but his production is difficult to project (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Kelly Olynyk (Rebounds, Assists): I don’t know what it’s going to take to see Kelly consistently surpass the 20 MPG threshold again, but even Isaiah Stewart’s injury couldn’t catapult him past that level on Monday or Wednesday. Nonetheless, he’s a player to watch in case Dwane Casey turns him loose (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Reggie Bullock (Threes, Steals): Despite playing huge minutes, Bullock has been plagued by inconsistency of late. Still, I figure that a productive game is coming from behind the arc, thanks to all the looks created by Luka Doncic (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Aleksej Pokusevski (Rebounds, Blocks): The cascading effects of long-term injuries to Luguentz Dort and Josh Giddey are helping Pokusevski garner the playing time he needs to be fantasy relevant. The FG% can hurt you, but he provides the boards and blocks with the potential for multiple threes (Plays Sun).
- Trendon Watford (Rebounds, Blocks): In six straight losses, the Blazers have lost by and average of 33.2 points. With the tank-a-thon in full swing, players like Watford are seeing increased run. He had his best outing yet on Wednesday night, scoring 22 points and blocking a shot (Plays Sat).
- Brandon Williams (Points, Threes): Anfernee Simons has a questionable tag going into Saturday’s game, which could mean another start for Williams. Prior to Wednesday’s 9-point dud, he averaged 17.2 points and 1.6 threes through 5 games (Plays Sat).
- Austin Reaves (Threes, Steals): In a sign of the times for LA, Reaves is consistently starting and playing close to 30 minutes. While this may be good news for his fantasy owners, I can’t imagine this was how the Lakers envisioned their season going (Plays Fri, Sun).
- Aaron Wiggins (Threes, Steals): Wiggins broke out in 39 minutes on Wednesday with a 25-point performance that included 5 threes and a steal. Expect more high-minute outings as the Thunder remain in the tank (Plays Sun).
Hit me up in the comments with any questions or feedback. Best of luck!
