A couple of rebounding machines highlight this week’s top pickups, while a couple of young Rockets are deserving of some major praise. Let’s get to this week’s fantasy basketball roundup:
13 players to consider adding
Andre Drummond, CHI — 36% rostered on Yahoo
Patrick Williams, CHI — 45%
Ayo Dosunmu, CHI — 3%
He’s still got it, folks. It was only a month ago that Andre Drummond stated, “I got a lot left in the tank, man. Still very healthy. Still very young.” And on Tuesday, Drummond backed up that talk by dropping a 24-point, 25-rebound double-double in his first start of the season, to go along with three steals and two blocked shots. With Nikola Vucevic set to miss a week or more with a strained groin, you’ll want to pounce on Drummond immediately.
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If you’ve been playing fantasy basketball for less than five years, you may not realize just how good peak Drummond was, at least from a statistical standpoint. From the 2015-16 season through the 2019-20 season, Drummond averaged 15.9 points, 15.0 boards, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, while leading the league in rebounding in four of those five seasons. Tuesday’s performance was a great reminder of what he’s still capable of, and he could have sustained value if the Bulls decide to make Vucevic available via trade.
Meanwhile, Williams laid a dud on Tuesday, but he had scored in double figures in five straight games prior to that. He’s also made 1.9 triples per game on 52% 3P shooting in December, meaning he should definitely be rostered in deeper leagues. Since Drummond won’t be scoring 20+ points every game, some of Vooch’s shot attempts will likely be going to Williams.
The other Bulls player to consider adding in ultra-competitive leagues is Dosunmu. I’ve added him in numerous leagues over the past few weeks, knowing that there’s some upside in Chicago. Over his past 13 games, Dosunmu is averaging a modest but useful 10.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 treys per game on 49% FG shooting.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, DEN — 56%
Peyton Watson, DEN — 2%
In perhaps the most bizarre injury of the season thus far, Aaron Gordon needed 21 stitches to his face and shooting hand after being bitten by a dog on Christmas. I wouldn’t expect Gordon to be out for too long, but it does pave the way for Peyton Watson and/or Zeke Nnaji to step up. Both players have been solid per minute shot blockers this season, but they possess limited scoring punch. My suggested pickup here is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is currently rostered in just 56% of Yahoo leagues. KCP broke out of a slump on Monday by scoring 16 points with four treys and five dimes, and he will welcome some extra shot attempts.
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Grayson Allen, PHO — 49%
Bradley Beal is still sidelined for the Suns, and Eric Gordon has really cooled off the past two weeks, but Allen is still going strong. The former Blue Devil exploded for 32 points on 8-of-17 shooting from 3-point range on Christmas, somehow outscoring both Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in the process. For the season, he’s making 2.5 triples per game on 45% shooting from deep, making him one of the most reliable 3-point threats in the entire league. Don’t sleep on Grayson!
Caris LeVert, CLE — 43%
Dean Wade, CLE — 7%
I went after LeVert once Darius Garland and Evan Mobley got hurt, but soon after, LeVert himself went down with a sore knee. As a result, he’s still widely available in shallower leagues, but that may not last for long. LeVert is set to return on Wednesday, and he’s just a hot streak away from returning very solid value. I think Wade is a decent pickup as well, but that’s more for deeper leagues.
Day’Ron Sharpe, BKN — 17%
Despite playing 25+ minutes just twice all season, Sharpe has pulled down double-digit boards 10 times already, proving that he’s a rebounding machine. On a per minute basis, only Drummond is dominating the glass better. If you’re holding onto Ben Simmons and Sharpe is available, you’re rostering the wrong Net.
Aaron Nesmith, IND — 21%
Jalen Smith, IND — 8%
Andrew Nembhard, IND — 3%
Due to their proven offensive abilities, Pacers teammates Buddy Hield, Bennedict Mathurin and Obi Toppin tend to get more attention than Nesmith, Smith and Nembhard, but the latter trio are proving to be versatile and valuable pieces for the Pacers. And on Tuesday, the law firm of Nesmith, Smith and Nembhard all started for Indiana, while Hield and Toppin were sent to the bench. Indiana has a deep and healthy roster, which allows for rotation changes like this, but I suggest watching these players in case the changes stick.
Cody Martin, CHA — 1%
For those of you playing in leagues that go 250+ players deep, I’ll give a shoutout to the less heralded Martin twin. After a long absence due to a knee injury, Cody finally made his season debut this past week, and he made some fantasy noise on Tuesday by racking up four steals plus one block in 25 minutes off the bench against a tough Clippers squad.
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Five players to cut bait on
De’Andre Hunter, ATL
On Monday, the Hawks announced that Hunter is going to be out for a minimum of two weeks. That, coupled with the return of Jalen Johnson, really stunts Hunter’s already mediocre value.
Kevin Huerter, SAC
It’s been a really rough season for Huerter, and it’s hard to imagine he’s the same player who averaged 15.2 points per game on 48.5% FG shooting a year ago. Things are trending down, as he’s played 28+ minutes just three times over his past 18 games.
Obi Toppin, IND
On one hand, Toppin is having a breakout season, with career-highs across the board. But on the other hand, it still hasn’t been quite good enough for the Pacers, due to Toppin’s liabilities on the defensive end. As mentioned above, the Pacers shook up their starting lineup on Tuesday, with Toppin playing just 15 minutes off the bench as a result.
Kyle Lowry, MIA
Tyler Herro is back from a long absence, and rookie Jaime Jaquez is making it awfully tough to rest him for prolonged periods. Lowry hasn’t been terrible this season, but he’s clearly trending down.
Kyle Anderson, MIN
Much like Huerter, Anderson is having a no good, very bad season when compared to last year. After draining 41% of his 3-pointers on 105 attempts in 2022-23, he’s just 2-for-22 to start this season. Oof!
Don’t forget about games played
Entering Wednesday’s games, the average number of games played was 29.6 games per team. However, the Nuggets and Bulls have already played 32 games each, and the Pelicans, Lakers and Jazz have played 31 games a piece, whereas the Thunder, Rockets and Hornets have only played 28 games each. That’s great news if you have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and/or Alperen Sengun leading your team, but I wouldn’t get too comfortable if you’re in first place because of Nikola Jokic, since, once Denver’s schedule starts to ease up, you’ll probably start to fall in the standings a bit.
Focusing on the games played disparity also opens up some interesting trade ideas. For example, the fantasy manager with Mark Williams on their team may be getting impatient with his lingering absence, so you could try offering up a healthy player in exchange, knowing that Charlotte still has a lot of games left to play. It also makes sense to explore what it would take to pry LaMelo Ball away from his current team, since he hasn’t played in over a month, but he could obviously be a major game-changer down the stretch.
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Young Rockets big men rising
In Jabari Smith Jr. (20 years old) and Alperen Sengun (21), the Houston Rockets have one of the youngest big man duos in the entire league. Expectations were high for both players entering this season, as Sengun broke out last year and Smith Jr. was a man amongst boys in the Las Vegas Summer League. But drafting young players with the assumption that they’ll take their games to another level is sometimes a risky proposition, as it’s easy to swing for the fences and strike out. Nonetheless, in the two super leagues that I’m playing in, with $5,000 worth of entry fees at stake, I drafted Sengun once and Smith Jr. twice.
So naturally, I was very disappointed when Smith Jr. opened up the season by averaging just 12.0 points, 7.0 boards, 1.2 assists and 0.5 blocks in 28.6 mpg over his first 10 games. That’s not what I was hoping for, and I definitely expected more. But he seemed to flip a switch after that, and the promising big man has started to play a lot bigger lately, with rock solid averages of 14.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.6 threes in 32.0 mpg over his past 17 games, with superb shooting splits of 51/39/85. With Smith’s confidence growing daily, I expect him to keep rolling.
At the same time, Sengun has also taken off. After posting just two double-doubles over his first 10 games of the season, Alpy has racked up nine double-doubles over his past 18 games, while scoring 21.3 ppg over the same span. With Jalen Green struggling mightily to get buckets, Sengun has taken on the challenge of becoming a bigger offensive threat, while still dishing out over five assists per game. There hasn’t been a single player in NBA history to average 20+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists per game at age 21 or younger, but Sengun could very well accomplish that this year.
But perhaps the most impressive stat for this young duo is that the Rockets are currently above .500, despite their starting backcourt both shooting under 40% from the field. At 22 years old, Tari Eason deserves a mention here as well, as he’s displaying improved efficiency in his second season, with plenty of stat potential in his own right, especially if one of the aforementioned big men were to get hurt.
And in case you were wondering, with a huge thanks to Smith Jr. and Sengun, I’m currently sitting in first place in both super leagues. Who else is reaping the rewards of these young Rockets?
(Photo of Andre Drummond, Day’Ron Sharpe: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
