The NBA Fantasy playoffs are on the way soon, and for standard Yahoo public money leagues, those playoffs are from March 18th to April 7th. This article will give you a rundown of NBA Fantasy picks right now or in the future.
Most leagues still have not reached the trade deadline, so there is still time to trade for the players you want/need with beneficial schedules. It's also important to quickly mention that the teams with the most games from Wednesday, February 14th to March 17th are Warriors, Cavaliers, Hornets, Clippers, Wizards, (all with 15) so players on these teams are more likely to "get you into the playoffs". More important if you are already struggling to make a playoff seed. Of course, each week can bring its own unique set of benefits or negatives that would also require a breakdown, but for this article, I'm putting a direct focus on standard playoff weeks.
Teams to Focus on If You Have March 18th to April 7th Playoffs
All of these NBA teams have 12 games each: Cavaliers, 76ers, Kings, and Warriors. Superstars like Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid (if healthy), Tyreese Maxey, Donovan Mitchell, Domantas Sabonis, and De'Aaron Fox appear set to be leaders for fantasy managers. However, not all of these 12 games are created equal. It's not always about how many games, but the QUALITY of the games.
If a game is played on a night when the NBA has only a few games scheduled, it is a "quality game." If you keep reading through this, you will find out CLE (and LAL) might be a tad more risky championship week. Various other teams have some back-to-backs mixed in, so you would expect more rest for top players and injured players. Players we have already seen miss time are the biggest rest candidates, but other injuries will undoubtedly pop up. The mid-level players might actually see increased usage, and other streamers become useful/strong in those games, too. Let’s break all of this down week by week.
For the week of March 18th:
*MIN has a back-to-back to start the week. This could be a perfect way to stash a lesser player to be used for that but downgrade Mike Conley, who may rest. You could also use a MIN player for the two games and then stream the roster spot. (Naz Reid, Kyle Anderson, Alexander/Walker, Monte Morris)
*DEN, HOU, and ORL all have three quality games on TUES/THURS/SAT, which then you can stream SUN. (Markelle Fultz, Jon Isaac, Amen Thompson)
*BOS, POR, SAC, and UTA all have four games from MON to SAT, allowing you to stream on SUN.
(Scoot Henderson, Kris Dunn, Keyonte George)
*Careful of the back to backs that MIL, BOS, NO, PHO, SAC, SAS, TOR, POR, UTA where extra rest might occur. (Any player who might be nursing an injury might get extra time off and tanking teams. You want players on teams that "need to win". I usually check the NBA standings page, which can be found here: Here
Something to mention regarding the back-to-backs is it often opens up a valuable streamer during one of those games, so pay attention to using that. The very best four game teams without back-to-back worries are CLE, DET, GS, IND, MIA, and PHI. Brandin Podziemski is still available in numerous leagues. Some other streamers are Ausar Thompson, Simone Fontecchio, Marcus Sasser, Isiah Jackson (depending on the health of Jalen Smith), TJ McConnell, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Benedict Mathurin, Paul Reed (depending on the health of Embiid), Buddy Hield, Caris Levert.
For the week of March 25:
It’s enormous how many teams play those days!!! Having two or three players on your roster from MIL and NO will be "week winners". Some streamers who could be useful here are Bobby Portis, Patrick Beverley, Pat Connaugton, Malik Beasley, Herbert Jones, Jose Alvarado, Larry Nance Jr, and Trey Murphy. There might be more streamers depending on injuries, too. Trade for the top or mid players.
ATL is special here with three games from MON/THURS and four games on MON/SAT (then you can stream SUN to get the “must win” for the week). Players I would be looking into for streaming are Okongwu, Bruno Fernando, DeAndre Hunter, and possibly Kobe Bufkin.
Teams with back-to-backs to be aware of are DAL, ATL, GS, SAC, LAL, and OKC. (Luka, Kyrie, Lively, Lebron, AD, Steph Curry, and others at risk to rest)
For the week of April 7th:
Denver has three quality games TUES/THURS/SAT.
PHI 3 quality games on TUES/THURS/SAT, plus they play SUN.
ATL, DET, and MEM have four games from MON to SAT, allowing you to stream on Sunday, Apr 7th.
LAL and CLE both have TWO sets of back-to-backs... This could mean more rest games for
Lebron, AD, Mobley, Garland. Some big names are at risk. What seems like an appealing schedule turns into a "trap" upon further analysis!! They might only play two games this week!
Other teams with one set of back-to-backs are MIL, DAL, GS, MN, OKC, TOR, PHI, SAC,
HOU, LAC, MIA, NYK, MEM, DET.
BKN has two back-to-backs here, with one on SUN/MON and another end of the week
SAT/SUN, so Ben Simmons might only play in 2 games this week, which would open the door to either Dennis Smith Jr or Dennis Schroeder.
Generally, it’s best to win the most important week when you are in danger of elimination. It is better to at least lock up 2nd or 3rd place than worry about championship week. For this reason, the previous week(s) are actually more important, but be aware of some concerns and benefits.
To access the schedule analyzer page, go here: Here
Top Strategy to Win Your Fantasy Basketball Playoffs
Overall there are various positives and negatives all over. For your trade considerations, I would say that if you have two "similar players," the tiebreaker goes to the one with the better schedule. One of the hardest aspects of this is trying to predict what sorts of rest we will see on back-to-backs and also where teams will be in the standings if they "need to win games" or not. Injuries will be important to adapt to as well. And by adapting, what I mean is adding replacements who can step up to do fairly well.
All of this may open up some streamer options, too... (It is advisable to have at least one spot on your roster as your "streaming spot" to get five games or sometimes six, even seven games from that single roster spot) Something I need to mention is targeting some of these back-to-backs to use only one add to get two games from Streamer can be quite useful. This is how you can gain seven games from a single "streaming spot". It's also very important to consider what week you will be entering playoffs and if you are likely to have a first-round bye. The best plan is to have an overall strong schedule but also to plan ahead for the particular week that you are most likely to be in playoffs facing elimination.
