We are back again with another list of players to keep an eye out for going into the upcoming week. I have further decided to distinguish players into three different formats, with each player being classified as a shallow league (8-10T), standard league (12T), and deeper league (14T and lower) options. This list is by no means comprehensive, however I am looking to highlight players to keep an eye out for in the upcoming week. This may be due to increased opportunity or to evaluate as a drop.
Adds
Tari Eason
(Shallow)
The Houston Rockets are a team with a near-perfect schedule going into the next week. Their four games feature an early back-to-back to start out the week while also having games on two low-volume days. This, combined with the injury to Jabari Smith Jr., only serves to strengthen the case for Eason, who should already be rostered in nearly every spot.
Eason is neck and neck with Dyson Daniels in terms of being an elite steals option, with the former held back only by his limited usage off the bench. He has not let this stop him, however and the third-year player is averaging 2.6 steals per game in less than 24 minutes per game over the last two weeks.
The Rockets have games coming up against some of the most turnover-prone teams in the league, and matchups against the Hawks and Nets could realistically provide Eason enough opportunity to win your steals single-handedly. Eason is currently ranked as the 61st player on the season so far.
Vit Krejci
(Standard)
The Atlanta Hawks have one of the best schedules going into this upcoming week, and injury confusion surrounding Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher, and even Trae Young will open up many opportunities in the starting lineup for Krejci to step in. Krejci serves as a perfect complementary player in the Hawks rotation, managing to start in their last 10 games as a glue guy capable of defending well, passing well, and shooting when needed.
Krejci is currently ranked inside the top 60 over the course of the last two weeks. In this time, he has provided above-average threes, scoring 2.9 a night while also turning out solid numbers across the board. As a 6’8” point guard moved to play as a wing, Krejci does offer assist upside as well as providing positive contributions to blocks and field goals. Most deeper leagues struggle to find balanced contributors off of the wire, and Krejci serves as a perfect option in nearly every league (11% rostered on Yahoo).
Isaiah Collier
(Deep)
Utah this season is fully embracing the tank, shamelessly sitting anybody who might give them the slightest chance of winning a game. Enter Isaiah Collier. Despite being widely regarded as one of the worst point guards in the league to have received any significant playing time, Collier still benefits as of late from starter minutes and an excellent schedule this upcoming week.
Collier provides nearly all of his value in the assist category, standing at an absurd 8.4 over the last two weeks. While he offers basically nothing else with any level of consistency, finding a player capable of anchoring a category at his level on the wire could prove to be helpful (especially if you are punting FG/TO). For this reason, he stands as one of the better deep league streaming options for the week, with upside to remain a positive come silly season.
Drops
Nic Claxton
(Shallow)
To say that Claxton’s season so far has been disappointing would be an understatement. While many expected him to be a tank commander for the Nets this season, he has instead been one of the biggest fatalities, exposed as a player desperately reliant on a competent cast around him to feed him looks. He has slipped far outside of any fantasy relevance this season, and with his terrible schedule this week (3 games, all on high-volume days), it is likely he will add nothing to your roster for a while.
Over the course of this season, Claxton is down in nearly every important category. He is shooting 9% worse from the field, 3% worse from the line, and his blocks per game have basically been halved compared to what he put out last year. Even when punting free throw percentage, far and away his worst category, he still struggles to rank inside the top 100.
For teams in shallower leagues, there are likely many gems still available, and with almost 40 games played from Claxton this year, it is hard to expect much more from him than what we are receiving now. Claxton currently ranks 162nd on the season so far.
Kyle Kuzma
(Standard)
Anybody who has seen Kuzma play this year should all be in agreement, this man just sucks. He is dreadful to watch, has openly stated he does not care to develop the teammates around him and doesn’t even provide an end product in any form to boot. While the Wizards do have a four-game schedule this week, most of their games come on high-volume days, diminishing his predicted value for the near future.
Furthermore, the clock is against Kuzma, as he is a prime trade candidate (he likely gets worse on any team outside of Washington) and even should he stay, a silly season looms ahead for Washington. Kuzma has never been a great category player; however, he has managed to hit new lows this season.
Currently ranked 334th on the season so far, he is a negative in every single one of the nine standard categories. Even his last two weeks have been dreadful, as despite having multiple 20-point games and even a 30 bomb last night, Kuzma still ranks 226th over that span. You are practically better off leaving an empty spot on your roster, and Kuzma is an easy drop in almost every standard format.
Jusuf Nurkic
(Deep)
It can be tough to see a player with such an esteemed pedigree get cast aside, especially when surrounded by players objectively inferior to him (he is a better basketball player than Nick Richards and I will die on that hill). However, Nurkic’s time has completely passed. He remains over-rostered at 68% (and yes, I know, dead leagues exist, but still) despite having not played a game in three weeks.
Even should he somehow get a place back in the rotation (kinda hard to do when you are not on speaking terms with your coach), he has failed to excite on the floor. Ranked 211th on the season to date, there is nothing exciting to his current game outside of the rebounds. It is at this point that you really have to wonder why Nurkic even should remain on your roster.
He has so many barriers to play (the coach, finding a trade partner, injury) while actively drawing zeros without IR eligibility. For what? A guy who cannot even break the top 200 when fit? Hard as it may be for those who drafted him in the top 100, his time has passed even for those in the deepest of leagues, and he is a clear drop for the foreseeable future.