The home stretch of the season is well underway at this point, and this past week has been our first big taste of silly season so far. Teams are starting to drop the facade of competition (they are learning from the Jazz no doubt), and combined with the reality that any long-term injury effectively rules a player out for the season, there’s significant roster shakeup in the league right now.

 

 

This week we look to highlight three of the biggest risers going into Week 20, while also contrasting some players who can be considered expendable. As always, the list is divided into players for varying levels of league depth, and it is important to keep that in mind when making judgments for your specific team.

 

Adds

 

Justin Champagnie
(Shallow Leagues)

 

As someone who has held Bilal Coulibaly all season, I certainly have mixed feelings about his rest-of-season injury. On one hand, I have had to deal with the ups and downs he has provided all year (which did not get more consistent following the deadline), but on the other hand, his direct replacement Justin Champagnie is a much, much better fantasy option when given time.

 

The Washington Wizards have recently signed the two-way candidate to a standard contract, and he now looks projected to be a lock as a rest-of-season starter for the team.

 

Champagnie has thrived when given starter minutes at multiple points so far this season, and this current run is no exception. The wing generates exceptional value in the rebounds category and has averaged 9.8 in the last week following the loss of Bilal. He also helps anchor steals, blocks, turnovers, and free-throw percentage.

 

 

There is much to celebrate from Champagnie securing his starter spot, as he is without doubt one of the most consistent Wizards from a fantasy perspective. He is ranked 45th over the last week and projects to hold similar value going forward. He is a lock in nearly every format for the time being.

 

Orlando Robinson
(Standard Leagues)

 

The Toronto Raptors have just begun their journey to the bottom as well, and have been ruthlessly limiting the minutes of anybody who might be contributing to wins of late. Meanwhile, Orlando Robinson has stood out lately as a standout player in Miami, filling in effectively as a replacement for Jakob Poeltl, who has missed a couple of games and has been held to roughly 22 minutes when fit.

 

Robinson has long proven to be a solid candidate when given minutes, but this role for Miami is undoubtedly the one with the most freedom in his career. He is an undersized center, yet has managed to pull 11 rebounds a night over the last week while also averaging an exceptional 5 assists as a big man. While he does struggle with shooting, his block and turnover numbers are more than enough to bring up the rest of his value.

 

He ranks as the 60th player over the last week, receiving a season-high 30 minutes a night in that span. As long as Toronto looks to extend his run of playtime, he looks primed to benefit from extended minutes, which is more than enough to be a roster lock in standard leagues.

 

Ziaire Williams
(Deep Leagues)

 

As expected, a new Brooklyn Net will feature in some way, shape, or form in nearly all of these lists. This time, Ziaire Williams is proving to be a steady add following the season-ending injury to Cam Thomas (who already featured in last week’s article as a drop). He has a great upcoming schedule as well, playing the two low-volume days this week.

 

Ziaire does not truly excel at much from a fantasy perspective, instead pitching in across multiple categories to create his volume. He makes 2.5 threes per game, which serves as the backbone of his value alongside his low turnover numbers. Outside of that, he does well at generating mildly positive value in blocks, free-throw percentage, and occasionally rebounds.

 

 

The wing has ranked 88th over the last week and has proven to be one of the primary tank commanders for the Nets, receiving about 32 minutes a night. He is rostered in only 18% of leagues but can easily put up steady low-end value due to minutes alone.

 

Drops

 

Lauri Markkanen
(Shallow Leagues)

 

This might be an extremely bold take, as Lauri Markkanen is an All-Star caliber player who is 97% rostered, but the Utah Jazz are done even pretending like they want to give him minutes. The veteran has missed nine of his last eleven matches, being severely limited in the games he has played. This has culminated in the star being more or less completely benched for the entire second half of their recent outing against Toronto.

 

From a production perspective, Markkanen is most certainly having a down year by his standards. He has struggled immensely with his percentages as well as getting any sort of value in stocks or assists. While this in itself is not a glaring issue (he still easily ranks inside the top 100 on the season), it does become a concern when factoring in the context of his situation.

 

Frequent rest days and load management have dropped his ranking to 168 over the past two months, hitting a low of 188 this week. It would be an extremely tough decision to make given his name value, but playoffs are won off of the back of recognizing sunk costs, and Markkanen is certainly getting to that point.

 

Kyle Kuzma
(Standard Leagues)

 

Can anybody make an argument for Kyle Kuzma at this point? There was some optimism for him following the trade to the Milwaukee Bucks, but he has shattered all dreams with some embarrassing showings over the past month. He has featured on the list before, but has made it again due to an incredibly high roster percentage of 79%.

 

 

Kuzma adds nothing of value to your fantasy team. Period. He is a negative in eight categories during his time as a Buck, saved only by the fact that he is an aggressive rebounder. In general, though, he fits the mold of a high-usage, low-percentage chucker who often fails to generate any meaningful value due to his limited role on a contending team.

 

In most instances, players who make the drop section of these lists merely stand out as candidates to drop should something better be available; however, this is a special case. You would be better served by having an empty roster spot in lieu of the vet, and he can be considered a drop in every format, as any streamer is likely to provide more consistent value than he does.

 

Malik Beasley
(Deep Leagues)

 

This one comes as a bit of a blow, given the surprising breakout Malik Beasley has had for the Detroit Pistons this season. Beasley started the season on fire, making nearly four threes a night on over 40% from deep, and truly settling in as a great Robin to Cade Cunningham. However, his decline has been steady, and for one-dimensional players like him, any shift in form can make him unusable overnight.

 

The value added from Beasley making threes at such a high level was felt in multiple categories. He previously boosted points, threes, and percentages with ease. However, only the high volume of threes remains for the veteran sharpshooter, as being a strong negative in six categories has forced him down to rank outside the top 250 over the last two weeks.

 

As is the case with a lot of the deeper league drop candidates, Beasley is far from an immediate drop just because. He can still provide value as a three-point streamer for the foreseeable future, but until he finds his spark, he would be best used exclusively as that (a streamer).

 

In playoffs, it is not worth holding for him to catch fire again, and there are plenty of deep league options who can provide more consistent value until then.