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We’re coming into the final week of the regular season in many season-long fantasy basketball leagues, so it’s time to make your final push to the playoffs. Whether you’re already in and looking to tweak your roster for the postseason or still trying to play your way into the playoffs, there are some strong options to consider available on many waiver wires.
Week 20 has a very consistent pace with at least six games Monday through Friday leading up to a 10-game Saturday. Thirteen of the 30 NBA teams play four games and 12 play three games. The Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs only play two times this week, so be careful adding players from those teams if you need a short-term boost.
In this weekly post, you can find some of the hottest trending players, some deep league additions to consider and a more in-depth look at four sleeper pickups. The sleeper targets listed below aren’t quite mainstream, but they are emerging as options with plenty of potential upside. The top trending players are good pickups to consider if available but are quickly vanishing off waiver wires. The deep league options at the bottom of the post can be a help if the top options and the four sleeper pickups have already been picked up.
Things change daily throughout the season, so follow along on my Twitter account @ZT_sports if you are looking for single-game streaming options, along with cheap DFS plays on a daily basis.
Top Trending Players
- PG Tyus Jones, Memphis Grizzlies
- PG Dennis Schroder, Los Angeles Lakers
- PG/SG Donte DiVincenzo, Golden State Warriors
- PG/SG Devonte’ Graham, San Antonio Spurs
- PG/SG Killian Hayes, Detroit Pistons
- SG/SF Kelly Oubre Jr., Charlotte Hornets
- SG/SF Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
- SG/SF Bogdan Bogdanovic, Atlanta Hawks
- SF/PF Kyle Anderson, Minnesota Timberwolves
- SF/PF Kenyon Martin Jr., Houston Rockets
- SF/PF Cam Reddish, Portland Trail Blazers
- PF Jeremy Sochan, San Antonio Spurs
- PF/C Marvin Bagley III, Detroit Pistons
- PF/C Zach Collins, San Antonio Spurs
- C Mason Plumlee, Los Angeles Clippers
- C Daniel Gafford, Washington Wizards
PF/C Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State Warriors (at OKC, at MEM, vs. MIL)
The Warriors have been without Andrew Wiggins for seven games since just before the All-Star break due to a personal matter, and he remains without a timetable to return to the team. While Donte DiVincenzo has already been added in many leagues, Kuminga has also been playing a large enough role to be a nice add for as long as Wiggins is sidelined.
In the seven games without Wiggins, Kuminga has averaged 26.3 minutes with a 23.0% usage rate and even made three starts. He has scored at least 10 points in six of those seven games while averaging 14.3 points. 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals.
He brings good scoring upside and plenty of versatility for the Warriors as they try to get healthy for the postseason. If Golden State tries to get some rest for any of their players in their remaining games, Kuminga can step in at almost any position and produce.
After three games this week, the Warriors have two weeks in a row with four games. Kuminga should be an excellent contributor throughout that stretch and is only owned in 25% of leagues.
PG Dennis Smith Jr., Charlotte Hornets (at NY, at DET, vs. UTA, vs. CLE)
With LaMelo Ball (ankle) done for the season, the Hornets have plenty of work available in the backcourt, and DSJ has shown he can step up when called upon. The Hornets have a juicy four-game week ahead with a back-to-back coming up on Saturday and Sunday. Even after the initial surge in ownership following Ball’s injury, he’s barely owned in one-third of leagues.
Point guard stats like assists are often hard to find on the waiver wire at this point of the season, but Smith has been able to produce in that category. He has at least six assists in each of his three games since Ball was hurt, averaging 8.3 points, 6.3 assists and 1.3 steals.
His shooting percentage has been rough during that three-game stretch (26.1%), and he hasn’t hit a three-pointer in any of those three contests. However, he does have a 17.4% usage rate and 34.6% assist rate. DSJ is never going to help your shooting percentages, but he should be due for a little bit of positive regression this week. Given his expanded role, he can definitely help you with guard production in multiple categories if you can afford the hit in shooting percentage.
SF/PF Tari Eason, Houston Rockets (vs. BKN, at IND, vs. CHI)
Eason has flashed fun upside this season when given significant minutes for the Rockets, and the rookie will hopefully keep getting chances coming down the stretch. He showed how he could stuff the stat sheet at the Summer League and has been showing similar potential as he works into an expanded role in Houston’s regular season rotation.
Over his past 10 games, he has averaged 11.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 23.8 minutes per game. He has taken his game up another notch with two double-doubles in his four most recent games, averaging 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocked shots in 28.9 minutes per game.
Even though they finally snapped their 11-game losing streak on Saturday, the Rockets will continue to play out the string and look forward to the NBA Draft. They do have some promising young pieces, though, and Eason is showing he can contribute while getting this many minutes.
Looking beyond this three-game week, the Rockets have three straight weeks upcoming with four games in each week. Grabbing Eason or other Rockets to see how minutes are handed out in that run could end up paying huge dividends in the fantasy season playoffs.
SG/SF Hamidou Diallo, Detroit Pistons (vs. POR, vs. WAS, vs. CHA, vs. IND)
Like the Rockets, the Pistons are a mess in many ways, but they still deserve attention. I mean, look again at those four matchups this week. They’re all at home and they’re all against teams that give up a ton of points.
Detroit’s frontcourt has value but is also crowded with Jalen Duren (ankle) and Isaiah Stewart (hip) returning soon and James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley III playing pretty well. However, the Pistons’ backcourt has some opportunity available, especially with Killian Hayes (hand) now banged up along with Alec Burks (foot) and Bojan Bogdanovic (Achilles). Hayes is a solid add if his injury isn’t a huge deal, but Diallo has also been getting enough work to be a strong addition and is available in over 85% of leagues.
Diallo has scored double-digit points in eight straight games, averaging 15.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals. He has shot over 50% from the field over that stretch and is a solid way to get some scoring even though he doesn’t take or make a lot of three-pointers. His non-scoring numbers aren’t extremely high but with increased minutes he could add more steals and rebounds. If Hayes is out, he could also pick up more opportunities with Jaden Ivey sliding over to play more PG.
Other options to consider
- PG T.J. McConnell, Indiana Pacers
- PG/SG Isaiah Joe, Oklahoma City Thunder
- PG/SG Patrick Beverley, Chicago Bulls
- PG/SG Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic
- PG/SG Kris Dunn, Utah Jazz
- SG Malik Monk, Sacramento Kings
- SG/SF Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers
- SG/SF Mattise Thybulle, Portland Trail Blazers
- SG/SF Talen Horton-Tucker, Utah Jazz
- SG/SF Grayson Allen, Milwaukee Bucks
- SF/PF Taurean Prince, Minnesota Timberwolves
- PF/C Naz Reid, Minnesota Timberwolves
- PF/C Xavier Tillman, Memphis Grizzlies
- PF/C Charles Bassey, San Antonio Spurs
- PF/C Trey Lyles, Sacramento Kings
- C James Wiseman, Detroit Pistons
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Z.Thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.