Fantasy Basketball is all about outsmarting your opponents, and much of that is done through grabbing the unfound star in free agency. Here’s our best way to do that in Week 22.
Note: All OWN%’s come from ESPN Fantasy Leagues.
Point Guard:
PHI- Ish Smith (8.8%)
Now heading Philly’s tank, the waiver wire addition has turned into quite a fantasy stud. Averaging 13.8 points, 7.5 assists, and 1.5 steals over his last four games.
MIN- Zach LaVine (3.0%)
The human pogo stick seems to have finally figured out how to play a complete game of basketball. As Ricky Rubio deals with ankle issues, LaVine has stepped back into the starting 5, averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and an infinite vertical in his last 5 contests.
Shooting Guard:
BOS- Evan Turner (18.4%)
It’ll be hard to root for him in Brooklyn tonight, but his stats (16.0 points, 7.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.7 steals in his last three contests) along with this favorable defensive matchup, pose a huge argument for picking him up.
DET- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (10.2%)
The Pope of Mo-Town is on yet another crusade, posting nearly 22 points per night over his last four games.
MEM- Tony Allen (9.9%)
The Grindfather has averaged 11.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and a stealthy 3.0 steals in his last four games.
DEN- Randy Foye (8.8%)
He’s dealing with a case of the flu right now, but prior to that, he averaged 18.8 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.3 rebounds over his last four games.
Small Forward:
CHA- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (28.9%)
I’m sorry, I know his OWN% is up, but I just couldn’t resist. 13.7 points and 7.7 boards over his last 3.
HOU- Corey Brewer (17.4%)
Scoring has always been a given, but his extraordinary rebounding of late has been a pleasant surprise. 9.7 rebounds per game over the past 3 games.
MIL- Ersan Ilyasova (13.6%)
He may be with the Bucks, but I’m having a fantasy affair. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was great and all, but sometimes you just have to move on, and 16.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, and an incredibly low OWN% eases our break-up that was brought on by MKG’s rising OWN%.
BOS- Jae Crowder (6.5%)
Off the bench, Crowder has somehow averaged a respectable 14 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists over his last five games.
Power Forward:
PHO- Marcus Morris (6.6%)
Just in case you confuse him with his twin brother Markieff, Marcus is the one that’s available in most leagues. He’s also the one averaging 13.2 points and 8.0 boards over his last five games.
SAS- Tiago Splitter (1.8%)
The Spurs are starting to look like the Spurs again, and so is Tiago Splitter, who has put up 41 points and 14 rebounds over the last two games.
Center:
OKC- Steven Adams (19.2%)
The absence of Serge Ibaka has been a blessing to Steven Adams and Enes Kanter’s statlines, but the New Zealander is the only beneficiary available to most fantasy owners in this playoff stretch. Adams and his mustache have averaged 12.8 points and 11.2 rebounds in his last four games.
MIL- Zaza Pachulia (8.7%)
The Georgian Godzilla has been surprisingly dominant of late, as we witnessed in the triple-OT thriller. A consistent 13.4 points and 10.8 rebounds a night in his last seven games is nothing to scoff at.
