Today, we’ve introduced a new weekly feature from our Fantasy Basketball expert Alex Mazer, detailing the steals of the week.
For the past year, I’ve experimented with multiple approaches to accumulate a guaranteed nightly profit in daily fantasy basketball. After extensive failures, I’m undefeated in a span from the start of the 2014 postseason to today.
Fantasy Basketball is all about outsmarting your opponents, and much of that is done through grabbing the unfound star in free agency. That’s what I do. Read on.
All OWN%’s come from ESPN Fantasy Leagues.
PG:
PHI- Tony Wroten (51%)
Snag this guy IMMEDIATELY — if you wait another second, it could be too late. Averaging 19 points, 7.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.3 steals in his first three games of the season, I would highly advise you to keep riding his wave as Michael Carter-Williams battles a brutal shoulder injury from last season.
MIA- Norris Cole (18.6%)
Entering the season, nobody would consider Norris Cole a “sneaky grab” in fantasy leagues, but his stats have gotten an inevitable boost following his insertion into Miami’s starting lineup. Look into him for a few extra points to tally onto your team at the PG position.
SG:
MIL- O.J. Mayo (29.2%)
Coaches ride the hot hand, and the infamous Jason Kidd should continue to ride O.J. Mayo as he flames on. Although a bench player, Mayo averaged 21 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds over his first 2 games. It can’t go unmentioned that his third game only featured a mere stat sheet of 3 points, but much of that can be attributed to foul trouble.
IND- C.J. Miles (2.4%)
Surprisingly, after averaging a solid 13 points in his first 3 games as a Pacers’ starter, only 2.4% of fantasy owners have him. Some say Miles is one-dimensional, but don’t forget that he averages 1.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists to go along with that point total.
SF:
OKC- Perry Jones III (27.5%)
With Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant out for at least the next 4 weeks, OKC is going to have to get production somewhere, and that’ll mostly be coming from their new starting small forward. Heating up right now with 55 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists in his past two games, you’d be foolish not to pick up the closest thing to Kevin Durant left in Oklahoma City right now.
NYK- Iman Shumpert (6.7%)
Nets fans, throw away the animosity here and actually give Shumpert a good look. As the games pass and he increases his comfort level with the triangle, the starting SG’s scoring numbers have shot up at least 25% each game.
PF:
NYK- Amar’e Stoudemire (19.9%)
Sorry again. Yes, he’s a bench option, but he’s the Knicks’ only big with a shooting touch off the bench, and therefore he gets the crunch time minutes. Stoudemire is averaging 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game on the season. If health issues are your only concern in making these moves, I can assure you that Amar’e and you won’t be a lifelong commitment. You’ll eventually be forced to drop him, but you might as well take advantage of him today.
LAL- Ed Davis (6.2%)
With Julius Randle presumably out for the season with a broken foot, you MUST pick up Davis! Davis has been surprisingly consistent in his promotion to the #1 big off the Laker bench, with an average of 12 points and 6.8 rebounds in 4 games. Boozer, being a defensive liability in that LA frontcourt, will be surely taken advantage of and thrown into foul trouble as a result, making Davis a must-add. Add in the fact that the Lakers will be experiencing their fair share of blowouts this season, and Davis off the bench seems like a no-brainer.
C:
OKC- Steve Adams (3.4%)
There’s really not much depth in the NBA at this position, but if you were to go looking for a decent pickup at the center position, look no further than at the crippled Oklahoma City Thunder lineup with Steven Adams. The New Zealander has averaged 9 points and 6.7 boards as the new starting C for the Thunder, and we could easily see those numbers rise as he finds his niche in the offense and cleans off his notorious butterfingers.
