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Howdy, RotoBallers! Welcome back to yet another edition of my weekly fantasy basketball risers and fallers!
We saw the birth of the NBA In-Season Tournament (also known as the NBA Cup) this week, and as always we saw players who exceeded expectations and others who fell short.
With that being said, let's look at the risers and fallers from Week 3 of the NBA season.
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Fantasy Basketball Risers
Tyler Herro - G, Miami Heat
Now in his fifth season in the NBA, Tyler Herro has finally taken the leap to stardom. The former 13th overall pick looked like he had all the potential in the world after a hot start and finish to his rookie campaign, and the Heat deemed him to be untouchable which caused a rumored James Harden trade to break down in 2021. However, he plateaued after winning the Sixth Man of the Year award in the 2021-22 season, and Miami's hesitation to move on from him in exchange for established stars was ridiculed by many.
Tyler Herro is really him pic.twitter.com/px8veqpyCi
— HEAT NATION (@Zachppp) November 7, 2023
But now, Herro is the one who is ridiculing his doubters. Last week Herro averaged 25.3 points, 6.3 assists, and 6 rebounds a night while shooting 48.3% from the field and 44.4% from three. He has also scored 22+ points in six consecutive games and is the main scorer on the team (at least until the playoffs begin). He is averaging better raw stats while being more efficient, and it's not shocking if he's able to make an All-Star team this season.
Scottie Barnes - F, Toronto Raptors
I tried to warn you. In the offseason, I included Barnes in my list of third-year players who will break out this season and man has he made me look smart so far this season. Over the course of his first two seasons, Barnes scored 20+ points in just 23% of his games, but he has exploded so far this season, scoring 20+ points in every game other than his first game, where he still scored 17 points.
Scottie Barnes out here acting DIFFERENT pic.twitter.com/T7rRyHFbpx
— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) November 5, 2023
He's averaging 22.6 points a night on 51.3% shooting from the field, but he is still an all-around contributor, averaging 9.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.1 blocks to go along with his scoring. His confidence has skyrocketed, as he is shooting 42.1% from deep this season while almost doubling his number of attempts per game compared to the last two seasons. Barnes has now overtaken Pascal Siakam as the Alpha Dog on this Raptors team and is hungry for more success.
Fantasy Basketball Fallers
Julius Randle - F, New York Knicks
The Knicks shouldn't be too worried about Julius Randle's slow start to the season, as the two-time All-NBA selection is infamous for his slow starts. Just compare Randle's career PPG before the All-Star break (18.1) to his career PPG after the break (20.1). This jump in PPG has happened in every season of Randle's NBA career (not counting the 14 minutes played in his rookie campaign) and you should expect that to happen again this season.
So for now, Randle's stock is pretty low and could get even lower in the coming weeks until he starts to pick up the pace again (usually in December). Randle's shooting splits are absolutely horrid right now (29.9% from the field, 25% from three, and 67.5% from the line) but this is a rare case of a faller that you could actually consider making a move for. Fantasy owners could get desperate to get rid of him and sell low, so you can benefit if you are confident that Randle will bounce back like he always has.
Pascal Siakam - F, Toronto Raptors
Pascal Siakam's time as the franchise star of the Toronto Raptors might be coming to an end soon. Last season Siakam averaged a career-high 24.2 points per game while shooting 48% from the field, but his numbers have plummeted so far this season. Siakam has been struggling on both sides of the ball, averaging just 15.4 points on 41.2% shooting from the field, and his ability to rack up steals has declined too, as he has gotten just three steals so far this season.
Just like Randle, he's another player who gets better as the season progresses (2.4 career PPG increase post-All-Star break), but his future is more uncertain than Randle's. Chances are that if Siakam gets dealt, he won't have a larger role than his previous role in Toronto, so you just have to hope that he stays in Toronto and manages to shake off the bad start.
Markelle Fultz - G, Orlando Magic
The former number-one overall pick looked poised to have a massive season, but after the Magic worsened their logjam at guard in the draft, people lowered their expectations. Still, we expected Fultz to improve by about 1.5-2.5 PPG while keeping his efficiency, but he had an up-and-down start to the season before being taken down by a knee injury. The Magic currently view Fultz as day-to-day, but this injury is to the same knee that he had surgery on after tearing his ACL which caused him to miss the majority of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
This injury could bother Fultz for the rest of the year, and with the good play of Cole Anthony, he could see his role gradually diminish as the season progresses. It's just super unfortunate for such a talented player to be decimated by injuries year after year, and it's especially painful for me since I heavily rooted for him ever since he arrived in Orlando. But it seems like bad luck and injuries will keep him away from achieving his true potential.
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