October 23, 2017

Trevor Crippen analyzes Week 2 streaming opportunities for head-to-head fantasy basketball leagues. He reviews the upcoming NBA schedule and players to add.

We've tried a lot of weekly streamer pieces over the years at RotoBaller. Who's a good add for this category, who's a good add for this weekend, you know the drill. But these posts have tended to be a bit repetitive and never quite as helpful as we wanted them to be.

This year we'll take more of a holistic approach to streaming, by providing a weekly overview of which teams to look at based on their schedules and what players to consider targeting in advance to maximize the bang for the buck you get out of limited weekly transactions. Streaming is just about maximizing a roster spot with whoever is available after all, it's never about targeting a specific player.

Anybody can go onto their waiver wire, look for the most interesting player with a game the next day, and add him. So we'll be plotting out our moves in advance, because being able to target a stream two days out, or add two extra games in one transaction is where you can really gain an edge over the average streamer. Hopefully this weekly overview will help you realize that edge.

NBA Schedule Guide - Week 2

Teams with 4 games: Atlanta, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Golden State, Houston, Memphis, San Antonio, Washington

Teams with 3 games: Boston, Chicago, Indiana, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Toronto, Utah

Number of teams playing each day:

Monday: 16
Tuesday: 12
Wednesday: 20
Thursday: 10
Friday: 14
Saturday: 16
Sunday: 14

Back-to-Backs (beware of older / banged up players who might rest)

Atlanta: Sun (Week 1)/Mon, Thurs/Fri
Brooklyn: Tues/Weds
Charlotte: Sun/Mon (Week 3)
Cleveland: Weds/Thus, Sat/Sun
Dallas: Weds/Thurs
Detroit: Sat/Sun
Golden State: Sun/Mon (Week 3)
Houston: Fri/Sat
Indiana: Tues/Weds
LA Lakers: Fri/Sat
Memphis: Weds/Thurs
Minnesota: Tues/Weds
New York: Sun/Mon (Week 3)
Oklahoma City: Fri/Sat
Orlando: Sun/Mon (Week 3)
San Antonio: Sun/Mon (Week 3)
Utah: Tues/Weds

Teams Playing Tuesday and Thursday (double-streaming for the days with the fewest games):

Boston, Chicago, LA Clippers, Portland

Teams Playing Three in Four Days on the Weekend:

Atlanta

Baller Streaming Moves for the Week

Wednesday has a very full slate, so in a lot of cases you'll have more than enough core guys on your roster going to fill out your lineup. If so, target a streaming spot early on a guy playing on Tuesday and Thursday, to fill two empty days with one move. Some key guys to target for a Tuesday/Thursday double-streamer:

• Terry Rozier, PG/SG, Boston Celtics
• Jerian Grant, PG, Chicago Bulls
• Al-Farouq Aminu, SF/PF, Portland Trailblazers
• Austin Rivers, PG/SG/SF, Los Angeles Clippers
• Evan Turner, SG/SF, Portland Trailblazers
• Maurice Harkless, SF, Portland Trailblazers
• Denzel Valentine, SG/SF, Chicago Bulls
• Pat Connaughton, SG, Portland Trailblazers

 
Alternately, target a player who is involved in at least two games from Monday through Thursday -- Dejounte Murray, Danny Green, and Delon Wright are all widely available options off to hot starts -- and follow that up with an Atlanta player such as Marco Belinelli to get three games in the four days thereafter.

Short Term Category Angles

Lucas Nogueira, C, Toronto Raptors - Rebounds, Blocks, Steals, FG%

With Raptors starting center out with a sprained left ankle, Nogueira came off the bench to start the second half for the Raptors in their last game. Nogueira is an excellent source of steals, rebounds, and blocks who comes with a great FG% and a low impact FT%. He tends to be completely buried on the Raptors bench when Valanciunas is healthy (he received DNPs in the Raptors previous games) but he's an excellent short term fantasy boost in his strong categories while Valanciunas is out. Stream if you anticipate a tough matchup in those categories.

Yogi Farrell, PG, Dallas Mavericks - Points, Assists, Three Pointers

Dennis Smith Jr. is having some knee issues. They're apparently not serious, but at the same time symptoms of a torn ACL from high school. I'm not sure what to think. While he's out in addition to Seth Curry, though, the Mavericks have been heavy minutes to Yogi Farrell as starting point guard. Farrell received 41 minutes in Saturday's game against Houston and scored 19 points with 3 treys and 6 assists. Not super impressive for 41 minutes, and he'll have a poor effect on FG% and TO. However, he is pretty much guaranteed a ton of minutes and a ton of volume that should lock in a nice amount of points, assists, and treys. The Mavericks also play three games in four days to start the week -- Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday -- so he's a nice add for tonight who you can drop before Friday right around when DSJ is expected to be returning to form, and pick up a guy with more games on the slate.

More Fantasy Basketball Analysis

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