RADIO
This week’s standout performance belongs to a usual suspect for fantasy excellence: DeMarcus Cousins. Until it all came together for Boogie on Monday night, nobody over the past 50 years had dropped at least 40 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists. But Cousins is consistently great. This column aims to analyze players who are surging above their usual level of play.
We’ll look at some players who have been on fire and try to make an educated guess on whether their performance is sustainable or not. Then we’ll suggest some trades that we think offer realistic fair value in return for these hot streaks.
Let's dive in and take a look at some players heating up in Week 15.
NBA Heat Check
Garrett Temple, SG/SF, Sacramento Kings
Backup shooting guard Garrett Temple has been averaging just under 25 minutes per game this season. But rookie point guard De’Aaron Fox left the game early on Tuesday night due to injury, and Temple was the only option left with teammates George Hill and Frank Mason also out. Temple ended up playing a season high 40 minutes, and posted a stat line of 34 points on 14 of 17 shooting with 4 threes, 2 rebounds, and 5 assists. Temple has never been able to put up big numbers, but he’s also only averaged 18.8 minutes per game over his career. Could this be the perfect storm? Mason is out for a few more weeks, Hill is due to be traded, and Fox could possibly miss more games.
But even when given minutes, there’s the question of whether Temple can produce. In seven games this season where he’s played over 30 minutes, he’s averaged 10.1 points on 41.9% shooting with 1.9 threes, 4.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.7 blocks. Not the greatest numbers ever, but definitely serviceable if you need a player at the end of your bench. These numbers are also pretty consistent with his per 36 minutes which have been remarkably steady over the past four seasons. So if Temple starts playing more minutes, he’ll be sure to produce at around the same clip. The Kings publicly stated that they’re focusing on developing young talent, so Temple’s fantasy trade value is almost non-existent. If you’re looking to trade, you’d probably find similar value by targeting bench stashes like Nerlens Noel or Dwight Powell.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, SG, Philadelphia 76ers
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot was recently inserted into the starting lineup after teammates J.J. Redick and Jerryd Bayless went down with injuries. While playing 30 minutes per game over the past two games, he’s averaged 18.0 points on 61.1% shooting, 4.5 threes, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. He’s come out of relative obscurity, but he proved last year that he is able to produce decently when given the minutes. He had nine games last year when he played more than 30 minutes, and in those games, he averaged 16.2 points per game on 41.6% shooting, with 2.2 threes, 5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.6 steals. Most of those games came towards the end of March and into April, so it seems he was able to get comfortable over the course of the season.
That’s not to say that he’s been playing well this year. The Sixers have much more depth than they did last year, so Luwawu’s play have been inconsistent at best. He’s only been averaging 16 minutes and 5.4 field goal attempts per game. But with no news on Bayless and Redick set to miss and extended period of time, he’s the next man up. He’s little more than a short term flyer but if he continues to get playing time, expect his steals to increase as they did for him last year, along with a solid contribution in threes. He doesn’t hold a lot of fantasy value, so you should target low end specialists like Andre Roberson if you’re able to trade him away.
Joe Harris, SG, Brooklyn Nets
Fourth-year player Joe Harris has quickly become a Nets fan favorite. He’s been a solid role player for the Nets, exceeding expectations and even coming up with clutch crunch time plays. He’s averaging career highs across the board this season: 24.8 minutes, 10.5 points on 48.3% shooting, 2.0 threes, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. His most recent standout performance came on Tuesday night against Oklahoma City Thunder’s fourth ranked defense, where he put up 19 points—two shy of his career high—on 7 of 10 shooting, 5 threes, 1 assist and 1 block. His counting stats, aside from threes, are admittedly underwhelming but his percentages and turnovers are a boon. Owners shouldn’t expect multi-category contributions but he’s very consistent in the things he does well. Even as a rotation player, Harris should continue receiving minutes after D’Angelo Russell comes off of his minutes restriction. Coach Kenny Atkinson distributes minutes across the entire roster, and no player on the Nets is averaging more than 30 minutes per game this season.
It’s also possible that Harris gets traded to a contender in need of bench players. He’s on a cheap contract and becomes a free agent at the end of this year. The Nets likely wouldn’t want to re-sign him since he doesn’t fit their rebuild timeline, and he could easily fetch a second-round pick before the deadline. If traded to a team without good ball movement, expect his numbers to decrease across the board. 62.4% of his two pointers and 94.4% of his threes are assisted. Now might be a good time to sell high for players like Al-Farouq Aminu or Kelly Olynyk.
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