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Welcome to the fantasy basketball risers and fallers column, a weekly look at a few players whose stock is rising and a few who've been struggling with some analysis of why that's been the case. As always, this doesn't mean you need to drop these players who are struggling, but this could be a useful piece for making some trade decisions or for making some tough lineup choices.
The NBA season is literally one game per team old, so there's not a ton we can do this week in terms of stats. What we can do, though, is analyze how injuries and unexpected rotation changes in the first game of the season impact things. So, this week's risers will be guys who we're seeing more of than expected, even if they didn't produce too much in the first game. And our fallers will be guys whose spot in rotations after the first game seemed iffy.
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Fantasy Basketball Risers
James Wiseman - C - Golden State Warriors
The opening night starter at center for Golden State, Wiseman played 24 minutes, scoring 19 points and grabbing six rebounds. The return of Draymond Green might cut down on his playing time some, but it's clear the Warriors are invested in Wiseman and want him on the floor as much as possible.
Jrue Holiday - PG/SG - Milwaukee Bucks
Concerned Holiday would fade away some playing with Giannis and Middleton? Nope. 38 minutes in the opener led the team, and he had 25 points, sic rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. A nice start to the season and to Holiday's Bucks tenure.
Terry Rozier - PG/SG - Charlotte Hornets
He scored 42 points in the opener. Is this the year Rozier puts it all together? I don't know, but getting 23 shot attempts against Cleveland is definitely something to take note of.
Collin Sexton - PG/SG - Cleveland Cavaliers
Third-year leap for Sexton? He had 27 points in the opener, shooting 56.3 percent from the floor and dishing out five assists as well.
Gary Harris - SG/SF - Denver Nuggets
People really gave up on Harris, who is only 11 percent rostered right now. But in the overtime opener against the Kings, he was one of two Nuggets to play 40-plus minutes, and while his production itself wasn't huge, I do think we can admit we were all a little too low on him, right?
Alec Burks - SG/SF - New York Knicks
Burks played 32 minutes off the bench against Indiana, scoring 22 points. He's never been the most consistent player, so we shouldn't expect this to happen every game, but he's an early riser for now.
Keldon Johnson - SF - San Antonio Spurs
Who expected Johnson to start in the opener? Who expected him to play 32 minutes? It looks like his strong bubble performance is carrying over to this new season. He's a cheap source of points, threes, and steals.
Josh Jackson - SF/SF - Detroit Pistons
The weird offseason for the Pistons saw them invest a lot up front, but left the wings a little bare. Enter Josh Jackson, who played 29 bench minutes and scored 19 points to go along with six rebounds and three threes. He was in foul trouble too, so could have theoretically seen 30-plus minutes.
Shake Milton - PG/SG - Philadelphia 76ers
Milton played 30 minutes against the Wizards and appears to be the team's sixth-man. He scored 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting and added three assists and three steals. Can be a cheap source of points, threes, and steals.
Fantasy Basketball Fallers
Matisse Thybulle - SG/SF - Philadelphia 76ers
I love Thybulle's defense. He's a monster on that end of the floor. But apparently, the Sixers care more about the offensive end of the floor when it comes to Thybulle, as he played just 17 seconds in the opener.
Marc Gasol - C - Los Angeles Lakers
Maybe we should blame the five fouls, but still hard to ignore Gasol playing just 12 minutes and posting a line of zero points, one rebound, and one assist. He's the starter, but Montrezl Harrell is the center to roster here.
Robert Williams II - C - Boston Celtics
A popular sleeper pick this year, Williams played the fewest minutes of anyone on this Celtics team. Until he can at least jump Semi Ojeleye in the pecking order, he'll be impossible to trust in fantasy.
Tomas Satoransky - PG/SG - Chicago Bulls
It was probably just because he didn't clear quarantine until Wednesday, but Satoransky didn't play in the opener. If he's behind in his conditioning, we might see him eased back in slowly, which is obviously bad for fantasy managers who picked him up.
LaMelo Ball - PG/SG - Charlotte Hornets
83 percent of fantasy managers have Ball on their rosters, but he only played 15:48 in the opener, scoring zero points on 0-for-5 shooting:
Ball isn't as far along as we might have liked him to be. He'll get there, but in the short term he might kill your fantasy lineups.
Hassan Whiteside - C - Sacramento Kings
As expected, Richaun Holmes started at center. Not as expected, Whiteside played just 17:34, and while he grabbed nine rebounds, he needs more minutes if he's going to be productive. Whiteside is definitely a guy who builds his fantasy value through just the sheer amount of doing things, so he has to be doing things!
Kendrick Nunn - PG/SG - Miami Heat
Played just eight minutes in the first game. The second-year guard was a starter last year, but something has obviously changed.
Jaxson Hayes - C - New Orleans Pelicans
I guess New Orleans is all in on Steven Adams at center, as Adams played 30 minutes and Hayes played six. Hard to see much fantasy relevance for Hayes right now.
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