RADIO
Welcome to Rotation Watch, Rotoballers! Each week, this article will highlight the players that are gaining minutes in their team's rotation. Fantasy managers want to roster the players that are accumulating stats and racking up the playing time. They want to avoid the players falling out of favor and watching the action from the sidelines.
By Thursday afternoon, we should have a wave of players in line for a larger minute share in the second half of the season. That's because the 2021 NBA trade deadline will have passed. Teams must decide if they are one addition away from being genuine title contenders or ride it out and see how this season goes with the players they already roster. Boston, Houston, Miami, and Orlando could all be buyers and sellers, and I can't wait to see how it all plays out when the deadline passes.
So without further ado, let's start searching those box scores from Mar. 15 to Mar. 21 and look for those hidden gems that grabbed minutes to help your fantasy basketball team achieve the ultimate prize: a championship. These suggestions are the cream of the crop, and if you ever need an extra slice of advice, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @EuanOrYouOut, and I'll happily talk about some fantasy basketball with everyone.
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NBA Playing Time Changes
Jordan Poole - PG/SG, Golden State Warriors
Season: 12.2 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 32.2 Minutes per Game
Two-time MVP Stephen Curry went down with an injured tailbone on Mar. 17, and the Warriors have been piece-mealing their backcourt ever since. One man stepping up is Jordan Poole. The 21-year old guard is taking his opportunity and making the most of it in the Bay area. In Week 12, Poole averaged 32.2 minutes over three tilts and provided 24.7 points, three assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and four made-threes nightly.
Curry will return, but the Warriors already announced he would be out another week. That's all the talk fantasy managers need to secure Poole as a stream for the rest of week 13 and possibly 14. The regular season is entering the home stretch, and if your team is low on points and threes, Poole is the man to swim with in your lineups.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker - SG/SF, New Orleans Pelicans
Season: 17.7 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 25.0 Minutes per Game
When is a hip flexor, not a hip flexor? When the player is involved in a series of trade rumors. That's exactly what's going down with Lonzo Ball in New Orleans right now. The former-No. 2 overall pick is rumored to be on the trade block and could be wearing a different jersey when the deadline passes on Thursday. Enter Nickeil Alexander-Walker. He is stepping up in Ball's absence and is one of Ball's more straightforward replacements should he leave via trade.
NAW showed us what's he capable of with a 37-point outing in January when Ball was also out, and he did it again in Week 12. Over three games, the second-year wing tallied 15.3 points, 3.7 boards, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks, and 3.7 triples in 25 minutes per night. Besides being an excellent streamer while Ball recovers from this injury, he could be in line for a tremendous boost in minutes if the trade deadline passes and the Pelicans have made some moves to shake up the rotation.
Talen Horton-Tucker - SG/SF, Los Angeles Lakers
Season: 17.4 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 24.4 Minutes per Game
Talen Horton-Tucker saw a boost in his minutes before LeBron James (ankle) went down with an injury. However, the second-year player will have a chance to add some production and fantasy relevance in his sophomore season. THT was a shooting-star phenomenon in the preseason, but, at times, it's been a struggle during the regular season. Week 12 was a different story, and during a busy week for the purple and gold (five games in seven nights), Horton-Tucker stepped up.
The former-Iowa State cyclone played all five games and averaged 24.4 minutes per contest. In those minutes, he recorded 14.4 points, 4.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and shot 50 percent from the floor on 11.2 shots. In 12-team leagues, he deserves a roster spot because he can provide floor numbers in several categories.
Maxi Kleber - PF/C, Dallas Mavericks
Season: 26.5 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 34.2 Minutes per Game
Kleber has seen his fair share of minutes throughout the season but got an uptick in his opportunities during Week 12. He has settled in as the 4 in Dallas, with Kristaps Porzingis becoming their center. The German was a frequent regular in this article last season, and it's good to see him land back on the fantasy radar in 2021. He's available in 79 percent of Yahoo leagues but is worth the nightly pick-up if you need a big man that can drain the three-point shot.
In Week 12, the 29-year old spiked against the Portland Trail Blazers with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists, one block, and four three-pointers. Fantasy managers shouldn't expect that every evening, but Kleber has been in the starting five ever since he returned from injury on Feb. 1. For right now, he's more of a 14-team grab, but that Portland performance shows the kind of ceiling the stretch forward can hit in the right matchup.
Nicolas Claxton - C, Brooklyn Nets
Season: 15.9 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 21.9 Minutes per Game
Claxton has become the talk of the NBA and daily fantasy town after a prolific string of performances in Week 12. His playing time alone was worth a mention in this week's article, but he's providing fringey top-100 player value in category leagues. A big man playing with James Harden will always get his fair share of easy buckets, and Claxton has grown into an efficient center for the Nets.
In Week 12, the second-year center averaged two blocks per game while throwing in 10.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, and making 62.1 percent of his shots. It's a speculative addition, but Harden has made Clint Capela, Kenneth Faried, and Dwight Howard's box score look far more impressive than they perhaps deserved at times. The Nets are playing hurt right now, and any warm body on a team with that kind of offense should garner a look from fantasy managers.
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