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Changing Tides: A Look Into Surprising NBA Playoff Performances

The playoffs are in full swing but it's not too early to look forward to next year's fantasy season.

With teams going all out and putting out their strongest rotations, we can see how teams truly value each of their pieces, so big performances and surprising turns can be taken with more validity than during the last few months of the regular season.

Let's take a look at some of the more surprising performances so far this postseason, and try to analyze what it could mean for their stock in next year's fantasy season.

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Changing Tides: A Look Into Surprising NBA Playoff Performances

Rajon Rondo, PG, New Orleans Pelicans

So the myth of playoff Rondo is real, and a locked-in Rondo looked fantastic on both ends of the floor in the Pelicans evisceration of the Portland Trail Blazers. He's nearly averaged a triple double this postseason with 11.3/13.3/7.5 splits in the popcorn stats to go with 0.8 steals and 3-pointers apiece, in 35 minutes a game. Rondo showed flashes of this form last season in the 2 games before he got hurt as the Bulls stole the first 2 games from the 1 seed Boston Celtics, and he has played a huge part in the Pelicans success so far this postseason, taking primary ball-handling duties and unlocking Jrue Holiday as a potent off-ball threat.

Outlook: Doesn't move the needle on his value much

Rondo's contract situation does put a question mark on his value next season, as he is an unrestricted free agent and it's unclear whether one good postseason can make up for a few years of regular season track record suggesting that he is not consistently a good player. His effort level wanes during the regular season, and his value next season will depend a lot on his situation more so than his talent and productivity. If he finds himself in a situation where he can consistently get more than 25 minutes a game, he will still be a strong option in punt points leagues, and a great source of steals, assists and out of position boards.

 

Jrue Holiday, PG/SG, New Orleans Pelicans

All Holiday's performance this postseason has done is narrow the still incomprehensible gap between his value and performance and the public perception of Jrue as a player. Holiday has been excellent for quite some time now, yet doesn't get the recognition as a star that many other players worse than him receive. With averages of 27.8/6.5/4.0 in the spotlight of the postseason, it looks like the gap between how good Holiday is and how good people think he is will finally narrow. Unfortunately, this means he will probably be drafted a little more appropriately next year.

Outlook: Won't inexplicably fall as far in drafts next season as he has in the past

Jrue Holiday is a dynamic 2-way guard who can play both on and off ball, and his extremely high steal rate makes him an elite fantasy guard that has been consistently undervalued over the years due to overblown injury concerns and lack of name recognition. The fact that he has racked up 6.5 assists per game this post season playing off the ball shows that even as a 2, he can get dimes, and the elite steal rate won't be going away any time soon. One thing that makes Holiday unique is his out of position FG%, which makes him very easy to slot into a number of builds. Jrue should be valued around where Mike Conley has been the past few seasons ( in the 20s), and next year looks to be the year he will get finally get his due.

 

Derrick Rose, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves

Derrick Rose has been surprisingly productive for the Wolves in their playoff series against the 1-seed Rockets, providing a much needed spark off the bench. Reunited with his old coach Tom Thibodeau from his glory days in Chicago, Rose has gotten a green light to run the offense and he's responded with 14.8 ppg in 24 minutes per game this series. He's also hit 1.3 3s per game, a part of his game that has been severely lacking for him all career.

Outlook: This is a mirage

You can dismiss this as fast as you can because nothing about this performance is sustainable. The 3-point shooting and 52.0 FG% is being buoyed but a ridiculous 71.4% 3-point shooting percentage and Rose has still been as anemic as ever in assists and steals with 2.8 and 0.5 respectively over the 4 game series so far. While this makes for a pretty cool story (Rose performing for his old coach), there is nothing here to suggest that he has turned a corner, and he is still undraftable in most formats next season.

 

Carmelo Anthony, SF/PF, Oklahoma City Thunder

While playoff Rondo has been a thing, Olympic Melo has been proven again and again to be a myth and his performance in the Thunder's first round series against Utah has been an abomination to put it lightly. Melo has averaged just 12.8 points per game on 36.9% shooting and only 1.2 3s per game on a putrid 21.4% 3-point rate. This is Melo we're talking about, so if he's not scoring anymore, then what use does he have?

Outlook: Undraftable

Someone will still take Melo because of the name value, just make sure that someone isn't you. It's telling that in the Thunder's frantic game 5 comeback,  the run was ignited when Melo went to the bench, and he didn't come in until the Thunder had completed the comeback and taken the lead. Melo is a very bad player now, who doesn't contribute in the defensive categories and can't even score much anymore, and he should not be drafted at all next year.

 

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REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

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Cowboys Still Expect Micah Parsons to Play in Week 1
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Chris Godwin

Passes Physical, Will be Activated From PUP List
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Issued Six-Game Suspension
Randy Rodríguez

Randy Rodriguez Placed on Injured List
Brandon Aiyuk

49ers Officially Place Brandon Aiyuk on PUP List
Nathan Eovaldi

Likely Done for the Season
Tyreek Hill

Remains Out of Practice
Najee Harris

Moved to Active Roster
Yordan Alvarez

Activated and Starting on Tuesday
Oneil Cruz

Back From Injured List
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Jonah Tong Promoted to Major Leagues
Spencer Rattler

Saints Name Spencer Rattler as Starting QB
MarShawn Lloyd

Packers Leaning Toward Placing MarShawn Lloyd on Injured Reserve
Tyjae Spears

to Begin the Season on Injured Reserve
Nikola Jović

Heat Have High Hopes for Nikola Jovic
Golden State Warriors

Cody Martin Drawing Interest From Warriors
Minnesota Timberwolves

Timberwolves Interested in Reunion With Bones Hyland
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Joins Lakers
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Links Up With Magic
Brock Bowers

Pete Carroll Classifies Brock Bowers Among His Best Players Ever
De'Von Achane

Lingering Calf Injury Poses Concerns for De'Von Achane
Adam Thielen

Vikings and Panthers Struggling to Finalize Adam Thielen Trade
Malik Monk

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P.J. Washington

Mavs Likely to Offer P.J. Washington a Contract Extension
Kenny Pickett

Raiders Acquire Kenny Pickett From Browns
Cincinnati Bengals

Bengals Give Trey Hendrickson a Raise
Amari Cooper

Signs One-Year Deal With Raiders
NHL

Jan Rutta Lands in Switzerland
Kirby Dach

Skates on Monday
COL

Tyson Barrie Retires From NHL
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Back in Toronto's Lineup
Joe Mixon

to Start Season on Non-Football Injury List
Jaylen Wright

Not Expected to Play in Week 1
Jakobi Meyers

Requests Trade
Jauan Jennings

Not Practicing on Monday, has Avoided IR for Now
Matthew Stafford

Taking 11-On-11 Reps on Monday
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Suffers His First UFC Loss
Johnny Walker

Gets Back In The Win Column
Brian Ortega

Loses Back-To-Back Fights
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Proves Too Much For Brian Ortega
Chris Sale

Penciled in to Start on Saturday
Waldo Cortes-Acosta

Suffers Unanimous-Decision Loss
Sergei Pavlovich

Wins Decision At UFC Shanghai
Terry McLaurin

Signs Three-Year Extension with Commanders
Kevin Borjas

Drops Decision At UFC Shanghai
Sumudaerji

Wins Back-To-Back Fights
Kiefer Crosbie

Still Winless In The UFC
Taiyilake Nueraji

Gets His First UFC Win
Ryan Blaney

Earns his Second Daytona Cup Series Win
Tyler Reddick

Locks Into the 2025 Playoffs Despite Underwhelming Daytona Performance
Erik Jones

Misses the 2025 Playoffs Despite Top-Five Run at Daytona
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Best Performance of 2025 Falls Short of Victory at Daytona
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To Throw Bullpen on Tuesday
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Enters Playoffs As Co-Points Leader
Alex Bowman

Advances to Playoffs Despite Crashing at Daytona
Cole Custer

Finally Shows Signs of Life at Daytona
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Lame-Duck Daniel Suarez Delivers Clutch Second-Place Finish
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Punches Out 13 in Victory
Randy Rodríguez

Randy Rodriguez Battling Arm Soreness
Marcus Semien

Out 4-6 Weeks, Could Miss Rest of Season
Ranger Suárez

Ranger Suarez Strikes Out 11 in Win
Cal Raleigh

Sets Catcher Home Run Record
Yordan Alvarez

Likely to Return on Tuesday
Jacob deGrom

to Start on Monday
Kyle Tucker

Homers Twice in Win
Chris Sale

Likely to Return Next Weekend
Brian Robinson Jr.

to be RB2
Marcus Semien

Placed on Injured List
Jackson Merrill

Heads to 10-Day Injured List
Chase Elliott

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Ryan Blaney

Will Likely Lead a Lot at Daytona
Kyle Larson

a Poor DFS Option at Daytona
Christopher Bell

Consistent Enough to Consider for DFS
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Now Must Win His Way Into Playoffs
Ryan Preece

Being One of the Slowest-Starting Fords Makes Ryan Preece a Strong DFS Option
Ross Chastain

Leads a Lot on Drafting Tracks
Daniel Suarez

Now in Desperation Mode With his Career on the Line
Chase Briscoe

Tendency to Finish Better Than He Runs May Reap Dividends at Daytona
Carson Hocevar

Hard to Forecast Since He's Rarely Given 100 Percent at Daytona
Michael McDowell

has a Solid Drafting Record
AJ Allmendinger

A.J. Allmendinger Arguably Starting Too Well for Place-Differential Points
Austin Dillon

Will Likely Be Too Conservative for DFS Consideration
Moses Moody

Warriors Not Interested in Trading Moses Moody
Kevin Durant

Rockets Expected to Agree on New Contract
Trey Murphy III

Warriors, Spurs Interested in Trey Murphy III
CAR

Luke Kunin Joins Panthers on One-Year Deal
Auston Matthews

Says His Health is "Good" Before Start of Season
Roope Hintz

"Feeling Good" Ahead of New Season
Matthew Tkachuk

Recovering From Surgery
Marco Rossi

Wild Re-Sign Marco Rossi to Three-Year Deal
NBA

Malik Beasley Now Drawing Interest from Teams
Zhang Mingyang

Set For UFC Shanghai Main Event
Johnny Walker

In Dire Need Of Victory
Brian Ortega

An Underdog At UFC Shanghai
Aljamain Sterling

Set For UFC Shanghai Co-Main Event
Waldo Cortes-Acosta

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
Sergei Pavlovich

A Favorite At UFC Shanghai
Kevin Borjas

Set for UFC Shanghai Main-Card Bout
Sumudaerji

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
Kiefer Crosbie

Set To Open Up UFC Shanghai Main Card
Taiyilake Nueraji

Set For His UFC Debut
Connor Ingram

Clears Player Assistance Program
Frank Nazar

Inks Seven-Year Extension With Blackhawks
COL

Victor Olofsson Signs One-Year Deal With Avalanche
Dru Smith

Aims to Be Healthy for Training Camp
Jayson Tatum

Provides Injury Update
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Considered a Trade Candidate
Golden State Warriors

Warriors "Remain Very Confident" About Signing Al Horford
Jahmir Young

Agrees to Deal With Heat

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