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Welcome back to our advanced stat sleepers column here at RotoBaller!
Every week, I'll scour various sites for advanced stats, tracking data, play type data, and whatever else I can find to help you identify some potential fantasy sleepers moving forward. Maybe we find that a player is collecting a lot of potential assists but they aren't turning into actual assists just yet. Maybe we see that a player has a high usage rate when he shares the floor with certain players and because of an injury, that player will be doing so more. Maybe we can identify a player who'll be really useful in a couple of weeks by noticing a trend early.
So, let's get going. Here are some interesting things I discovered this week while diving into some of my favorite data sites.
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Jerami Grant Is Fifth In Clutch Points!
Now, volume factors in here, as the Pistons have played 12 games that have featured clutch minute -- games with a point differential of five or less in the last five minutes.
But still, Grant has been Detroit's go-to guy in these situations, and it's resulted in him scoring 41 points in those 12 situations. He's shooting 46.4 percent in the clutch, better than his overall mark of 44.4 percent.
Grant's scoring 23.8 points per game for Detroit, who have not been very good. Maybe in a future where they are, Grant won't be getting this many chances to be his team's top offensive player. But right now, he is, and it's worth taking note of. I mean, look at who he's in company with in clutch points:
That's a really good list for Grant to be on!
Immanuel Quickley's Getting Lots Of Usage
Over the last five games, Immanuel Quickley has a usage rate of 31.6 percent. That's higher than Damian Lillard. Higher than Giannis. Higher than Jokic.
The Knicks rookie is still coming off of the bench for Tom Thibodeau, but he's making the most of the minutes that he's getting, serving as New York's primary scoring threat in the backcourt. Over the last three games, he's averaging 15.3 field goal attempts per game over the past three games. A 1-for-11 night against Utah hurts his overall scoring numbers, but Quickley has proven that he's capable of scoring 25-plus points on any given night.
And this is with him STILL not having played 25 minutes in any game. Imagine the possibilities if he finally gets the starting nod over Elfrid Payton and suddenly becomes a heavy-minute player, because we know how Thibs loves to play his starters an insane amount.
Quickley's arrow is very firmly pointed up right now.
The Jazz Are Such A Good Offensive Rebounding Team
Over the past five games, the Jazz have two of the top five qualifying players in terms of offensive rebounding rate with Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors.
We don't need to talk about Gobert because he know what Rudy Gobert brings, but let's talk Derrick Favors for a minute.
While he's missed the past two games with a back injury, he had multiple offensive boards in each of the four games before the back issue. Assuming Favors will be back soon, I think people are going to be sleeping on how much he can help you out in fantasy via his rebounding.
Favors isn't much of an offensive threat at this point, but he can block some shots and hit those boards. There's value there.
Also, Rudy Gobert's offensive rebounding is even better, but I don't think we can refer to Gobert as an advanced stat sleeper considering he's Rudy Gobert and we all know just how good he is.
Al Horford's Catch-and-Shoot
Last week, I highlighted how Nikola Vucevic led the NBA in catch-and-shoot points per game. That's still true, but over the last couple of games, he has competition.
After missing time due to the birth of his child, Al Horford is back in OKC. And over the last two games, he's averaging 12 points per game off catch-and-shoots. That includes an 88.9 percent shooting mark on catch-and-shoot threes.
It's no secret that the Thunder are lacking in the personnel department. That's why having a veteran player like Al Horford back is so important.
His numbers won't stay at the insanely-high level they've been at for the past couple of games, but Horford should have a lot of usage moving forward. This isn't 76ers Horford. This is second-option-on-a-bad-team Horford, which is a role that's going to lead to plenty of production for the veteran big.
And like Vucevic last week, Horford's shooting ability creates mismatches that defenses won't be able to account for. Your center being able to shoot the ball at this high level? What does the defense do to stop that? If they pull the defense out deeper to completely stop Horford, doesn't that just open up the paint for drives? And when OKC has one of the top drivers in the league in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, doesn't that just produce more issues?
Anyway, Horford. He's good.
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