RADIO
Knowing when to buy low on players is a key skill when it comes to succeeding in fantasy sports. Fantasy basketball is no different, of course. Some players have gotten off to disappointing starts this season, and there’s really nothing worse than spending a high draft pick on a guy that is dragging your team down with him.
There’s certainly risk in buying low on players. For example, would you get into actual real money betting on Markelle Fultz becoming a fantasy asset at some point this season? Probably not. That said, there are some guys out there worth kicking the tires on. Here are a couple of interesting fantasy hoops buy-low candidates.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
Karl-Anthony Towns was arguably the best fantasy center of them all last season, but that hasn’t quite been the case through 26 games this year. The T-Wolves’ core typically make for solid fantasy plays considering Tom Thibodeau’s ultra-tight rotations. Thibodeau seems to never trust his reserves, which results in guys like Towns, Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins playing monster minutes on a nightly basis.
While Towns’ numbers have still been solid (19.8 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.3 blocks), he isn’t lighting up the box score with the same regularity that we saw a season ago. Obviously, the arrival of Butler has plenty to do with that. Adding a high-usage player like Butler to the roster was always going to cut into Towns’ looks on offense.
Last season, KAT ranked 36th in the league with a usage rate of 26.2 percent. Butler was 32nd at 26.6. Now that they’re playing together, they’ve naturally cut into each other’s reps. Towns is now fourth on his own team, and tied for 81st overall, with a usage rate of 21.9 percent. Jamal Crawford leads Minnesota in usage, which...yikes.
Butler was timid offensively to start the season, but he’s really found his footing of late. That has resulted in a dip in numbers for Towns. These things tend to ebb and flow throughout the season. Defenses have been routinely sending double-teams to Towns of late. Once guys like Butler and Wiggins start making those doubles pay, Towns should see another surge in usage.
One would imagine those that drafted Towns aren’t overly eager to sell on him quite yet, but he’s definitely a guy worth checking in on. He still won’t come cheap, but the payoff could be huge, especially in the event of an injury to another of Minnesota’s core pieces.
Ricky Rubio, Utah Jazz
Towns’ old teammate, Ricky Rubio, hasn’t put together a dazzling statistical start to his first year with the Jazz. Rubio’s numbers have been down just about across-the-board this season, which is somewhat concerning. He’s scoring more, but his assists have cratered from 9.1 last season to just 5.0 this year. What gives?
First off, point guards tend to take time to acclimate to new teammates. A guy like Rubio needs time to learn how to play alongside certain players, which doesn’t happen from day one.
It’s also worth noting that the Jazz have been involved in an awful lot of blowouts lately. Most figured Utah would take a step back without Gordon Hayward, but they’re quietly 13-12 and in the hunt for a playoff spot. During a recent 6-game win streak, the Jazz won games by margins of 30, 13, 29, 19, 6 and 47 points. Rubio didn’t get to the 30-minute mark in any of those games. It’s tough to stuff the stat sheet when you’re not out there.
However, Rubio did see 34 minutes in Utah’s last game, which was a close loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. We can’t reasonably expect minutes in the upper-30s from him very often, but 30-34 seems reasonable enough on a nightly basis. If he can get there, he can still contribute in enough statistical categories to make him worth your while.
Rubio has been overshadowed by explosive rookie Donovan Mitchell, but the flashy Spaniard can still be a viable fantasy asset in his own right.
Carmelo Anthony, Oklahoma City Thunder
As was the case with Towns, we knew Carmelo Anthony was going to see his shot attempts slashed this season. Melo is a guy used to taking 18-22 shots per game, but now that he’s playing alongside Russell Westbrook and Paul George, he’s down to about 16 attempts a night.
Historically, Anthony has been a two-category kind of contributor. Scoring is his primary skill, but he can also lend a hand in the rebounding department. Anything else we get out of him is gravy. Obviously, he’s not going to be the kind of fantasy asset he was when he was in Denver and New York.
Even so, there will still be the occasional game in which Melo looks like Melo. His scoring numbers have been down of late - he’s scored just 32 points total through 3 December games - but he’s still getting his shots up on most nights. Last time out against the Jazz, Melo chucked 19 times. He still only scored 14 points, but we know Utah is an elite defensive club.
The Thunder have gotten off to a ragged start, and Anthony’s recent selfless play is a clear attempt to jumpstart what has been a subpar offense. If Melo is now going to be serving as more a distributor than a scorer, then it’s probably time to sell on him. However, we aren’t ready to jump ship quite yet. This is still Carmelo Anthony we’re talking about. He’s going to start looking for his own shot again before long.
Melo owners knew going in that they were going to get a slightly hampered version of him in OKC, and he’s taken a bit of a backseat to Westbrook and George lately. Still, if someone in your league is eager to offload him at a cheap price, he’s still a guy you should be jumping on while you still can.
