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What's up, RotoBallers! We're already close to a third of the way through the fantasy regular season. Hopefully, your teams are staying afloat as the season flies by.
The Drop List returns for another week, and it might not be kind to some of your rosters. Each week, I'll take a look at a handful of NBA players that can be dropped from your fantasy team.
Without further ado, let's get to the fantasy basketball drop list. Every Saturday, we'll have a list of NBA players and a small dive into why they can be cut from some or all fantasy formats. Please take into account: each fantasy league is different. Make sure you check out the waiver wire and have a player in mind to replace one of the following players that you may drop.
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Players to Consider Dropping or Replacing
Gordon Hayward (SF/PF, CHA)
70% rostered
Hayward, at one point, was on the list as one of the most exciting up-and-coming players in the league. That point was the 2016-17 season when he was an All-Star with the Utah Jazz.
Ever since then, he's been dealing with injuries every season. He played 72 games in Boston one year as a bench player but hasn't gotten past 52 games otherwise. Now, Hayward is injured again with a fracture in his left shoulder and he's out indefinitely.
Even when he has played during the 11 games that he made an appearance, he's barely in the top 200 in terms of fantasy value. His current rank is number 198 which is about the equivalent of a 17th-round pick in a 12-team league. Let's also not forget that the Charlotte Hornets aren't competing for much this year so they don't have a reason to rush him back.
Keegan Murray (SF/PF, SAC)
65% rostered
Rookies are hard to judge, especially in redraft leagues. They essentially have to be rookie of the year candidates and consistently give the same value as players that have been in the league for years.
Murray is one of those guys that was supposed to be in the Rookie of the Year race but hasn't been able to find his rhythm just yet. That's evident by the fact that he's only shot over 40% from the floor in half of his games so far and other than his first five games, he's only knocked down more than one three in two games.
For the season, he's giving 16th-round value, but over the last two weeks, he's been ranked at a lowly 362. This includes the last five-game stretch where he's averaged 5.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 0.6 assists on 21.6% shooting overall and 9.5% from beyond the arc. There's better value on the waiver wire almost everywhere.
Tari Eason (SF/PF, HOU)
26% rostered
Another rookie finds his way onto the cut list. Eason has even been promising so far, especially for anyone in dynasty leagues.
In redraft leagues with 14 teams or less, however, it's safe to drop him and pick up some better talent that might be hanging around on there. He's been trending in the wrong direction over the last couple of weeks and the freefall hasn't hit a stopping point just yet. Across the last two weeks, he's ranked 163 in fantasy value, and in the last week, he's at 212th.
For those in category leagues or points leagues that give penalties for inefficiency, he's been a bit of a detriment over the last seven games. He's only shot 39.3% from the floor and 26.7% from deep. He'll probably figure it out with more time, but that mainly benefits those in dynasty formats.
Andre Drummond (C, CHI)
28% rostered
Drummond has mainly been fantasy relevant for two reasons: rebounding and when the starting center is injured.
Well, the starting center, Nikola Vucevic, is not injured. So, if your team isn't in desperate need of rebounding, then Drummond just shouldn't be on it. His ADP of 134 is nowhere close to his real value so it's better to just cut ties now before it gets any worse.
The 29-year-old big man isn't in the top 200 right now for fantasy and he's not even on the radar of most people around the basketball world. His 8.5 rebounds while only playing 15.4 minutes per game are impressive, but they aren't going to win a fantasy championship.
Tim Hardaway Jr. (SG/SF, DAL)
26% rostered
The door to more playing time and more fantasy relevance seems to be open for Hardaway, but he doesn't seem to want to walk through it.
Offense is something that the Dallas Mavericks need outside of Luka Doncic. Hardaway's calling card has been scoring and three-point shooting for years now. Well, except for this year so far.
10.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game are not going to get any fantasy managers very far. Oh, let's also throw in a 31.4% field goal percentage on 10.3 attempts per game with his lowest made-threes per game since the 2016-17 season. Based on those stats, it shouldn't be surprising that he's ranked 259th in fantasy value.
Break out those scissors and cut away.
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