RADIO
The NBA season keeps chugging along, though it feels like injuries are starting to take a toll across the league. John Wall. Anthony Davis. Nikola Jokic. But for every injury, there's (probably) someone who's benefiting, right? In New Orleans, for example, DeMarcus Cousins has been on fire, including a 40-point, 22-rebound game against Denver. Why isn't he on this list? Too obvious. Cousins is the kind of player who no one needs to be told hey, don't forget to start him! The other reason? Davis could return any game now.
Let's take a look at players whose recent strong play should continue this week, and at players whose recent struggles could continue on and hurt your fantasy squads. These are the risers and fallers heading into Week 9 of the NBA season.
Note: all statistics used are from before the games played on Friday, December 8th.
Week 9 Fantasy Basketball Risers
RISER - Bradley Beal (G, WAS)
For the first few games after point guard John Wall went down with a knee injury, Bradley Beal didn't seem ready for the role he was being asked to fill, but after scoring just 21 combined points against the Pistons and the Jazz Beal came alive on Tuesday night against Portland, finishing with 51 points on 56.8% shooting, then followed that up with 34 points against the Suns on 59.1% shooting. Wall could return in the middle of next week, but that likely still leaves the Wizards without him against the Clippers on Saturday and likely against the Nets on Tuesday, since Washington plays Memphis the next night and it would seem unlikely that Wall would be brought back to immediately play a back-to-back. Fantasy owners should get at least a couple of more big games out of Beal.
RISER - Donovan Mitchell (G, UTA)
Speaking of players who can help you in the scoring column, Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell is on fire lately. In the month of December (four games), Mitchell is averaging 29.7 points-per-game, including a 41-point outing against the Pelicans. He's less consistent in other areas, as he's not going to give fantasy owners great production in rebounds and assists, but Mitchell had five steals against the Thunder and is averaging a little over one swipe a game on the season. There's the possibility that Mitchell hits the rookie wall at some point and his schedule this week isn't pretty (Milwaukee, Chicago, Boston, and Cleveland are his next four games), but he's been productive even in tough match-ups lately.
RISER - Al Horford (C/F, BOS)
Horford has long been known as a player who fills up the stat sheet, and that's been increasingly true over the past week. After a downturn in the middle of November, when he finished with a single-digit amount of points in four consecutive games, Horford has been trending up--14 or more points in three of his last four, eight or more assists in his past three games, eight or more rebounds in three of his last four, and multiple blocks in four of his past six outings. Horford's consistency is back, which will be a big bonus for your lineups this week, especially with games against two teams who rank in the bottom six of Defensive Rating (Chicago and Denver).
Week 9 Fantasy Basketball Fallers
FALLER - Carmelo Anthony (F, OKC)
Last week I wrongly pegged Paul George as the Thunder player whose stats would suffer as the team tried to figure out what was going on with their poor start, but this week I can confidently say that I was wrong and that it's Carmelo Anthony who should be worrying fantasy players. He's rebounding the ball better than expected, but he hasn't cracked 20 points in any of his past six games, and finished with just nine points twice in that span. Anthony has long been regarded as a prolific scorer, and his role on the Thunder was expected to reflect that as he feasted on the wide open looks he'd get from playing with Russell Westbrook and Paul George, but that isn't happening.
FALLER - Trevor Booker (F/C, PHI)
In one of the deeper leagues I'm in, Trevor Booker was a good guy to have on the back-end of my lineup, getting me some consistent (though not prolific) points and rebounds when healthy. Now, though, he's been traded from the Nets to the 76ers, where he'll likely see his minutes fall in a front court that's a little more crowded than Brooklyn's. Don't expect Booker to put up fantasy relevant numbers on a routine basis anymore.
FALLER - Otto Porter (F, WAS)
While Bradley Beal has played better without John Wall, forward Otto Porter has done the opposite. In those two games where Beal has exploded? Porter had a combined six points. SIX. On seventeen shots! Porter hasn't even been to the free throw line in December, and he's 3-for-10 over that time frame from downtown. Porter looks like a player who is at his best when he can remain the third option on offense. Until Wall returns, though, it's tough to trust him, especially since he's not contributing much in any of the other fantasy-relevant statistical categories either.
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