RADIO
Welcome to Rotation Watch! Each week this article will break down who is gaining and who is losing minutes around the NBA. Fantasy managers want the players that are getting the opportunity to shine, not the ones who are sitting on the bench and watching from the sidelines.
I hate sounding like a broken record, but those pesky injuries keep popping up. Bradley Beal continues to sit periodically with a leg injury, and that is giving some Washington Wizards a chance to shine. Blake Griffin underwent knee surgery last week and could miss the rest of the season. His absence has created a vast hole in the Pistons rotation that someone will have to fill. We also have the trade deadline fast approaching, and the Jazz added a player over the holiday season that has surged them up the Western Conference standings.
So without further ado, let's start searching those box scores from January 6th to January 12th and look for those hidden gems that are grabbing some minutes to help your fantasy basketball team.
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NBA Playing Time Changes
Markelle Fultz (PG - Orlando Magic)
Season: 26.8 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 30.7 Minutes per Game
"Oh, my God! Okay, it's happening. Everybody stay calm." - Michael Scott.
It's not every day that you get to incorporate an Office quote into fantasy basketball analysis, but today is one of them. Markelle Fultz is healthy and playing like a top-100 player. Last week he was a top-20 point guard in ESPN leagues and was becoming an exciting flyer in most formats.
These results are due to a string of impressive performances by Fultz in Week 12, where he averaged over 30 minutes per game. He had a career-high 25 points against the Brooklyn Nets. Then on Wednesday, he had six points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and four steals as he stuffed the box score against the Wizards. And the former number one overall pick capped off his week with a 15 point, six rebound, six assist performance on the road in Phoenix.
With Jonathan Isaac out for the foreseeable future, this is a chance for Fultz to silence all his critics and take a step in the right direction. His minutes are trending up, and his counting stats are following suit. If Fultz is still on your waiver wire, he is well worth a speculative grab and stash. He has league-winning upside, and if it's do-or-die time for your team, he is precisely the kind of player you take a risk on.
Jordan Clarkson (SG - Utah Jazz)
Season: 23.7 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 27.3 Minutes per Game
Jordan Clarkson received an early Christmas gift when the Cleveland Cavaliers traded him to the Utah Jazz. Since that trade, Utah is 9-0 and must be loving the early returns on their investment. Mike Conley has been out since December 17th with a hamstring injury, and Clarkson has been a more than adequate replacement.
He finished Week 12 with two 20-point performances against the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards. He has scored more than 20 points in three of his nine games with the Jazz, after only reaching that mark six times in 29 games with the Cavaliers. He saw his averages rise to 17.5 points, 2.3 three-pointers made, and 1.0 steals in 27.3 minutes over the four games in Week 12.
Managers will want to keep a close eye on Clarkson once the Jazz return to full strength, but things are going great for him at the moment. When the trade happened, there were fears that he would lose fantasy value. Luckily, those fears have subsided as Clarkson picks up the slack and helps his new team make a mid-season push for a top-four seed in the Western Conference.
Troy Brown Jr. (SF - Washington Wizards)
Season: 26.1 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 34.3 Minutes per Game
I can picture it now. Fantasy basketball managers are scrolling through the waiver wire with the last seven days filter loaded and looking for a stud to carry them this week. Their eyes light up. "What is this?" they ask hesitantly, "A small forward averaging 15.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 made threes! I must have him!"
Well, stop right there. The player they found is none other than Troy Brown Jr. of the Washington Wizards. He did enjoy a huge week with a massive workload. He had back-to-back double-doubles in Week 13 against the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks, while only missing three in a row by one rebound against the Celtics. However, these results will not last. Bradley Beal, Davis Bertans, Thomas Bryant, and Rui Hachimura are all on the mend for the Wizards and will cut into Brown's minutes and production opportunities as a result.
The wise move would be to drop Brown right now and pick him up in a couple of weeks before the trade deadline. There is some speculation that Davis Bertans could be cashed in for some assets at the trade deadline. A Bertans trade would open up more opportunities for Brown again and make him a viable asset in standard formats.
Sekou Doumbouya (PF - Detroit Pistons)
Season: 15.8 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 27.3 Minutes per Game
Blake Griffin's status for the rest of the 2020 season is up in the air after the star forward underwent knee surgery last week. Although that is a big blow to many fantasy rosters, it creates a massive opportunity in Detroit. Griffin averaged 28.4 minutes per game, and those will need to be filled by someone.
Enter Sekou Doumbouya. The 15th pick in the 2019 NBA draft has been down in the G-League for most of the year. Then the calendar turned to 2020, and the rookie has been getting his fair share of minutes. In Week 13, he averaged 27.3 minutes per game over three contests. He averaged 11.7 points and not a whole lot else.
Picking up Doumbouya is not about what has happened, though. It's about what could happen. With Blake Griffin out and Andre Drummond apparently on the trade block, Doumbouya has become a must-add in fantasy basketball because of the massive opportunity in front of him. He is raw and will have a lot to learn about the NBA, but there's nowhere better to do that than on a team that is going south and wants to give their young guys some looks. Add him now before everyone else looks him up in two weeks if Drummond gets traded. Be the smart fantasy basketball manager, and take a risk that could push your team into the playoffs.
Alex Len (C - Atlanta Hawks)
Season: 18.7 Minutes per Game
Week 12: 21.3 Minutes per Game
Alex Len entered Week 13, averaging 18.7 minutes per game and not providing a ton of value in fantasy leagues. However, he saw his minutes tick up to 21.3 per game last week, and he rewarded the managers that took a flyer on him with two straight double-doubles.
He's now scored in the double figures for five consecutive games. He averaged 11.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in Week 13 over four games. His two double-doubles came against the Houston Rockets (14 points, 10 rebounds) and the Washington Wizards (10 points, 14 rebounds). Both of those teams were missing critical cogs in their frontcourt, but it was encouraging to see Len take advantage of the matchup and give his owners a boost in the rebounding categories.
Unfortunately, what works against Len is that the Hawks are in the middle of a youth movement and are not even close to sniffing the playoffs. If the Hawks decide (or maybe they already have) that this is a lost season and they want to see their young guys, Len is a candidate to lose playing time. All you can do as a fantasy manager is keep a close eye and see where his minutes go from here. If he continues to gain minutes, then the Hawks are buying in, and like what they see, and Len will be worth a pickup in 14-team leagues.
