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In weekly head to head fantasy matchups, there’s no worse feeling than losing a WHOLE category by a single three-point shot! Especially given the high frequency of outside shooting in the modern-day NBA, you feel like you definitely you could have done a little more to affect your week’s matchup. Here’s where this article is going to come in handy: I’m going to be discussing the best three-point streamers in fantasy basketball.
Streaming players is one of my favorite parts of season long fantasy leagues; it just doesn’t feel as fun unless you’re frequently making changes and picking up sneaky good players. Today we are looking for players that excel in providing extra three-point shots while stabilizing categories such as field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and turnovers. Some great three-point shooters will be taken off the discussion table because to be a good streamable player, the player has to be available on the waiver wire.
To define that further, if a player is owned by 50% or more owners in Yahoo leagues, they are off the table. So, unfortunately, players such as Allen Crabbe, Justin Holiday, Ryan Anderson, Al Farouq Aminu, Bojan Bogdanovic, and E’Twuan Moore will be set to the side. (Although these guys are worth looking at depending on the size of your fantasy league). One final factor to consider when looking for solid three-point streamers is how well they are set up for success on their team: if they have the opportunity to shoot a lot normally and where they are on their roster’s depth chart (accounting for injuries). Now that we’ve laid down the criteria, let’s pick apart the waiver wire for the best three-point streamers.
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Fantasy Basketball’s Low-Key Three-Point Sharpshooters
Wayne Ellington, SG, Miami Heat
The first guy on our list is the premier, elite three-point streamer of the 2017-2018 NBA season, none other than the Miami Heat’s Wayne Ellington. Ellington has shooting splits of 43.2%/43.1%/91.7% and has really benefitted with more minutes per game having Dion Waiters out indefinitely with a sprained left ankle. Ellington is averaging 2.8 threes made per game, shooting a crazy average of 6.4 three-point attempts per game. Also, he is only averaging 0.8 free throw attempts and 0.5 turnovers per game, meaning he won’t really hurt those categories.
Ellington has the potential to throw in a week-changing number of threes per game. Just recently, he put up seven 3’s in Portland, five 3’s in Charlotte, and eight (!!) 3’s in Dallas. He’s excellent at producing threes because Miami, as a team, shoots the 5th most threes per game in the league. 29.3% of his in-game possessions come off handoffs, where he produces 1.22 points per possessions. Additionally, 18.5% of his possessions come off screens, where he produces 1.19 point per possessions. For the most part, Ellington is looking to run plays where he will take well set up three pointers. Wayne Ellington is only owned in 12% of fantasy leagues, and is worth looking at for managers in need of threes.
Kyle Korver, SG, Cleveland Cavaliers
The number two guy on this list is more well known, one of the OG sharpshooters, Kyle Korver. Korver is owned in 31% of leagues. Although he splits time as the 2 guard for Cleveland, he’s been shooting better than J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert is still out with a long-term injury. Korver has averaged 22.7 minutes per game this season, and he has shooting splits of 48.3%/44.6%/87.2%. Funnily enough, Korver is shooting worse from three-point land than he did last year. During his first season in Cleveland, Korver shot 48.5% from 3, meaning he might possibly be able to shoot even better than he is right now! Korver is creating 2.5 threes made per game out of 5.6 three-point attempts per game. Like Ellington, Korver only goes to the line 1.2 times per game and only has an average of 0.7 turnovers per game. The Cavaliers shoot the 3rd most threes per game in the league and 41.7% of his in-game possessions come off screens where he produces 1.27 points per game. Korver has the potential to drop a bunch of threes if he gets hot on any given night!
Deep-Dive Gems for 3PM
The following players are not as productive as Ellington and Korver, but worth a look at due to their recent increase in numbers: Anthony Tolliver (1% owned), Darius Miller (2% owned), and the rookie, OG Anunoby (4% owned):
Anthony Tolliver, PF, Detroit Pistons
Tolliver has had some great games since playing minutes for Detroit’s injured Avery Bradley (who shouldn’t see the floor for at least a few more games). A whopping 50.3% of Tolliver’s shots are spot up shots and he’s had 45.9% field goal shooting from these possessions, producing 1.27 points per possession here. Tolliver has made 15 3’s in his last 4 games!
Darius Miller, SF, New Orleans Pelicans
Miller has also seen an uptick in minutes for New Orleans with 26.7 minutes per game over the last month. During the same period, he’s averaged 2.2 threes made, 0.6 free throw attempts, and 0.6 turnovers per game. He’s mostly shooting spot up shots (46.3% of his possessions for 1.38 points per possession) and off screens (17.9% of his possessions for 1.22 points per possession).
OG Anunoby, SF, Toronto Raptors
Lastly, the young one, Anunoby is playing on a surging Toronto Raptors team that shoots the 6th most 3’s per game. He’s quickly transformed into a strong rotation player that averaged 24.2 minutes per game over the past month. He has shooting splits of 50%/45.6%/63%. He’s shooting 52.7 of his possessions from spot up shots producing 1.13 points per game. My prediction is that Anunoby will only get better over the season as he is already taking minutes away from Norman Powell due to his 3&D potential. Recently he made 6 out of 7 threes in a game against Charlotte. Tolliver, Miller, and Anunoby might be more suitable for deeper leagues, but they all have a lot of potential at this point of the year.
Check out any of these five players if you’re seeking out some serviceable help in the three point category for your weekly leagues.
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