RADIO
Welcome to Rotation Watch! Each week this article will break down who is gaining and who is losing minutes around the NBA. You want the players on your team that are getting their opportunity to shine, not the ones who are sitting on the bench and watching from the sidelines.
The dust of the early season highs and lows is starting to settle, but injuries are still haunting fantasy rosters. The Celtis have replaced Gordon Hayward's minutes with a combination of players and Jaylen Brown has seen a nice bump in minutes and production. Jabari Parker seems to be soaring high in the Atlanta Hawks system while they wait for John Collins to return from suspension. And Coby White is learning on the fly as a rookie while trying to pick up some of the slack with Otto Porter sidelined for the foreseeable future.
So without further ado, let's start searching those box scores from November 4th to November 10th and look for those hidden gems that are grabbing some minutes to help your fantasy basketball team.
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including NBA Writer of the Year, Best NFL Series, MLB Series, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!
NBA Playing Time Changes
Coby White (PG - Chicago Bulls)
Season: 25.5 Minutes per Game
Week 4: 30.3 Minutes per Game
White had some detractors in draft season pointing out several flaws in his game from his time in North Carolina. He has started his rookie year with some good, but not great fantasy performances. Over his first 10 games, he was averaging 11.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists while shooting 34.4 FG%, 21.2 3PT%, and 69.6 FT%.
Fast forward to last week though and he took off and compiled his best week of the season. In the three games he played against the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets, White averaged a solid 20 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals. He's getting 16.7 shots per game and hitting them at a 40% clip, but the more impressive line is the 45.2% he has been shooting from behind the three-point line.
The injury of Otto Porter Jr. has opened up the offense for White and he is using this time to shine. This shouldn't end any time soon either with Bulls Head Coach Jim Boylen saying that he thinks Porter's recovery is weeks away. White is under 25% owned in ESPN leagues and under 50% owned in Yahoo leagues. Fantasy managers in 12-team leagues or deeper need to pick him up now before the rest of their league mates catch on.
Dejounte Murray (PG - San Antonio Spurs)
Season: 22.5 Minutes per Game
Week 4: 20.7 Minutes per Game
Dejounte Murray entered this season returning from a torn ACL, so fantasy managers had to expect that his workload would be limited for the early part of the season. He was averaging 22.5 minutes per game and coming off a promising first three weeks of the season.
Week 4 was a little concerning though because Murray did not eclipse the 22-minute mark in a single game and did not play on the second night of a back to back over the weekend. Couple that with three sub-par performances and managers were left frustrated with the San Antonio guard.
He seems to have declined in November, averaging 9.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.5 assists compared to his 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists he was averaging in October. If there is a hot hand on the waiver wire and he is the worst player on a fantasy roster, it could be time to cut ties and just check back with him later to see if he is producing more in his third month coming off the injury that cost him all of last season.
Miles Bridges (SF - Charlotte Hornets)
Season: 31.3 Minutes per Game
Week 4: 24.3 Minutes per Game
Miles Bridges had a bizarre Week 4 of the fantasy basketball season. He had been averaging over 31 minutes per game but saw that plummet to under 25 minutes included just 14:47 against the New York Knicks. It seems that the combination of Nicolar Batums, Malik Monk, and Marvin Williams ate into his minutes.
Fantasy managers should be on high alert if this trend continues going forward. Bridges is averaging 2.1 turnovers per game and only 2.2 assists to balance that trend out. It could be that Head Coach James Borrego is trying to shake things up or he could be growing tired of the awful assist to turnover ratio.
Jaylen Brown (SF - Boston Celtics)
Season: 32.6 Minutes per Game
Week 4: 35.8 Minutes per Game
Last week's article predicted that we would be talking about either Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum after Gordon Hayward went out with a broken hand in Week 3. Well here we are and it looks like Jaylen Brown is taking on more minutes and adding some welcome production with it.
The uptick in production isn't substantial by any means, but any uptick is welcome by his fantasy managers. For the season he is averaging 20.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals along with 1.6 threes. However, in Week 4 those all increased to 21.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.3 three-pointers.
Brown isn't readily available on fantasy basketball waiver wires, but he could fetch a significant piece in a trade if teams are willing to buy high. He has reached the 18 point mark in five of his last six games, and, until Hayward returns, the best option for Jaylen Brown owners may be to sit tight and enjoy the ride.
Jabari Parker (PF - Atlanta Hawks)
Season: 27.8 Minutes per Game
Week 4: 30.3 Minutes per Game
John Collins is still serving his 25-game suspension and that means Jabari Parker is getting a lot of playing time. It increased in Week 4 and his results spoke for themself. He opened the week with two 20+ point outings against Denver and Phoenix, before coming back to earth a little against the Los Angeles teams with 11 points in each game.
He averaged 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 1.8 assists for his fantasy managers and they should be thrilled with that production. Even when Collins makes his return, he will be worked in slowly from so much time off and that should allow Parker even more time to continue this great start to the season.
He is still available in over 25% of ESPN leagues and 20% of Yahoo leagues. That should be 100% by now and if he is available on your waiver wire, finish this final paragraph and go and correct the mistake of not having him on your team by now. Parker is one of those players that has never reached his full potential, but this may be the season it finally comes together and you will want him on your team if that's the case.
