RADIO
Milos Zvekic's fantasy basketball waiver wire streamers for head-to-head leagues. He reviews the Week 14 NBA schedule (1/20 - 1/26) and streaming options to pick up.
Hello, my fellow fantasy addicts! We're back this week with another look at how to best use the NBA schedule for our fantasy team's purposes and maximize the games our team plays during our upcoming matchup.
And how do we fantasy addicts do this? By streaming of course!
This week will be a tough one with some scarce gamedays coming up. I've taken a look at the schedule for the week to come and here are my thoughts on the fantasy basketball streamers for Week 14.
NBA Schedule Guide - Week 14
Here's the low-down:
Teams with 4 games:
Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
Phoenix Suns
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Washington Wizards
Teams with 3 games:
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Golden State Warriors
Miami Heat
Philadelphia 76ers
Portland Trail Blazers
Sacramento Kings
Utah Jazz
Teams with 2 games:
Charlotte Hornets
Milwaukee Bucks
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 28
Tuesday: 2
Wednesday: 24
Thursday: 6
Friday: 22
Saturday: 10
Sunday: 16
Back-to-Backs (beware of older or banged-up players who might rest):
Monday/Tuesday: -
Tuesday/Wednesday: LAC
Wednesday/Thursday: LAL, WAS
Thursday/Friday: -
Friday/Saturday: CHI, DET, MIN, OKC
Saturday/Sunday: BKN
Sunday/Monday the following: HOU, ORL, SAS
Days with five or fewer games
Tuesday: 1 game
Thursday: 3 games
Saturday: 5 games
Teams playing on all three days:
Dallas Mavericks (3 games - Tue, Thurs, Sat)
Teams playing on two of these days:
Brooklyn Nets (4 games - Mon, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Los Angeles Lakers (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Cleveland Cavaliers (3 games - Mon, Thurs, Sat)
Dallas Mavericks (3 games - Tue, Thurs, Sat)
Teams with a GOOD START to the week (three games from Monday to Thursday)
Los Angeles Lakers (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Washington Wizards (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sun)
Teams with a GOOD END to the week (three games from Thursday to Sunday)
Brooklyn Nets (4 games - Mon, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Teams with a POOR START to the week (one or no games from Monday to Thursday)
Charlotte Hornets (2 games - Mon, Fri)
Milwaukee Bucks (2 games - Mon, Fri)
Teams with a POOR END to the week (one or no games from Thursday to Sunday)
Charlotte Hornets (2 games - Mon, Fri)
Milwaukee Bucks (2 games - Mon, Fri)
Golden State Warriors (3 games - Mon, Wed, Fri)
Miami Heat (3 games - Mon, Wed, Fri)
Philadelphia 76ers (3 games - Mon, Wed, Sat)
Sacramento Kings (3 games - Mon, Wed, Fri)
Utah Jazz (3 games - Mon, Wed, Sat)
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 14
Mavericks vs Clippers is the only game on Tuesday so it goes without saying that their players should be picked up early in the week. With Mavs playing on all three scarce days, including three-game Thursday and five-game Saturday, their players are looking very sexy right now.
Three other teams play on both Thursday and Saturday - the Nets, the Lakers and the Cavs, so their players are hot commodities to end the week with for sure.
With such a low number of potential streaming candidates, we will include guys from Portland and Washington, although they only play on Thursday, and not on either Tuesday or Saturday. They do have another game on Sunday (eight games) so they could provide additional value to teams that need some help on the last day of the week as well.
Streaming Options for Week 14
Shallower League Streaming Adds for the Week:
Dwight Powell, PF/C, DAL, (60% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
Maximilian Kleber, PF/C, DAL, (41% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FT%, 3PM, buyer beware: should lose some appeal when Kristaps Porzingis returns
Tim Hardaway Jr., SG/SF, DAL, (39% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%
Delon Wright, PG/SG, DAL, (44% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL - buyer beware: in poor form
Patrick Beverley, PG/SG, LAC, (62% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, AST, a bit of everything - buyer beware: low FG%
DeAndre Jordan, C, BKN, (69% Owned) -Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK - buyer beware: dislocated finger, will be re-evaluated next week so check if he is active before adding
Joe Harris, SG/SF, BKN, (65% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%, FG%
Taurean Prince, SF/PF, BKN, (48% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, REB, STL
Caris Levert, SG/SF, BKN, (75% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, REB, AST
Darius Garland, PG, CLE, (49% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, PTS, 3PM
Collin Sexton, PG/SG, CLE, (71% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM, FT%
Larry Nance Jr., PF/C, CLE, (53% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
Danny Green, SG/SF, LAL, (47% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK
Kyle Kuzma, SF/PF, LAL, (72% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS
JaVale McGee, C, LAL, (44% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
Dwight Howard, PF/C, LAL, (57% Owned) -Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
Carmelo Anthony, SF/PF, POR, (77% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%, REB
Ish Smith, PG, WAS, (31% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, PTS, 3PM
Jordan McRae, PG/SG, WAS, (35% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM, FT% - buyer beware: got hurt in his previous game
Troy Brown, SG/SF, WAS, (34% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, REB, STL
Davis Bertans, PF/C, WAS, (73% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, REB, AST
Shallower League Add
Maximilian Kleber, PF/C, DAL - 41% Owned
Strong Cats: REB, FT%, 3PM
I really like Maxi. He seems like such a nice guy, always smiling. And lately, he has every reason to smile as his averages of 11.4 PTS with 2.3 3PM on 47.5 FG% and 89.5 FT%, 4.9 REB, 1.0 AST, 0.5 STL, 1.6 BLK, and 0.9 TO in 28 minutes per outing has him ranked in the top-90 for the previous two weeks. And in my book, this rank doesn't give him justice. That combination of threes and blocks with such a low turnover rate and on such high percentages is quite rare.
Now, these stats aren't completely realistic since they came with Maxi's increased minutes with Porzingis out. When he returns, Maxi will also go back to playing around 25 minutes and take more of a back seat. But the Mavs are unlikely to rush The Unicorn back, so we could see his absence prolonged for another week or two.
While Porzingis is out, Kleber should definitely be owned in most if not all leagues. Especially with the amazing schedule Dallas has next week! So if he is by some miracle still available in your league, it would be wise to pick him up.
Deeper League Add
Kent Bazemore, SG/SF, POR - 24% Owned
Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK
Let's be honest here, Kent is not the fantasy player he used to be back in his Atlanta days. But with Rodney Hood out for the season and now C.J. McCollum going down with an ankle sprain, Baze is pretty likely to get more than enough minutes to contribute to most fantasy teams' counting stats, at least as a streamer.
Furthermore, he has been pretty good lately with averages of 9.5 points with 1.3 threes on 35.5% from the field and 91.7% from the charity stripe (on 3.0 attempts per game), 4.8 boards, 2.5 dimes, 1.8 steals, 0.8 blocks, and 1.3 turnovers in 30 minutes a night in the past week. That is good enough for top-100 value during this stretch.
Of course, Baze won't always be this pesky on the defensive end, and he won't hit 90% of his free throws. But he will contribute across the board and help you edge out your opponent in the categories that are extremely close. Be sure not to care about your FG% though, as he might try and murder it on occasion.
The Blazers play on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday, so it's not an ideal situation for fantasy owners here, but careful planning could provide you with some juicy stats from the Baze.
Since Bazemore has been traded for Trevor Ariza, pretty much everything said above could just transfer to Ariza then.
Insanely Deep League Add
Alfonzo McKinnie, PF, CLE - 1% Owned
Strong Cats: REB, a little bit of everything
I have to be honest - one of the reasons I'm picking Fonzo here is because he just double-doubled for me in my 20-team, 10-cat league which counts DDs as the 10th category. Another is that he's done it with all of Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and Larry Nance Jr. healthy. And two-thirds of this trio might not be on the Cavs' roster come February trade deadline.
Furthermore, McKinnie is averaging 7.8 PTS with 0.3 3PM on 57.7 FG%, 5.5 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.0 STL, 0.5 BLK, and 1.0 TO in 23 minutes over four games in the last week. This is good enough for #136 on Yahoo's rankings.
Even though we can't expect Alfonzo to carry our fantasy teams, it is possible for us to get a competent player who will contribute a little bit in most counting stats without hurting your FG% and TO, and just putting in a slight dent in your FT% (he is a career 58.5% shooter on 0.6 attempts per game).
With Cleveland playing on both Thursday and Saturday, McKinnie should prove helpful in filling in those empty starting spots. And if Love and/or Tristan get traded, the Fonz could be in for a larger role ROS as well.
Other Deep League Options for the Week
Dorian Finney-Smith, SF/PF, DAL, (13% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, a little bit of everything - buyer beware: should lose some appeal when Kristaps Porzingis returns
Seth Curry, PG/SG, DAL, (9% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%
JaMychal Green, PF/C, LAC, (4% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, a bit of everything
Maurice Harkless, SF, LAC, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK/STL, FG% - buyer beware: hurt his back on Jan 16 so check his status before adding him
Landry Shamet, PG, LAC, (10% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM, FT%
Ivica Zubac, C, LAC, (23% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, FT%, BLK
Rodions Kurucs, SF/PF, BKN, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM
Garrett Temple, SG/SF, BKN, (7% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL - buyer beware: missed a few games but should be back soon, check his status before adding him
Alfonzo McKinnie, PF, CLE, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, a little bit of everything
Cedi Osman, SF/PF, CLE, (29% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, PG/SG/SF, LAL, (10% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, STL
Rajon Rondo, PG, LAL, (14% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL - buyer beware: missed a couple of games so check his status before adding him
Quinn Cook, PG, LAL, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL - buyer beware: only has value if Rondo is out or limited
Alex Caruso, SG, LAL, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: a bit of everything
Troy Daniels, PG/SG, LAL, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT% - buyer beware: very inconsistent minutes
Kent Bazemore, SG/SF, POR, (24% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK - should see additional minutes with Rodney Hood out for the season and C.J. McCollum potentially missing time
Anfernee Simons, SG, POR, (4% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM
Anthony Tolliver, SF/PF, POR, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM
Isaiah Thomas, PG, WAS, (16% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, PTS, 3PM, FT%
Ian Mahinmi, C, WAS, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
Anzejs Pasecniks, C, WAS, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, REB, FG%
Gary Payton II, SG, WAS, (4% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, AST, STL
Isaac Bonga, SF/PF, WAS, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
I hope you guys enjoyed the article and I hope that this will help you win your matchups next week and bragging rights for the week after.
