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Milos Zvekic analyzes Week 17 streaming opportunities for head-to-head fantasy basketball leagues. He reviews the upcoming NBA schedule and players to add.
The battle for those final few playoff spots is heating up, and every category won could mean the difference between having the chance to compete for the title and being left in the dust, full of shame, with that bitter taste of "I've just missed it! I would be in had I only...".
Don't let yourself be one of those who blames everything but himself for not making it. Take matters into your own hands! Pick the right strategy. Stream the right players. Get help in the right categories. Beat your next weeks rival. And then again. And again. And again... Until you win that league!
Here are our fantasy basketball streamers for Week 17.
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NBA Schedule Guide - Week 17
Week 17 is a weird one as a double-digit number of teams plays on each and every night. That makes it almost impossible to predict which days to target, as most fantasy teams will have trouble filling out their lineups for different days.
So, I will take a different approach here. Instead of targeting players from specific teams that play on certain days, I'll take a longer look at a few teams that are rumored to make a trade or two. I will give my two cents on the potential deals and who the pickups would be if those were to happen.
As this is a streaming piece first and foremost, I will sort all these teams by their schedule for next week, so you can look for short-term value as well as potential rest-of-season value.
Here's the low-down:
Teams with 4 games:
Atlanta Hawks
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
New Orleans Pelicans
Orlando Magic
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Washington Wizards
Teams with 3 games:
Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat
Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Philadelphia 76ers
Portland Trail Blazers
Toronto Raptors
Teams with 2 games:
Utah Jazz
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 12
Tuesday: 16
Wednesday: 14
Thursday: 12
Friday: 16
Saturday: 18
Sunday: 10
Back-to-Backs (beware of older or banged up players who might rest):
Monday/Tuesday: DET, IND
Tuesday/Wednesday: CHA
Wednesday/Thursday: SAS
Thursday/Friday: MIN
Friday/Saturday: CHI, CLE, MIL, NOP, NYK, WAS
Saturday/Sunday: ATL, ORL
Sunday/Monday the following: DAL, MIA, POR
Days with five or fewer games
Sunday: 5 games
Teams playing three games over the weekend (from Thursday to Sunday)
Atlanta Hawks
Orlando Magic
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 17
With all days having between five and nine games played, streaming this week is very individual. Most teams will have different woes with their schedule. But one thing all teams will have in common is trying to take advantage of the trade deadline deals. So it might be wise not to use up all your moves early on in the week.
Furthermore, some of the rumors may come true, so if you acquire some players that could benefit before the news breaks out, your league-mates will hate you for your brilliant sense of what is yet to come.
For these reasons, our streamers this week will look a bit different from what we're all used to.
We will look into the situations of a couple of teams that are most likely to make some moves prior to the deadline, talk a little about what players will probably be moved and who the pickups are if those rumors come through.
To keep the streaming spirit of the article, we will sort these teams by games played next week.
Streaming Options for the Week
Atlanta Hawks
4 games next week - Mon, Thurs, Sat, Sun
The Hawks are one of the teams most likely to make some moves before the deadline. They have a pretty young team and are at the beginning of a full rebuild. Guys like Dewayne Dedmon and Kent Bazemore, who will both turn 30 this summer, don't really fit into the long-term plan.
Still, both of them have decent value to the right team, mostly a contender, so the Hawks will test the market.
Kent's departure shouldn't change too much when compared to the previous 30 days as Baze has been injured for the entire month of January, returning on Jan 31 against the Kings. So we have a pretty clear picture of who will probably soak up his minutes. Kevin Huerter and DeAndre' Bembry will most likely see a boost unless a young stud at the SG/SF spot comes to Atlanta in a trade. It will not be too easy to move Bazemore however, as he has a pretty hefty contract and is on the books for one more year after this one.
As for Dedmon, he is a great center and is attracting interest around the league. His contract is much more serviceable and he is an unrestricted free agent next year, so he is interesting to teams looking to clear cap space next season as well. Should he leave, Alex Len will most probably take over as the starting C and it would also open up more minutes for the rookie Omari Spellman.
Pickups from Atlanta:
Taurean Prince, SG/SF, ATL, (73% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, STL, a bit of everything
Kevin Huerter, SG, ATL, (26% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, PTS
DeAndre' Bembry, SF, ATL, (9% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL, REB
Alex Len, PF/C, ATL, (18% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK
Omari Spellman, PF, ATL, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK
Orlando Magic
4 games next week - Tue, Thurs, Sat, Sun
The last time Orlando made the playoffs, was back in 2011-12 season, and they routed 4-1 by the Pacers in the first round. It seems that their streak will continue as they are four games behind Miami in the 8th seed. With such low chances of making the playoffs and almost no chance at all of making a significant push, Orlando will most likely look to get a deal done for one of their best players who almost certainly will not feature in their future plans. This player is, of course, Nikola Vucevic.
Vooch has been the best player in Orlando for the past couple of seasons, but the Magic failed to provide him with enough talent and experience to reach the playoffs. Therefore, he has been a regular name in the rumor mill for quite some time now. It is likely, however, that the Magic will finally pull the trigger on a deal this year, as Vucevic becomes an UFA at the end of the season.
Should the Magic find a new home for the Montenegrin mountain, their rookie and the 6th overall pick in the 2018 draft Mohamed Bamba figures to get more minutes. Also, Jonathan Isaac (coincidentally the 6th overall pick from the 2017 draft), who already plays a pretty significant role this season with 25 minutes per game, should see a slight uptick, especially when the Magic goes to small-ball.
So, the pickups in the event of a Vucevic trade are:
Mohamed Bamba, PF/C, ORL, (35% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK
Jonathan Isaac, SF/PF, ORL, (54% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK
New Orleans Pelicans
4 games next week - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat
Anthony Davis informed the Pelicans that he prefers to be traded. This news created chaos before the trade deadline, as the Pels front office needs to make a long-term strategy that will not involve one of the best players in the league. At the moment there are rumors involving quite a few of their players. Elfrid Payton, Julius Randle, and Nikola Mirotic have all been mentioned, as has, of course, The Brow himself.
There's no real way to predict what, if anything, will happen before the trade deadline, but it is worth noting that both Payton and Mirotic become UFAs at the end of the year and Randle has one more year left after this one.
However, for our streaming purposes, the mess in New Orleans comes as a blessing. All four players mentioned above will be held out until after the trade deadline. This means there is plenty of minutes to share among guys who could be available on your wire.
Here are the best pickups until the picture clears up for the Pelicans sometime after the trade deadline on Feb 7:
Darius Miller, SG/SF, NOP, (6% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, STL
Jahlil Okafor, C, NOP, (69% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK, PTS
Tim Frazier, PG/SG, NOP, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST specialist
Dallas Mavericks
3 games next week - Wed, Fri, Sun
The big news from a few days ago shook up the basketball world, as the Mavs and the Knicks made a pretty big trade. Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, and Trey Burke have joined the Mavericks and Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, and Wesley Matthews went the other way, along with two first-round draft picks. Although this move is very interesting and tells us where both these franchises want to go in the short and long run, we will remain focused on the immediate fantasy implications of this deal.
Tim Hardaway Jr. will most likely take up some minutes and shots, but it shouldn't have too much impact overall since most of those have been left behind by the departure of Wes Matthews and DSJ. It remains to be seen if Lee and Burke will even be a part of the rotation, with Dallas pretty much out of the playoff race 5.5 games behind the 8th seed.
The real value for the rest of the season lies within the big men left in Dallas. The Unicorn will probably not play at all this season, and with DeAndre now in New York, his 31 minutes per game will be divided between Salah Mejri, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell. While Mejri is only a deep league rebound and block specialist, Kleber and Powell could find their place in shallower leagues as well.
DJ's goodbye party beneficiaries:
Maxi Kleber, PF, DAL, (8% Owned) -Strong Cats: 3PM, BLK
Dwight Powell, PF/C, DAL, (28% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, STL/BLK
Salah Mejri, C, DAL, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK, FG%
New York Knicks
3 games next week - Tue, Fri, Sat
The Dallas - New York deal has a slight impact on the Knicks as well, but it's a lot less clear what exactly will happen here. One thing that is for certain is that DSJ will become the starting PG which will mean less playing time for the likes of Emmanuel Mudiay and Frank Ntilikina.
The arrival of DeAndre Jordan could potentially mean the complete shutdown of Enes Kanter and less playing time for Mitchell Robinson and Luke Kornet. But it remains to be seen what the Knicks plan to do with Jordan's expiring contract.
As for Wes Matthews, should he become a part of the rotation, he will only use up a portion of Hardaway Jr.'s minutes, which could mean a few extra minutes for the Knicks young wings Damyean Dotson, Allonzo Trier, Kevin Knox, and Mario Hezonja.
Now both Wes and DJ are buyout candidates and if that were to happen, almost all guys in New York would see increased opportunity, excluding their PGs.
Beneficiaries of THJ's departure:
Kevin Knox, PF, NYK, (44% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM, REB
Allonzo Trier, PF, NYK, (17% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM, FT%
Damyean Dotson, SG, NYK, (4% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM
Mario Hezonja, SG, NYK, (25% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL, 3PM
Hope you guys enjoyed the article and the advice, and I hope that this will help you win your matchups next week and bragging rights for the week after.
