RADIO
Hey, my fellow fantasy nuts! I hope you're off to a good start with a W in your first week of the new NBA fantasy season. To keep the ball rolling, or to turn the tide in case luck wasn't a lady to you, we're here again this week with our fantasy basketball streamers for Week 2.
We have had a week to see who is expected to do well this season and who we really can't count on. So if you have a guy from the second variety, don't cling onto him too hard.
Use that spot to maximize your games played this week, and perhaps even find a diamond in the rough from the waivers.
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 Schedule Guide - Week 2
Similarly to last week, the three days with the fewest number of games will be Tuesday and Thursday with three games apiece, and Sunday with six. Therefore, we will be looking into players from teams who play on two or all three of these days as they are the most likely to help fantasy owners fill out their rosters.
Here's the low-down:
Teams with 4 games:
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers
Milwaukee Bucks
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Utah Jazz
Teams with 3 games:
Atlanta Hawks
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Dallas Mavericks
Los Angeles Lakers
Miami Heat
New Orleans Pelicans
Oklahoma City Thunder
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers
Toronto Raptors
Teams with 2 games:
Boston Celtics
Memphis Grizzlies
Minnesota Timberwolves
Washington Wizards
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 22
Tuesday: 6
Wednesday: 22
Thursday: 6
Friday: 16
Saturday: 16
Sunday: 12
Back-to-Backs (beware of older or banged up players who might rest):
Monday/Tuesday: ATL, DEN
Tuesday/Wednesday: -
Wednesday/Thursday: LAC
Thursday/Friday: SAS
Friday/Saturday: BKN, DET, GSW, MIL, ORL
Saturday/Sunday: -
Sunday/Monday the following: HOU
Days with six or fewer games
Tuesday: 3 games
Thursday: 3 games
Sunday: 6 games
Teams playing on all three days:
Miami Heat (3 games - Tues, Thurs, Sun)
Teams playing on Tue/Thurs:
Denver Nuggets (4 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Atlanta Hawks (3 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs)
Teams playing on Tue/Sun:
Los Angeles Lakers (3 games - Tues, Fri, Sun)
Dallas Mavericks (3 games - Tues, Fri, Sun)
Team playing on Thurs/Sun:
Los Angeles Clippers (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sun)
San Antonio Spurs (4 games - Mon, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Teams playing three games over the weekend (from Thursday to Sunday)
San Antonio Spurs
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 2
Tuesday and Thursday (three games played on both) are the hardest days to field a decent team, followed by Sunday (six games).
Miami is the only team that plays on all three so their players are quite valuable to us this week despite them playing just three games.
There are six other teams that play two games on these three scarcest days - the Nuggets, Hawks, Lakers, Mavericks, Clippers and Spurs. Their players are also decent options so we will be taking a closer look at them as well.
Streaming Options for Week 2
Shallower League Streaming Adds for the Week:
Kelly Olynyk, PF/C, MIA, (54% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, 3PM, FT%
Goran Dragic, PG/SG, MIA, (63% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST
Patrick Beverley, PG/SG, LAC, (69% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, AST, a bit of everything but low FG%
Ivica Zubac, C, LAC, (28% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, FT%, BLK
Landry Shamet, PG, LAC, (28% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%
Danny Green, SG/SF, LAL (77% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, BLK/STL, FT%
Rajon Rondo, PG/SG, LAL, (29% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL, REB, but poor %s - buyer beware: was injured in Week 1
Dwight Howard, PF/C, LAL, (39% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK, STL - poor FT%
Will Barton, SG/SF, DEN, (55% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, a bit of everything
Jerami Grant, SF/PF, DEN, (34% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FG%, STL/BLK
Alex Len, PF/C, ATL, (51% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK, 3PM
De'Andre Hunter, SF, ATL, (41% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS
Kevin Huerter, SG, ATL, (50% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, some AST
Maximilian Kleber, PF/C, DAL, (35% Owned) - Strong Cats: BLK, REB, 3PM
Shallower League Add
Kendrick Nunn, PG, MIA, (42% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%, STL
Nunn has dazzled in preseason with a 40-point performance in his last outing which earned him a chance in the regular season as well. And with Jimmy Butler out, Nunn has stepped in a larger role than anyone expected. He contributed heavily to Miami's great start to the season with averages of 21.0 points with 1.5 triples on 51.4 from the field and no misses from the line, 3.0 boards, 4.0 dimes, 2.0 steals, 0.5 blocks and just 1.0 turnovers in 28 minutes per game over their wins against Memphis and Milwaukee.
This has Nunn inside the top-35. Now this is a very small sample size, and Butler's return will almost certainly put a dent into his playing time, but with such a favorable schedule next week it makes sense to give him a chance.
Deeper League Add
Bryn Forbes, PG/SG, SAS (13% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%
Bryn has played 32 and 33 minutes in San Antonio's first two games of the season. With coach Gregg Popovich, this is never a coincidence, which means he trusts and expects a lot from him.
His averages so far are nothing to scoff at either with 18.0 PTS and 3.5 3PM on 50.0 FG% and 100.0 FT%, 4.5 REB, 2.0 AST and 1.5 TO. Bryn still has no stocks yet this season, and he is typically not the kind of player who you will rely on there. If he did get those as well he would most certainly be owned in much more than 13% of the leagues. But the way he has been stuffing the stat sheet in all other categories should have him owned in deeper leagues since he is ranked at #78 by Yahoo at the moment.
Insanely Deep League Add
Jalen Brunson, PG, DAL, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST
Dallas is pretty thin at the PG spot and Brunson will be battling Delon Wright for the starting spot. So far they have split it right down the middle with them earning a start a piece and both playing just over 26 minutes per game in their first two outings.
With averages of 11.5 PTS, with 1.5 3PM on 42.9 FG% and 50.0 FT%, 6.0 REB, 2.5 AST, 1.0 STL, 0.0 BLK and 2.0 TO, Brunson is already worth rostering in deeper leagues. But his potential is even greater than this, since him earning that starting gig on a regular basis, and getting his playing time up to 30 minutes a game could propel him into top-100 territory.
There is a lot of uncertainty and gamble surrounding Brunson, but it's low-risk mid-reward so if you need some help from the three-point line, give him a look.
Other Deep League Options for the Week
Meyers Leonard, PF/C, MIA, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, 3PM, FT%
Duncan Robinson, PF, MIA, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM
Maurice Harkless, SF, LAC, (16% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK/STL, FG%
JaMychal Green, PF/C, LAC, (7% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, 3PM, STL/BLK
Patrick Patterson, PF/C , LAC, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG/SF, LAL, (5% Owned) -Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, FT%
Avery Bradley, PG/SG, LAL, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, a bit of everything
Troy Daniels, PG/SG, LAL, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%
Malik Beasley, PG/SG, DEN, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM
Torrey Craig, SG/SF, DEN, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: a bit of everything (not too much though)
Dorian Finney-Smith, SF/PF, DAL, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, a bit of STL/BLK
Jakob Poeltl, C, SAS, (13% Owned) - Strong Cats: BLK, FG%, REB
Trey Lyles, PF, SAS, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB
Jabari Parker, SF/PF, ATL, (12% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, REB, a bit of everything
Deandre Bembry, SG, ATL, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK
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.
