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If you're looking for an edge to beat your next week's NBA fantasy opponent, a smart streaming strategy might be all you need. The right players playing on all the right days could give you an advantage over your rival and give you the win and bragging rights we all crave so much for the next couple of days, weeks or even months.
I hope you're off to a good start in the first two weeks, but nevertheless, our fantasy basketball streamers for Week 3 are here to give you a better chance of winning your next matchup.
So if you have that roster spot you would like to use for maximizing your team's games played this week rather than wait around for your injured or out of form bottom of the bench player to start returning, you're in the right place.
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 3
This week it's a bit more evened-out so it is imperative though that you check your roster before making any moves to make sure which days you need help with and plan accordingly.
Friday is the only day with double-digit games played and most teams will have no trouble fielding a full starting lineup here.
On the other hand, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday all have no more than six and I will focus on teams that play on three of these days.
Here's the low-down:
Teams with 4 games:
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Hornets
Golden State Warriors
Indiana Pacers
Memphis Grizzlies
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Portland Trail Blazers
Teams with 3 games:
Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Lakers
Miami Heat
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks
Phoenix Suns
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Washington Wizards
Teams with 2 games:
Los Angeles Clippers
Sacramento Kings
Utah Jazz
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 12
Tuesday: 12
Wednesday: 18
Thursday: 8
Friday: 22
Saturday: 10
Sunday: 16
Back-to-Backs (beware of older or banged-up players who might rest):
Monday/Tuesday: -
Tuesday/Wednesday: ATL, CHI, IND, ORL
Wednesday/Thursday: LAC
Thursday/Friday: MIA, POR
Friday/Saturday: DAL, GSW, MEM, NOP
Saturday/Sunday: CHA, OKC
Sunday/Monday the following: MIN, TOR
Days with six or fewer games
Monday: 6 games
Tuesday: 6 games
Thursday: 4 games
Saturday: 5 games
Teams playing on three of these days (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday):
Charlotte Hornets (4 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Oklahoma City Thunder (4 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Boston Celtics (3 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat)
San Antonio Spurs (3 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Teams playing on Mon/Thurs:
Portland Trail Blazers (4 games - Mon, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Phoenix Suns (3 games - Mon, Thurs, Sun)
Teams playing on Mon/Sat:
Golden State Warriors (4 games - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat)
Memphis Grizzlies (4 games - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat)
Houston Rockets (3 games - Mon, Wed, Sat)
New Orleans Pelicans (3 games - Mon, Fri, Sat)
Teams playing three games over the weekend (from Thursday to Sunday)
Charlotte Hornets
Oklahoma City Thunder
Portland Trail Blazers
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 3
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday all have six or fewer games and therefore should be harder on most fantasy owners. There are four teams that play on Tues, Thurs and Saturday and their players will fit most owners' needs the best so we will focus on them.
However, I would like to point out that for those with a roster space or two to fill on all four of these scarcest days, and have a full roster on Wednesday and Friday, which is pretty likely if your league doesn't have 8 or more starting spots, the best strategy might be to pick up a player who plays on Monday and switch him out on Tuesday for one of the guys I will mention in the article.
Teams playing on Monday are:
Golden State Warriors
Phoenix Suns
Brooklyn Nets
Minnesota Timberwolves
Memphis Grizzlies
Washington Wizards
Detroit Pistons
Philadelphia 76ers
Milwaukee Bucks
Houston Rockets
Portland Trail Blazers
New Orleans Pelicans
If you have two spots to use for streaming and four or more acquisitions per week, you can do this with both roster spots as it will give you six or more games played (not counting how many games the player you're cutting for this would play for your team this week).
Streaming Options for Week 3
Shallower League Streaming Adds for the Week:
Cody Zeller, PF/C, CHA, (72% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
Devonte' Graham, PG, CHA, (62% Owned) - Strong Cats: FT%, 3PM, PTS, AST
Dennis Schroder, PG, OKC, (54% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, PTS, AST, STL
Marcus Smart, PG/SG, BOS, (72% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL, 3PM - buyer beware: poor FG%
Derrick White, PG/SG, SAS, (57% Owned) - Strong Cats: Jack of all trades
Rudy Gay, SF/PF, SAS, (54% Owned) - Strong Cats: Gay, too, is a Jack of all trades
Bryn Forbes, PG/SG, SAS, (25% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%
Shallower League Add
PJ Washington, PF/SF, CHA, (66% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, 3PM, STL/BLK
The rookie is on fire to start the season with 15.0 PTS with 2.3 3PM on 55.7 FG% and 61.5 FT%, 6.7 REB, 1.2 AST, 1.2 STL, 0.5 BLK, and 2.2 TO in 34 minutes per game. This has him ranked inside the top-70 on Yahoo. We did know that the 12th pick would have a big role on a rebuilding Charlotte team, but congratulations to those that expected him to be THIS good!
All his averages are close to his stats in his senior season in college (the better of his two college seasons) which means this isn't necessarily a fluke, but just a step in the right direction for PJ.
The only category that seems unsustainable when comparing his current run with his stats from the previous year is the three-pointers. In his best season in college, he averaged 2.2 from beyond the arc - but attempts NOT makes! So, Washington is now averaging more made threes than attempts from his college days. It's quite unlikely he can keep this up on the NBA level, especially as teams start to take him more and more seriously with his level of play lately.
Even though it will be tough for PJ to keep it up at this pace, he should still easily finish in the top-100 this year so he is worth a look both for streaming purposes next week and as a long term option if you don't mind the FT%.
Deeper League Add
Dwayne Bacon, SG, CHA, (12% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS
The third-year guard has finally been unleashed with the Hornets entering a rebuild and has started the season pretty well. His averages of 13.0 PTS with 0.8 3PM on 36.6 FG% and 72.2 FT%, 4.5 REB, 2.0 AST, 1.0 STL, no BLK, and 1.5 TO in 29 minutes per game don't exactly scream fantasy appeal or efficiency, but his scoring is nothing to scoff at when it comes to a guy owned in just 12% of the leagues with such a friendly schedule coming up.
If you are considering Bacon you must factor in the fact that he will hurt your FG% and will probably not be very useful in the defensive department. He will bring a few dimes and boards to the table and will be okay from the charity stripe, but that's not why you should be considering him.
He is one of the first options on offense for his team and is the leader in field goal attempts with 13.7 per game. Furthermore, he can go off at any moment, as he did in his previous game against Golden State with 25 points on 10-of-21 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers in 37 minutes.
For this, and his favorable schedule next week, he is worth a flier.
Insanely Deep League Add
Daniel Theis, PF/C, BOS, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK/STL
Now, first of all, let me say that a good portion of Theis' appeal is tied to Enes Kanter being injured. We currently don't have the information on how many more games Kanter will miss after being out for the past four, but be sure to check the developments on his stats before making a move on Theis.
Now here's what I mean when I say that Theis' value is dependent on Kanter being out. In the first game of the season, they were both active with Kanter getting 25 minutes and Theis only 10. Of course, this rendered Daniel next to useless with three points (all from the free-throw line), one board and one block.
The following game Enes was out and Theis did a bit better with six rebounds and two blocks but did ruin it by going 0-of-7 from the field and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.
He's got it together since and in the last two games, also without Enes, he is averaging 8.0 PTS with 0.5 3PM on 63.6 FG%, 8.5 REB, 0.5 AST, 2.5 BLK, 1.0 TO, he hit his only free-throw but didn't have any steals in 27.5 minutes per game.
If Kanter continues to sit and Theis keeps playing like he did in the last two games he could be quite useful in the upcoming week. Don't expect any miracles from a guy owned in just 2% of the leagues though.
Other Deep League Options for the Week
Malik Monk, SG, CHA, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS
Marvin Williams, SF, CHA, (19% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, 3PM, BLK/STL
Nerlens Noel, PF/C, OKC, (21% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK (more valuable as long as Steven Adams is out)
Hamidou Diallo, SG, OKC, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL, REB
Darius Bazley, SF/PF, OKC, (0% Owned) -Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, rookie factor
Grant Williams, PF, BOS, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK
Robert Williams, PF, BOS, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK - buyer beware: missed last game with injury
Patty Mills, PG/SG, SAS, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%
Jakob Poeltl, C, SAS, (10% Owned) - Strong Cats: BLK, FG%, REB
Trey Lyles, PF, SAS, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB
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.
