RADIO
Welcome back, RotoBallers! At this point, every team in the league has played at least one of the in-season tournament games and every team has had a portion of fans wondering what it all means. Sorry, did I use that joke last time? I've lost count of how many people have asked about the tournament so it still felt relevant this week.
Anyway, we're all here to talk about some drop candidates for all of the fantasy managers in the thick of their redraft leagues whether it's a points or category format. Every day is a new decision on who to start, bench, and cut. It's kind of like those random Twitter polls that we see in the offseason just to have things to debate about, except this time it's more important.
What we're here to help with is figuring out which players are safe to drop so that fantasy managers can hold on to the real contributors. Each week, we'll give a list of players that warrant a decision on whether or not to drop and let them be free on the waiver wire. So, let's get into Week 3 of the drop list and find out who's been hanging on to false hope!
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Players to Consider Dropping or Replacing
Amen Thompson (SG, HOU) - 19% rostered
Just in case there are dynasty managers reading this right now, Amen Thompson on this list does not pertain to any of you. For the rest of the fantasy managers that are competing in either category or points formats, Thompson doesn't need to be held onto right now.
First of all, we all know that he's currently dealing with an ankle injury and he finally was spotted with a walking boot on Tuesday. He originally was given a 2-to-4-week recovery period, but there haven't been many updates outside of that. When he does get on the court, however, the results haven't been great so far and his playing time isn't at the level to fully develop a rookie that quickly.
So far, the rookie guard is averaging 6.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 turnovers across 16.8 minutes per game while shooting 40.9% from the floor and 18.2% from deep. Even his free throw percentage is down to 62.5% right now. While Ime Udoka continues to give the veterans heavy minutes, Thompson isn't going to be a fantasy-relevant asset in redraft leagues.
Christian Wood (C/PF, LAL) - 38% rostered
Now that Anthony Davis has returned to the floor after just a one-game absence, Christian Wood can return to the bench and continue to see matchup-dependent minutes. As he returns to the bench, fantasy managers can consider dropping him from their team in favor of someone who's going to be more consistent.
In Wood's only start of the young season, he put up a huge stat line of zero points, four rebounds, one assist, and four fouls. How about that for production? Okay, let's get serious again. He has only registered three games with double-digit point totals and two games with 10 or more rebounds. Minutes-wise, he's had three games with less than 20 and eight with less than 30. The time he finally received a start wasn't even the game that he played over 30 minutes.
Wood serves a bigger purpose as a streaming option throughout the year when others have to miss some time rather than a night-in, night-out starter. He's currently averaging 7.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game while seeing his fewest minutes since the 2019-20 season in Detroit. We don't welcome inconsistency in this dojo!
Harrison Barnes (SF/PF, SAC)- 34% rostered
I'm convinced that we're going to see Harrison Barnes playing into his 40s and continue to average a smooth 12 and five every night while he puts up a 30-ball once every 25 games to get everyone excited again. Oh wait, you're telling me that he's already done that same sort of thing this season?
The 31-year-old is an extremely reliable and trustworthy vet in the NBA, but his fantasy contributions can be the most frustrating things in the world. Opening night, Barnes dropped 33 points in a huge win over the Utah Jazz and hasn't seen more than 14 in any game since then. To be quite frank, he hasn't seen much of anything in terms of stats since that first game. He even has been a net negative in plus/minus ever since then as well.
For those managers in 12-team leagues or smaller, Barnes' 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game can be replaced by many people on the waiver wire at this moment. Players such as Isaiah Stewart, Cole Anthony, Jordan Hawkins, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Coby White are all returning more value and are available in most leagues.
Buddy Hield (SG/SF, IND) - 82% rostered
This is another case where I would like to give the disclaimer that Buddy Hield probably shouldn't be dropped in 14-team leagues or ones even deeper than that. He's definitely worth having a conversation about dropping in leagues that are smaller than that because according to Basketball Monster's Z-score rankings, Hield is ranked 132nd in terms of per-game value.
Outside of his tremendous three-point shooting, he's returning negative value compared to the NBA average in every other stat category except for turnovers. The reason his turnovers are low is probably due to the fact that he really isn't getting the ball all that often and he's seeing his lowest minutes per contest since his rookie season in 2016-17. He's also down to either career-lows or second-worst marks in free throw attempts, points, rebounds, steals, three-point percentage, and field goal percentage.
Hield seems to be slowly getting phased out in Indiana as they've started their youth movement and it wouldn't be surprising if he was used as a trade piece to upgrade the roster around the trade deadline. If he did get traded, then his fantasy value would likely go up depending on which team he went to. Other players who are outperforming him and are more widely available in fantasy leagues include Kevin Huerter, Saddiq Bey, Eric Gordon, Royce O'Neale, and Marcus Sasser.
Robert Williams III (C, POR) - 47% rostered
Alright, this one is low-hanging fruit, but it was surprising that he was still rostered in nearly 50% of leagues! Unfortunately, Robert Williams III will likely be out for the rest of the season after having to go with knee surgery that should put his recovery time through sometime in the offseason.
With that being said, if fantasy managers are scrambling for some production in rebounds and blocks from some backup bigs, they could look toward Toumani Camara and Moses Brown, who are bound to get a lot more playing time with the Portland Trail Blazers since Williams will be on the mend. Second-year forward Jabari Walker may even get some opportunities, but he would only be relevant in very deep leagues.
Williams is not a hold candidate unless he's rostered in a dynasty league, so clear up that IR and roster spot for someone who can help your fantasy team for the rest of the year!
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