The Fantasy Basketball Drop List: Week 5

January 22, 2021

Justin Carter looks at fantasy basketball players who can be dropped in Week 5. These are players who are struggling in the 2020-21 NBA season.

Every fantasy sports site is filled with articles about which players you need to pick up, but what about the guys you need to be dropping in order to fit those new players into your lineup?

Have no fear -- RotoBaller is here is tell you who you need to be dropping when you make your waiver claims this week.

Below is our weekly fantasy basketball drop list, a look at players who are can be dropped in some or all formats. Every Thursday, we'll look at why it's fine to move on from certain players based on their recent play. Remember: every league is different and we're working on a pretty small sample size this early in the year, so make sure you evaluate what options you have to replace these players before you actually drop them.

Players to Consider Dropping or Replacing

Tyrese Maxey (G, Philadelphia 76ers)

32% rostered

Even with his role on the team going down, I was still holding Maxey due to his scoring upside. But it's becoming more and more clear that on a fully healthy Sixers squad, Maxey won't have a very fantasy-friendly role.

We saw this play out against Boston, where Maxey once again was a starter but only wound up taking four shots, missing all of them. Zero points, two rebounds, and two assists is...not a good final stat line, and that came with Maxey still starting. Seth Curry's impending return means we can't even be sure that Maxey stays in the starting lineup.

In deeper leagues, you might want to hold a little longer, but in standard-size fantasy leagues, I think it's clear how things are trending with Maxey, who is just taking up a bench spot you could use on a higher floor guy.

Tyus Jones (G, Memphis Grizzlies)

14% rostered

I love Jones and thought some of his advanced stats showed he needed a larger role on this team, but Ja Morant is back for the Grizzlies which means Jones is back on the bench.

While he's still part of the rotation and has appeal in deeper leagues, losing 10-plus minutes per game is huge. It limits his production across the board, especially in assists. In two games since Morant came back, Jones is averaging 3.5 assists. To put that into context, in the four games before Morant returned, he never had fewer than six assists in a game.

Jones still has upside when it comes to steals if you're in real need of help in that category, but that's not enough for me to hold onto him in most formats.

Lonnie Walker IV (G/F, San Antonio Spurs)

After consecutive games scoring 20-plus points, it looked like Walker was rounding a corner in his third NBA campaign. But he's crashed back to earth over the past three games.

Over this three-game span, Walker is shooting 23.8 percent from the floor, averaging just 1.7 made shot per game. His averages are 5.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 0.3 blocks per game.

Ouch.

Now, Walker is still in the starting lineup, so upside remains. But if you're someone in need of immediate production to keep your fantasy season from spiraling out of control, I'm not sure how you can keep running Walker out there in your lineup on a nightly basis while he's shooting so poorly.

You can argue that a thumb injury is impacting him, but that's on his non-shooting hand, so while it doesn't help, I don't think it explains all of his struggles. Go ahead and send him back to the waiver wire.

Hassan Whiteside (F/C, Sacramento Kings)

56% rostered

In a normal year, I might leave Whiteside on my Injured List for a while, but it seems like that a lot more players are missing time in 2021, and Whiteside's play when healthy hasn't justified a stash.

First, I don't fully understand why Hassan Whiteside plays for the Sacramento Kings. Like...why bring him in? You have Richaun Holmes! You have Marvin Bagley III!

Whiteside has played in nine games due to injury. In those games, he's averaging 6.4 points (lowest since 2011-12), 4.2 rebounds (also lowest since 2011-12), and 1.1 blocks (surprise, also the lowest since 2011-12).

At this point, I think people who watch the NBA know that Whiteside has been a little overrated over the years. But it was mostly okay because he was at least productive when he was on the floor.

But this year is a totally different story. Whiteside has been a mess. His offensive box plus/minus is -2.5, which puts him alongside Kevon Looney and Kenrich Williams when it comes to offensive production. That's not the Hassan Whiteside that we're used to. But it appears it's the one we've gotten.

Look, if you want to hold onto him for name recognition and the hope he returns to form, great. But looking at this Kings team, I don't see the minutes Whiteside would need to make that actually happen.

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