The Fantasy Basketball Drop List: Week 6

January 31, 2021

Justin Carter looks at fantasy basketball players who can be dropped in Week 6. 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

Shake Milton (G, Philadelphia 76ers)

36% rostered

Milton was supposed to be the scoring threat off the Sixers bench this season and for a time, it looked like he'd be that. And when the team was dealing with a lot of COVID-19 issues, we got to see what Milton could do when he was getting lots of shot attempts.

But over the past four games, Milton has scored 10 or fewer points in each game. He's made just one three in that span. He hasn't had more than three rebounds or three assists in a game during this stretch either.

Milton has established himself as the team's bench guard over Tyrese Maxey, so he has that in his favor. But with Matisse Thybulle continuing to get some more run and the team relying heavily on their starting unit, Milton's not getting the looks he needs to be a positive fantasy contributor in shallower leagues. He's still shooting just enough to keep him rostered in deep leagues, but something needs to change soon if he's going to stay on rosters all season.

Kelly Olynyk (F/C, Miami Heat)

31% rostered

Olynyk had his best game in a week on Wednesday, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds. He drained three three-pointers. But when that's your best game in a week, it's pretty hard to justify keeping him on your fantasy roster, right?

With his recent shooting woes, Olynyk just isn't providing any value right now. And while that could easily change at any moment, fantasy managers have a big question to ask themselves: are the highs that Olynyk brings -- a couple of threes per game with five boards, a handful of assists, a block -- enough to wait out the current doldrums? I don't really know, but if I had Olynyk on any of my rosters, I'd be seriously considering moving on from him.

Elfrid Payton (G, New York Knicks)

43% rostered

Payton has started every game for the Knicks and while I don't think that's going to change in the short term, Immanuel Quickley has started to eat into Payton's minutes. Payton played under 30 minutes in both of the past two games, and in those reduced minutes averaged 6.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game.

Payton's a solid backup point guard who has been playing a little above his head as New York's starter. But with 30-plus minutes per night, he was putting up numbers that kept him fantasy relevant.

But Payton is averaging a career-low 3.8 assists per game right now, so even if you like the contributions you get from him in some other categories, you can pretty clearly see at this point that reduced minutes are going to be a killer for the value he does have.

Maybe it's a little premature to cut Payton in some formats, but I think the arrow is pretty clearly trending down right now.

Kyle Kuzma (F, Los Angeles Lakers)

39% rostered

Alright, this whole Kyle Kuzma thing has run its course.

Before this season, I thought Kuzma might be someone who was going to be a fantasy sleeper and would carve out a nice role on this Lakers team. But over the last four games, we're seeing just how low his role can be:

His minutes are down. His shooting isn't going well. He's getting a decent number of rebounds, but is a killer in assists and steals. He isn't getting to the free-throw line either.

Kuzma's game has always been pretty limited, which was why scoring has been so important to his fantasy value. In his second season, he averaged 18.7 points per game, which helped make up for the fact he didn't do much in the other categories and shot 30.3 percent from three.

But last year, a reduced role led to a drop to 12.8 points per game. At that point, it became a lot tougher to justify Kuzma's spot in your fantasy lineup. And now, we're seeing him finish below Wesley Matthews and Alex Caruso in minutes. How much longer will the Lakers keep giving him serious minutes if he isn't doing much in those minutes?

I know his past production gives him some allure, but I'm not holding out hope anymore with the fourth-year forward.

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