The Fantasy Basketball Drop List: Week 9

It's the last Drop List before Christmas! What tiny presents of fantasy basketball information will come falling down the chimney tonight?

Here's our weekly fantasy basketball drop list, a look at players who are can be dropped in some or all formats. Every Friday, we'll look at why it's fine to move on from certain players based on their recent play.

Let's look at players who you can consider dropping so far. 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

Aron Baynes - (C, Phoenix Suns) - 30% Owned

Well, Deandre Ayton is back, and with Ayton back in the lineup, Baynes scored two points and grabbed four rebounds in 18 minutes. Baynes got a lot of his minutes late in a big win with the Suns resting their starters, so it's pretty clear that Ayton's gone right back to controlling this frontcourt. Be happy with the strong production that Baynes gave you over the season's first third, but now it's the time to say goodbye to him.

Moritz Wagner - (PF/C, Washington Wizards) - 16% Owned

Wagner will miss his fourth game in a row on Friday due to an ankle injury. He's shown flashes of brilliance this season, but with Davis Bertans clearly needing more minutes at the four to keep doing the cool stuff he's doing and the logjam of bigs on this team when everyone is healthy, I'd think you'd be safe to move on from Wagner in shallower leagues right now, especially if you're in need of some immediate help on the fringes of your roster. Wagner's 30-point, 15-rebound game against Minnesota in November was cool, but if you're usually getting closer to 10 points and four boards from him...meh, dropping him is fine.

Marc Gasol - (C, Toronto Raptors) - 70% Owned

Gasol has had maybe the most frustrating season of anyone in fantasy basketball this year, as he's struggled his way to averages of just 6.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He was starting to maybe turn a corner after exceeding that point average in four straight games, including a 17 and 15 double-double against the Nets, but now a hamstring injury has Gasol set to miss weeks. In shallower leagues, plop him onto your bench, but in deeper leagues you've pretty much got to move on from Gasol at this point: injured and inconsistent centers aren't a rare commodity, and he'll likely still be there on waivers once he returns to the court if you really want to grab him all over again.

Coby White - (PG, Chicago Bulls) - 25% Owned

There was a time this season when I was really excited about Coby White, who looked like he could emerge as the winner of Chicago's "wait, why do we have so many guards" competition.

But White's last four games are a reminder of why you shouldn't trust rookie point guards in fantasy basketball, with White averaging 2.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, an 2.3 assists per game on 15.4 percent shooting. It'll get better, but inconsistent shooting will likely plague White for most of his rookie campaign, and while his upside -- four games with over 20 points already -- is intriguing, his downside -- just four games with five or more assists from a guy whose only eligible fantasy position is point guard, plus these recent scoring woes -- is just too much to ignore. Go ahead and move on from him in most leagues, though feel free to check that star to add him to your watch list just in case.

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