The Jalen Brunson Train Is Heading To The Playoffs

By now, if you are still hunting the waiver wire, that means one thing. Either you are in the playoffs and just securing the best players, or you need production to get you into the playoffs. Either way, I am going to find you those trend-starting players that should be good from here till the end of the season.

Big men are still limited so don't be surprised to see another common name, but as a side note, by all means do not be frightened by this Mitchell Robinson outburst. If you own him, perfect. That WILL be a consistent source for blocks here on out. If you don't own him and need blocks, you better get your behind working on some trades.

Make sure to stay updated on injuries and return times, but as far as I'm concerned, these next three players will see the biggest benefit. As a reminder, for standard (10-12 team) league adds, we use a general rule of thumb of an ownership rate of under 50% on Yahoo. All position eligibility based on Yahoo leagues.

Standard League Adds for Week 21

Jalen Brunson, G  – Dallas Mavericks

Ownership: 4%

7.5 PPG / 2.5 APG / .445 FG% / 2.1 RPG

Full season stats are probably the main factor behind Jalen Brunson's four percent ownership, but lately with Luka Doncic missing time, both Brunson and Trey Burke have been "splitting" backcourt minutes. After having his best game of the season, it's easy to see why Brunson is closer to the backend of this trend, but I think the Mavericks are going to need as many guards as they can get for the next month and through the rest of the season.

With Doncic missing more and more games, they will want to rest him in case the workload becomes too much and it ends up hurting Doncic's conditioning or he ends up just getting actually hurt and putting the Mavericks future in serious jeopardy. Brunson's minutes have been growing more and more consistent and after this performance, he just cemented himself in as backup point guard. Burke will still get minutes, but not until Brunson is either hurt, or just having an off game. Even then, he will continue to shine in the Dallas backcourt.

Moe Harkless, SF – Portland Trail Blazers

Ownership 17%

6.7 PPG / 4.2 RPG / 1.0 SPG / .8 BPG / .475 FG%

Not surprised Moe Harkless is only owned in 14 percent of leagues. By this point in his career, anyone who doesn't watch Harkless play, assumes he is some inconsistent scrub. That couldn't be further from the truth. Over the past two weeks, Harkless is averagine close to 13 points a game, seven rebounds, while contributing at least two assists, two steals, and is getting closer and closer to a block a game season.

All in all, he is contributing so much and there is literally no reason for him to have an ownership below 60%. There have literally only been 20 players that have been better in the world of fantasy basketball over the past two weeks.

Markieff Morris, C – Oklahoma City Thunder

Ownership 25%

11.2 PPG / 5.0 RPG / .434 FG% / 1.7 APG / .7 SPG

Markieff Morris is averaging close to a block a game as well, but his short time with the Thunder has already proved to be a success. The Thunder added another forward that can space the floor and that's what Morris has done in his few games with the team. He is contributing across the board and that will continue to more minutes he gets the more he plays alongside Russell Westbrook and Paul George. He had his best game in his first start, and even though he only played 20 minutes, he scored 17 points and grabbed a few rebounds.

With five games next week, Markieff Morris is guaranteed to produce and his minutes should see a bump against some of these teams. His ownership rate does seem to be rising every day so while this pick seems somewhat obvious, you need to make sure you are benefitting from what Morris is offering.

More Fantasy Basketball Analysis