The NBA has arrived at All-Star week. For fantasy basketball purposes, this is usually a double week and will be treated as such in this article. What else? This is also usually the time when players can sneak in a couple of games of rest so fantasy managers who keep a keen eye on injury reports will be rewarded. Also, the post-trade deadline rotations will take time to clear up, which is another opportunity for fantasy players.
Fantasy Basketball Schedule Overview
- Monday (2/10): 10 games
- Tuesday (2/11): 4 games
- Wednesday (2/12): 15 games
- Thursday (2/13): 5 games
- Wednesday (2/19): 1 games
- Thursday (2/20): 9 games
- Friday (2/21): 9 games
- Saturday (2/22): 5 games
- Sunday (2/23): 10 games
Teams with 5 games:
CHA, CLE, DAL, GSW, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NOP, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHX, SAS, UTA
Teams with 4 games:
ATL, BKN, BOS, CHI, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, LAC, PHI, POR, SAC, TOR, WAS
Teams with 2 back to backs:
CHA, DET, HOU, IND, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYK, OKC, PHX, UTA
Teams with 1 back to backs:
ATL, CHI, CLE, DAL, GSW, LAL, NOP, ORL, PHI, SAC, SAS, TOR, WAS
Teams with 0 back to backs:
BKN, BOS, DEN, POR
Most Favorable Schedules
Los Angeles Lakers – UTA @UTA CHA @POR @DEN
The Lakers average out as the team with the most fantasy-friendly opponents. With the Mark Williams trade falling through, Jaxson Hayes will be the only center in the rotation. He’s been a top 100 fantasy player in the last two weeks and is only rostered in 46% of Fantrax leagues. If you’re really desperate, Dalton Knecht, back in LA, might get some extra run if there is as much garbage time to go around as we expect.
Orlando Magic – ATL CHA @ATL MEM WAS
The Magic has a good schedule this week. Now all they need are good players. Paolo Banchero has been shocking since returning from his injury – ranked outside the top 300 in 9-cat fantasy. Franz Wagner barely makes the top 100 since his injury. Obviously, these guys aren’t available on the waiver, and the best we can do is hope they come good. This may be a good time to try to buy low. Off the waiver wire, guys like Wendell Carter, Anthony Black, and Cole Anthony might be worth it for this week’s schedule but are hardly exciting fantasy players.
Oklahoma City Thunder – NOP MIA @MIN @UTA @MIN
The OKC Thunder have a favorable schedule and players to take advantage of it. Aaron Wiggins is on fire recently and rostered only in 41% of leagues. Lu Dort is certainly viable in a 5-game week. Even Alex Caruso is healthy for now so if you’re looking for defensive stats, he’s your man (until the next injury).
San Antonio Spurs – @WAS @BOS PHX DET @NOP
We’re three games into the De’Aaron Fox era with the Spurs, perhaps, taking a more results-oriented approach to basketball. With that, they seem to be leaning more toward vetaran players. Harrison Barnes ranks as a top 50 player in those three games. Has something really changed or he just happened to make his shots? You decide!
Usage Watch
The biggest increase in Usage % last week was by Austin Reaves (22.8 to 32.9). Now, that’s useless information since that usage is about to be ended by a certain fella from Slovenia. The second biggest increase is by Michael Porter Jr. (20.1 to 29.1) who’s been on fire. Stephen Curry is next, then Ousmane Dieng, then D’Angelo Russell, then Jaden McDaniels.
That concludes this week’s Usage Watch.
