There were nine games in the NBA on Sunday, led off by a tank fest between the Bulls and the Cavaliers. The other end of the day saw the Lakers defeat a Suns outfit that has now lost eight straight games. Ivica Zubac exploded for 24 points and 16 rebounds to go with an impressive four blocks. He is rolling right now and is clearly the center to own in Los Angeles. I will look at the rise of Zubac as well as a sprinkling of other borderline players making noise across the league.
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Fantasy Basketball Fringe
Players to add
- Ante Zizic
- Jerryd Bayless
- Jeff Green
- Ivica Zubac
- Richaun Holmes
Players to stream
- Avery Bradley
- Terrance Ferguson
- Bryn Forbes
- Marco Belinelli
- Trey Burke
Cleveland Cavaliers def. Chicago Bulls 104-101
Cavaliers
- Ante Zizic (41%) – Add: Zizic played 36 minutes Sunday, finishing with eight points, 14 rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block. Tristan Thompson is going to miss at least a few more games and Zizic should be on a roster in all 12-team leagues at this point.
- Alec Burks (36%) – Watch: Burks is starting to get hot again, having scored at least 10 points in three straight games. His minutes have increased in each of those three games and perhaps he is going to go on a bit of a run. Owners should monitor his progress before making any hasty moves given he had struggled for a period only one week ago.
- Matthew Dellavedova (6%) – Drop: Dellavedova dropped 16 points in Sunday’s win but prior to this had scored in double-digits in just one of his previous eight games.
Bulls
- Chandler Hutchison (17%) – Drop
- Ryan Arcidiacono (14%) – Drop
- Shaquille Harrison (13%) – Drop
- Robin Lopez (13%) – Drop: Lopez turned back the clock Sunday, producing 16 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks in 26 minutes. He has been in and out of the starting lineup since Wendell Carter went down with an injury and that appears to be the trend moving forward. In his previous game, Lopez failed to score in just eight minutes, thus demonstrating the reason he cannot be rostered in standard formats.
- Wayne Selden Jr. (9%) – Watch: Selden finished with 15 points in 37 minutes Sunday, moving into the starting lineup for the injured Chandler Hutchison. We have seen Selden put up numbers like this previously and if he can stick in the starting lineup, there is a chance he can have backend value in some formats.
- Antonio Blakeney (9%) – Drop
Los Angeles Clippers def. Sacramento Kings 122-108
Clippers
- Avery Bradley (35%) – Stream: Bradley continues to take advantage of Danilo Gallinari being on the sidelines, scoring 12 points to go with six rebounds and six assists. There isn’t a whole lot of upside here but Bradley is worth considering if you need points and threes in the short-term.
- Marcin Gortat (30%) – Drop
Kings
- Harry Giles (31%) – Watch
- Justin Jackson (18%) – Drop
- Iman Shumpert (16%) – Drop: Shumpert scored 16 points in Sunday’s loss, adding two triples in his 31 minutes on the floor. Despite the starting role, Shumpert has been struggling of late and typically doesn’t produce numbers worthy of a standard league roster.
- Yogi Ferrell (12%) – Drop
Oklahoma City Thunder def. Milwaukee Bucks 118-112
Thunder
- Nerlens Noel (33%) – Watch
- Terrance Ferguson (12%) – Stream: Ferguson continues to play well and has now scored in double-digits in five of his past six games. He has hit multiple three-pointers in all six games while chipping in with seven steals.
- Patrick Patterson (9%) – Drop
Bucks
- George Hill (31%) – Drop
- Ersan Ilyasova (20%) – Drop
- Thon Maker (14%) – Drop
- Sterling Brown (10%) – Drop
Houston Rockets def. Orlando Magic 103-98
Rockets
- Austin Rivers (33%) – Drop: Chris Paul returned which sent Rivers back to the bench. He finished with just four points in 20 minutes and those still holding on can safely let him go.
- Gerald Green (19%) – Drop
- James Ennis (15%) – Drop
Magic
- Jonathon Simmons (19%) – Drop
- Jerian Grant (17%) – Drop
Toronto Raptors def. Dallas Mavericks 123-120
Raptors
- OG Anunoby (30%) – Drop
- Delon Wright (19%) – Watch
- Greg Monroe (14%) – Drop
- Norman Powell (12%) – Watch: Powell and Delon Wright appear to be taking away from each others value which makes rostering either player very difficult.
- C.J. Miles (9%) – Drop
Mavericks
- Dirk Nowitzki (31%) – Drop
- Maxi Kleber (23%) – Drop
- Dwight Powell (21%) – Drop
- Dorian Finney-Smith (17%) – Watch: Finney-Smith was productive in Sunday’s loss, ending with 13 points and three steals. He has recorded a total of 11 steals across his last seven games and while his upside is certainly not the highest, he is a player to watch if you need steals and threes.
- Devin Harris (6%) – Drop
Utah Jazz def. Minnesota Timberwolves 125-111
Jazz
- Kyle Korver (18%) – Stream
- Royce O’Neale (17%) – Watch
Timberwolves
- Josh Okogie (23%) – Watch
- Gorgui Dieng (15%) – Drop
- Jerryd Bayless (10%) – Add: Bayless scored 19 points in Sunday’s loss to the Jazz, adding six assists in his 37 minutes on the floor. Bayless has stepped up in the absence of Jeff Teague, Tyus Jones, and Derrick Rose, putting together four strong performances consecutively. As long as the Timberwolves are missing their primary backcourt, Bayless needs to be rostered.
- Luol Deng (2%) – Drop: Deng scored a season-high 18 points Sunday but is certainly not someone to be considered for standard leagues at this stage. The Timberwolves are missing four of their regular rotation pieces which has given Deng limited playing time over the past few games. As soon as they get their bodies back on the floor, Deng will likely fall out of the rotation.
San Antonio Spurs def. Washington Wizards 132-119
Spurs
- Bryn Forbes (42%) – Stream: Forbes scored 16 points including four triples in Sunday’s victory. He continues to fill a role for the Spurs and has hit 10 three-pointers in his last three games.
- Pau Gasol (37%) – Drop
- Jakob Poeltl (35%) – Drop
- Marco Belinelli (32%) – Stream: Belinelli hit another three triples Sunday, continuing to provide an excellent source of perimeter scoring. Along with Bryn Forbes and Patty Mills, Belinelli remains an elite streaming option in most formats.
- Patty Mills (27%) – Watch: Mills continues to alternate good and bad performances, dropping 15 points to go with seven assists in Sunday’s win. As soon as he can find consistency, Mills will need to once again be considered as a streaming option with a little more upside than both Bryn Forbes and Marco Belinelli.
Wizards
- Jeff Green (47%) – Add: Green scored 15 points in 30 minutes Sunday, continuing to hold backend 12-team value. He hit three triples but did little else and while he is still fine to roster, owners should not expect a lot outside of points and threes.
- Sam Dekker (11%) – Drop
- Ian Mahinmi (6%) – Drop
Miami Heat def. New York Knicks 106-97
Heat
- James Johnson (42%) – Watch: Johnson put up an improved performance Sunday, finishing with 13 points in 30 minutes. Derrick Jones suffered an apparent knee injury which could mean more minutes for Johnson moving forward. This is more of a wait-and-see moment as opposed to running out and grabbing him.
- Tyler Johnson (31%) – Drop
- Dion Waiters (22%) – Drop
- Wayne Ellington (20%) – Drop: Ellington moved into the starting lineup, replacing Tyler Johnson who was out with a calf injury. Ellington finished with 19 points and was on the floor to close the game. This is a tough situation to get a read on given he hadn’t even been in the rotation over the past week. If he can work his way back to nightly minutes, he would still only be a three-point streaming option in most 12-team leagues.
- Derrick Jones Jr. (20%) – Watch: Jones suffered what could be a serious knee injury Sunday, putting the rest of his season in jeopardy. Those with Jones on their roster should possibly start to look elsewhere moving forward.
Knicks
- Mario Hezonja (47%) – Watch: Hezonja was back in the rotation Sunday, tallying 12 points to go with five rebounds and three steals in 30 minutes. The Knicks rotation is a complete mess at the moment and rostering anyone outside of two or three players is close to impossible. If Hezonja sticks in the rotation, he could have limited value.
- Allonzo Trier (43%) – Stream: Trier had 11 points Sunday but played just 20 minutes off the bench. Much like basically every other Knicks player coming off the bench, Trier’s projection is impossible to predict making him a hard player to roster with any confidence. Frank Ntilikina left this game early which could mean Trier gets a few minutes as the point guard moving forward.
- Trey Burke (39%) – Stream: Burke came off the bench behind Frank Ntilikina but with Ntilikina suffering an injury, Burke was on the floor down the stretch. He ended up scoring 16 points in 23 minutes and with Emmanuel Mudiay out for at least another week or two, Burke is worth a look if you need points.
- Frank Ntilikina (36%) – Watch
- Damyean Dotson (19%) – Watch
Los Angeles Lakers def. Phoenix Suns 116-102
Lakers
- Ivica Zubac (41%) – Add: Zubac went off for 24 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocks in Sunday’s win, continuing to flourish in the starting role. Tyson Chandler was out for this one and JaVale McGee played just 11 minutes. That being said, Zubac clearly has the trust of the coaching staff and should be rostered in basically all formats right now.
- Lance Stephenson (19%) – Drop: Stephenson had one of his random specials Sunday, ending with 17 points in 22 minutes. Josh Hart left the game early which meant Stephenson saw additional run. LeBron James is nearing a return and Stephenson can be left on the waivers in all 12-team leagues.
- Michael Beasley (12%) – Drop
Suns
- Mikal Bridges (48%) – Watch
- Richaun Holmes (35%) – Add: Holmes returned after missing four straight games with an ankle injury, delivering a double-double in 27 minutes of playing time. He limited Dragan Bender to just 13 minutes and is worth taking a flier on, even if DeAndre Ayton returns for the next game.
- De’Anthony Melton (33%) – Drop
- Elie Okobo (24%) – Watch
- Dragan Bender (17%) – Drop
- Jamal Crawford (8%) – Drop
- Troy Daniels (4%) – Drop
Got a question about today’s fantasy basketball fringe report? Hit Adam up on twitter @adamking91 or give a shout out to @Fantrax
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