After 10 days in the NBA, we usually start to get a better grip on players’ opportunities and team rotations. However, this week threw us a few curve balls as a wave of injuries hit the league. In this article, I’ll highlight five players that look set to have real opportunities and should be on your radar. I’ll also look ahead at the Week 3 NBA schedule to help you get off to a hot start and maximize your streaming roster spot.
In last week’s article, I wrote about P.J. Washington, Frank Kaminsky, Kendrick Nunn, and Devonte’ Graham. All provided decent value over the last week and continue to trend up. Let’s see if we can unearth more value this week.
Players Trending Up
Richaun Holmes (Sacramento Kings)
Luke Walton inserted Holmes into the starting lineup this week and he responded with a monster game in which he had 24 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks against Denver. He has remained in the starting lineup for the last three games over Dewayne Dedmon, which is a promising sign moving forward. If he’s floating around on your waiver, don’t hesitate to add him.
Danuel House Jr. (Houston Rockets)
His hot shooting has continued through to week 2 and doesn’t look like slowing down as he is now averaging 2.8 threes per game on 47% from downtown. He is also chipping in a handy 5.4 rebounds, 1 block and 0.8 steals per game as his minutes have pushed up to over 30 for the first time in his short career. If you’re in need of threes, House Jr is a strong add.
Isaiah Thomas (Washington Wizards)
Isaiah returned from his injury this week with a bang. He put up 16 points and 5 assists in just 19 minutes against San Antonio. He followed it up with a double-double, 17 points and 10 assists against the Houston Rockets in 24 minutes. Big per minute numbers from IT, but just be prepared for his usual injuries that pop up.
Eric Paschall (Golden State Warriors)
With Curry likely to miss at least 3 months after undergoing surgery on his broken hand, Steve Kerr made comments indicating they’ll look to put Draymond Green on a games and minutes schedule moving forward. This bodes well for Paschall as he looks the most NBA ready out of the Warriors rookies. Against the Suns Paschall put up 20 points and 2 blocks in a start and as the season goes on he should only see more opportunities as the Warriors may look to tank. One to put on your watchlist.
Aron Baynes (Phoenix Suns)
Baynes and Kaminsky have been given the opportunity to step up into the big man role in the absence of Ayton. Both have impressed, but it has been Aron Baynes that has really thrived as the starting Center. In the game against Golden State, he fell just 3 assists short of a triple-double. The passing ability isn’t something we’ve really seen before from the big Australian, but surprisingly he is now averaging 3.5 assists in his last four games. DeAndre Ayton who?
Week 3 NBA Schedule and Streaming Options
This season Fantrax is providing a schedule grid that is really handy to help you plan your pick-ups throughout the week. I suggest you bookmark this page as a quick reference point for when you need to make a waiver add.
| TEAM | G | QG | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GAMES | 3 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 6 | ||
| ATL | 3 | 2 | CHA | NYK | CLE | ||||
| BOS | 4 | 3 | @IND | @MIL | WAS | @CHI | |||
| BKN | 4 | 3 | @LAL | @GSW | @LAC | @SAC | |||
| CHA | 4 | 4 | @ATL | @MIA | CLE | @ORL | |||
| CHI | 4 | 2 | CLE | @ORL | @MIA | BOS | |||
| CLE | 3 | 1 | @CHI | @CHA | @ATL | ||||
| DAL | 3 | 1 | @SAS | DEN | PHO | ||||
| DEN | 4 | 4 | MIL | @DAL | @SAS | @LAL | |||
| DET | 2 | 1 | @PHI | @TOR | |||||
| GSW | 3 | 1 | LAC | BKN | @MIL | ||||
| HOU | 3 | 2 | MIN | @LAL | @POR | ||||
| IND | 2 | 0 | BOS | @PHI | |||||
| LAC | 3 | 1 | @GSW | BKN | NOP | ||||
| LAL | 3 | 2 | BKN | HOU | DEN | ||||
| MEM | 3 | 1 | ORL | @POR | @UTA | ||||
| MIA | 3 | 2 | CHA | NYK | CHI | ||||
| MIL | 3 | 2 | @DEN | BOS | GSW | ||||
| MIN | 3 | 1 | @HOU | @OKC | @SAS | ||||
| NOP | 3 | 2 | @SAC | @UTA | @LAC | ||||
| NYK | 3 | 2 | @WAS | @ATL | @MIA | ||||
| OKC | 3 | 3 | UTA | MIN | @WAS | ||||
| ORL | 3 | 2 | @MEM | CHI | CHA | ||||
| PHI | 2 | 1 | DET | IND | |||||
| PHO | 2 | 0 | @POR | @DAL | |||||
| POR | 3 | 2 | PHO | MEM | HOU | ||||
| SAC | 2 | 2 | NOP | BKN | |||||
| SAS | 3 | 1 | DAL | DEN | MIN | ||||
| TOR | 2 | 1 | @UTA | DET | |||||
| UTA | 4 | 3 | TOR | @OKC | NOP | MEM | |||
| WAS | 3 | 3 | NYK | @BOS | OKC |
As you can see, 11 teams play four games this week. Those teams include ATL, CHA, GSW, IND, MEM, MIL, MIN, OKC, ORL, PHI, and POR. This week there are no teams playing in a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday. Honing in further on the Week 3 NBA schedule, you might want to look at streaming players from the Trail Blazers. They play on Monday (six games) and Thursday (four games) which are low volume days, so you should be able to fit your streaming option into your active roster.
Players from the Trail Blazers that might be floating around on your waiver include Kent Bazemore, Rodney Hood, Mario Hezonja and in really deep leagues Skal Labissiere if Zach Collins remains out with his shoulder dislocation.
The Suns are another team that plays on those low volume days, however, I don’t see too many legitimate options to stream. Dario Saric, Frank Kaminsky, and Aron Baynes are most likely already owned in your league. Also, keep in mind that the Suns play against the 76ers, who are one of the most restrictive teams in the NBA, so I would place a priority on streaming those Trail Blazers I mentioned above.
If you want to hear more of my thoughts on players trending up and schedule analysis for week three, a new podcast episode of the “Fantasy NBA Show” will be available on Sunday on 
Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also follow me on twitter @fantasyNBAstats for daily news and updates on fantasy NBA.
Is Elliott on the money with his player trends? Let him know in the comments below! Also check out our waiver wire and all of our other fantasy basketball content.
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