Week 15. We’re way past the halfway point of the NBA regular season. Where did the time go? Speaking of time – the time of the NBA trade deadline is this Thursday. This may be quite destructive to fantasy rosters with many players likely missing games due to trades. As always, a lot of opportunity for an active fantasy manager.
Fantasy Basketball Schedule Overview
- Monday (2/3): 10 games
- Tuesday (2/4): 7 games
- Wednesday (2/5): 11 games
- Thursday (2/6): 6 games
- Friday (2/7): 7 games
- Saturday (2/8): 11 games
- Sunday (2/9): 3 games
Teams with 5 games:
HOU
Teams with 4 games:
ATL, CHA, DEN, DET, GSW, IND, MIL, MIN, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SAC, SAS, TOR, UTA, WAS
Teams with 3 games:
BKN, BOS, CHI, CLE, DAL, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, NOP, NYK
Back to Backs:
The Rockets have two back-to-backs this week (Mon/Tue and Sat/Sun) while the Bucks have games on Sunday and Monday both at the start and end of the week.
Most Favorable Schedules
Houston Rockets – @NYK @BKN @MIN @DAL TOR
The Houston Rockets have the most favorable schedule this week by being the only team to play five games. Outside of the players rostered in every league anyway, this makes a couple of so-so players viable. Firstly, I’m looking at Dillon Brooks, who had a monster 36-point game last week. Doubly so with Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengün possibly out with injuries to start the week. Aaron Holiday may get an extra run at the point guard position as VanVleet’s replacement. If Sengün is indeed not playing, look out for Steven Adams for a double-double with a couple of blocks.
Atlanta Hawks – @DET SAS MIL @WAS
With Jalen Johnson ruled out for the season, this is where the Zaccharie Risacher Rookie of the Year campaign begins.
Charlotte Hornets – WAS MIL SAS @DET
Interestingly enough, the Hornets play the exact same teams the Hawks do this week. The Hornets players aren’t exactly lighting the fantasy world on fire though. With Brandon Miller out for the season and LaMelo Ball out for, at least, the week, there should be opportunities for the rest of the roster though. Former Euroleague MVP Vasilije Micic is the current starting point guard. Given enough minutes, Josh Green could do some damage on the wing.
Indiana Pacers – @UTA @POR @LAC @LAL
The Pacers have a relatively soft schedule this week, especially when accounting for a weakened Lakers defense. Outside of the usual suspects, Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin are worthy of a roster spot in most standard leagues.
About that trade…
Regardless of how we feel about the trade, the NBA calendar isn’t stopping for anyone. Both Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis are unlikely to make their debuts this week. With both players out with mid-term injuries, the teams’ rotations are not really different from what they were a week ago. Max Christie was the only currently active player in the trade. Perhaps Dalton Knecht is the player moving into the Lakers starting lineup to replace Christie.
Usage Watch
In the last week, Aaron Wiggins increased his Usage% the most compared to the rest of the season going from 18.5% to 27.5%. In fact, he did it all in one game where he scored 41 points. Is this sustainable and is he going to score 41 in every game going forward? Yes. Just kidding. No.
Dillon Brooks and Miles Bridges both upped their usage by more than 6% percentage points, which makes sense as their teams are struggling with injuries. Sam Hauser of the Celtics moved up to 20%, which is the average usage, to take away Payton Pritchard’s spot as the Celtics’ main shooter off the bench for the week.
That concludes this week’s Usage Watch.
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