The NBA season officially kicks off tomorrow and we couldn’t be more excited. We’re rolling over the Five Lists of Five into the NBA landscape to provide your weekly dose of fantasy tips.
I know the season doesn’t start until tomorrow, but here are some streamers we can already start considering.
Stream ’em
Taurean Prince, SF, Milwaukee Bucks
Khris Middleton was ultimately ruled out of the Bucks’ season opener on Wednesday after Milwaukee flirted with the idea of him suiting up for a week. Prince is next in line. It isn’t the sexiest pick, as Prince just recently posted per-36 numbers of 11.9 PPG and 3.9 RPG per 36 minutes during his stint with the Lakers last season, but it’s the right one. Prince shoots a very respectable 39.6% from beyond the arc and will find many open looks playing next to paint-bruiser Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is excellent at driving in, collapsing the defense, and diming to his perimeter shooters on the outside.
Santi Aldama, PF, Memphis Grizzlies
Has the Memphis curse carried over from last season? Star big man Jaren Jackson Jr. will not be playing in the Grizzlies’ season-opener against the Jazz. This upgrades backup floor spacer Santi Aldama to the starting lineup, where he’ll presumably draw the spot start in JJJ’s absence. Aldama has historically provided middling to decent value when the Grizzlies are banged up, and is a decent streamer for threes, blocks, and rebounds.
Kevin Porter Jr., PG, Los Angeles Clippers
Porter Jr. played a brief stint in Greece playing for PAOK and averaged 22 PPG, 9.8 RPG, and 6.8 APG in six games. He signed with the Clippers over the summer and is looking at a bench role behind James Harden. When given minutes, Porter Jr. has impressive upside in points, threes, and assists albeit on rocky percentages. This is not as much of a streaming pick as a “pick him up now and see what happens” pick. Porter Jr. has top-100 potential and is a high-upside gamble to start the season.
Zaccharie Risacher, SF, Atlanta Hawks
Similar to Porter Jr., Risacher is another high-upside gamble at the beginning of the season as the Hawks figure out what he can do. Risacher had a few good preseason performances but somehow is still flying under the radar despite being a number one overall pick. Other more popular candidates such as Donovan Clingan and Zach Edey have garnered more attention so far, but Risacher should be a lock for 25 or more minutes per game and should get plenty of easy looks with Trae Young at the helm.
Reed Sheppard, SG, Houston Rockets
Sheppard is another young rookie who impressed in preseason. The path to his minutes is tricky; there are numerous guards ahead of him, including but not limited to Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green, Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, Aaron Holiday, and Cam Whitmore. Sheppard’s ascension into starter minutes will be slow but also might be inevitable. If he continues his strong play from the preseason, it’ll be tough for Ime Udoka to keep him on the bench.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $750K Opening Tip Off [$200K to 1st].
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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