Thanksgiving rounds the horizon in the midst of another intriguing, dramatic season of the NBA. The Houston Rockets (12-6) have quietly crept up to the third seed in the West on the back of stellar defensive play and exceptional depth. The third seed in the East, the Orlando Magic (11-7), have held on without Paolo Banchero. We’ll see whether these two young teams can keep it moving along.
Unfortunately, there are also teams trending in the opposite direction. The storied 76ers’ struggles this season have been inescapable. In fact, they only have one more win than the 2-13 Wizards. There’s still time to turn it around; after all, they’re only four wins removed from the 8th seed in the East. At least they have Jared McCain.
We’re shooting the Three Lists of Threes today for your weekly dose of fantasy tips: Buy-lows, sell-highs, and streams.
Here are some buy-lows we can consider.
Buy ’em
Nic Claxton, C, Brooklyn Nets
Claxton is in a dire situation. And by dire situation, I’m talking about the Nets. They’re 7-10, but they’ve got to be the most depressing “slightly-negative record” team I’ve ever seen. They have no real direction, are clearly not contending this season, and don’t have any exciting young pieces for the future. Besides Nic Claxton.
Claxton finished last season averaging 11.8 PPG, 9.9 RPG, and 2.1 BPG. He came fifth in FG% last season, shooting an astounding 62.3% from the floor, and shot 70.5% the season before that. This season has been less productive. Claxton’s production has been limited by low minutes in his return to injury. He’s ranked 144 in the past two weeks. His scoring, rebounding, and defensive numbers are all down. I’m not ready to give up quite yet on the young center. He’s 25 and should be a lot better than this.
Jalen Duren, C, Detroit Pistons
Jalen Duren is another young center in the midst of a slump. Over the past two weeks, Duren is rank 177 while averaging 9.6 PPG and 10.4 RPG. He’s in a semi time-share with Isaiah Stewart; a situation that you just hate to see if you have Duren rostered.
Duren is entering his third season in the NBA after showing signs of improvement during his sophomore campaign. Last season, he averaged 13.8 PPG and 11.6 RPG. He improved to 79% FT but failed to lift his defensive numbers. His ADP crept up into the 60’s this season in the hopes that he’d be able to more consistently log some big lines as he did last year, and so far, that hasn’t happened yet. The Pistons are still figuring things out, and based on his chemistry with Cade Cunningham, I’m bullish on the 21 year old returning value on his considerable draft price this season.
Tobias Harris, SF/PF, Detroit Pistons
I briefly discussed Harris before the season started. He was never going to be an exciting pick. He’s 32 and he’s a known quantity in the NBA. I thought there would be room for Harris to produce on this Detroit roster, but so far, no dice. Harris is averaging 13.9 PPG and 7.4 RPG. This is his lowest scoring average in 12 years. He’s only attempting 12.3 shots per game, shooting 45% from the floor and 32.1% from three. I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet with Harris. He’s on the wrong side of 30, hasn’t looked good in-game, but we’ve have plenty of data that tells us he’s a better shooter than this. His defensive numbers are solid, on par with what we’ve come to expect, and is putting up strong rebounding numbers as well. I’m not paying a premium for him, but I do think he’s worth flipping a top-100 player for.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $222K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st].
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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