We’re heading into Christmas week, about a third of the way into this season. On Christmas Day this year we’ll have five NBA games: Spurs at Knicks, Timberwolves at Mavericks, 76ers at Celtics, Lakers at Warriors, and Nuggets at Suns.
Any surprises so far regarding the standings? In the East, it’s pleasant to see the Orlando Magic doing so well despite missing more and more players as the season goes on. But it’s hard to envision them holding on to their spot for much longer. Backup big man Mo Wagner is now out for the season with a torn ACL; another addition to the long list of significant injuries that have afflicted Orlando this season.
In the West, the Spurs (15-13) have overtaken the Timberwolves, Suns, and Kings. The fight for the play-in spot in this conference will be fierce and bloody.
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 streams we can consider.
Stream ’em
Cole Anthony, PG, Orlando Magic
The once mighty Magic roster is now missing Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Mo Wagner, Gary Harris, and potentially even Jalen Suggs. Many of these players were enjoying career seasons. Someone must handle all the extra usage, and that someone is Cole Anthony. Anthony is coming off a huge 35 point, eight rebound, nine assist game in which he held a monstrous 46.1% usage in 28 minutes. These types of stat lines won’t be the norm for Anthony, but in a short-term future in which he will be a pivotal piece of their nightly roster, we need to see where this goes.
Trayce Jackson-Davis, C, Golden State Warriors
Jackson-Davis has been serviceable as of late, averaging 18.8 minutes in the past four games with some nice block numbers and very efficient shooting from the field. Think of Jackson-Davis as the go-to Draymond Green replacement (I suppose Jonathan Kuminga also warrants a mention). Whenever Green sits, we can expect some decent, top-100 numbers from Jackson-Davis. He’ll be worth a look as long as Green’s status is unclear, but Steve Kerr’s rotations make rostering any Golden State player unbearable with the inconsistency surrounding the playing time of each player outside of Green and Steph Curry.
Dru Smith, PG, Miami Heat
Dru Smith is to Jimmy Butler what Jackson-Davis is to Green. His minutes have been trending up lately. Even when Butler did play, such as on 12/16, Smith registered seven points and two assists with six (!) steals. Smith will be a low usage player to monitor in the event Butler gets moved, but strong steal numbers have been buoying his recent value and indicate that he could be a big steals guy if he got more minutes. He’s just a speculative add for now, but if I see Smith’s minutes sticking and him attempting more than 10 FGA, I’m suddenly very intrigued.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $200K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st].
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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