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There are just two weeks left in this crazy accelerated NBA regular season, which has resulted in one of the wildest fantasy basketball campaigns ever. As some teams continue to battle for playoff positioning and others try to evaluate players for the future, there is still plenty to be decided over the next couple of weeks, and hopefully, your season-long fantasy team is set up for a strong finish as well. With all the rotation adjustments from game to game, there are constantly new options emerging, and you can find four of my favorite pickups listed below.
Looking at the week ahead, the Detroit Pistons are the busiest team in the Association, playing five games over the next seven days. Twenty of the 30 teams play four games while the other nine each play three times. Especially in formats where the number of pickups is limited, make sure to lean into teams that play at least four times where possible. As always, remember to consider your specific team needs and league rules when making your pickups.
SG/SF Lonnie Walker IV, San Antonio Spurs (at UTA, at UTA, at SAC, at POR)
Walker should get a long look for the Spurs the remainder of the year after an ankle injury to Derrick White, which is expected to keep him sidelined the rest of the regular season. Devin Vassell has slid into White’s starting spot but has struggled with foul trouble and Walker has stepped up. Walker had averaged just 20.3 minutes per game in his previous 11 games, but in his two most recent contests, he has played 31.6 minutes while maintaining his usage rate of just about 20%.
Walker had 18 points, three rebounds and an assist in his 30 minutes against Miami and was even more impressive with 24 points, four rebounds and an assist in 34 minutes against Boston. Walker has excelled whenever his role has been increased this season, and he should get a chance to show his upside and provide your fantasy team plenty of points even if he continues to come off the bench.
PF/C Marvin Bagley III, Sacramento Kings (at OKC, at IND, vs. SAS, vs. OKC)
Bagley was dropped in many leagues since his fractured finger kept him out for six weeks and his return this season was in question. He was able to get back on the floor for the first time on Friday and finished with 11 points, four boards, two steals and an assist in 21 minutes.
The Kings will be cautious with pushing the 2018 No. 2 overall pick, but they would also like to get a look at what the big man is ready to offer the team moving forward. His hand injury also shouldn’t have limited his conditioning work, so he may not need quite as much time to ramp up. Before the injury, Bagley was on a nice run of 14 straight games with double-digit points, averaging 16.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 27.0 minutes per game with a usage rate of 22.9%. Bagley would be a great pickup if he can get back to near those numbers for the final two weeks of the season, and the Kings have a pair of tasty matchups against the Thunder this coming week.
SF Saddiq Bey, Detroit Pistons (vs. ORL, vs. CHA, vs. MEM, at PHI, vs. CHI)
The Pistons have been constantly shuffling their rotation to get different players in a variety of situations throughout the past few weeks and keeping up has been tricky for fantasy players. However, one player who hasn’t sat out even one game is Saddiq Bey, who has been in the starting lineup for 38 straight games averaging 30.7 minutes per contest.
His usage rate has fluctuated depending on who is around him, but he has averaged almost 12 shots per game over his past 15 contests while producing 14.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.9 3-pointers per contest. He had at least 18 points in six of those games including each of his two most recent games. He added five assists to his 22 points and seven rebounds on Saturday and should be set up for a big week of counting stats with five matchups, including a couple of very favorable ones.
PG Facundo Campazzo, Denver Nuggets, (at LAL, vs. NY, at UTA, vs. BKN)
The Nuggets are still without Monte Morris (hamstring) in addition to Jamal Murray (knee), leaving plenty of work for Campazzo and Austin Rivers. The 30-year-old rookie from Argentina has started each of Denver’s past eight games and has averaged 9.4 points, 5.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 31.9 minutes per contest.
Even though he’s starting at PG, Campazzo doesn’t typically get a ton of usage since he’s not a score-first guard. He only has a 13.1% usage rate despite a very efficient 65.8% true shooting percentage over his past seven games. Campazzo can be a great source of assists and steals while chipping in solid points and 3-pointers in the coming week and can be a nice source of hard-to-find PG production at this point in the season.
Other options to consider
- PF/C Khem Birch, Toronto Raptors
- SF/PF Dorian Finney-Smith, Dallas Mavericks
- PG/SG Kendrick Nunn, Houston Rockets
- C Robert Williams, Boston Celtics
- SG/SF Reggie Bullock, New York Knicks
- SG/SF Tim Hardaway Jr., Dallas Mavericks
- PG Cole Anthony, Orlando Magic
- SG/SF Matisse Thybulle, Philadelphia 76ers
- PG Malachi Flynn, Toronto Raptors
- PF/C Isaiah Roby, Oklahoma City Thunder
- SG/SF Kent Bazemore, Golden State Warriors
- SF/PF/C Jeff Green, Brooklyn Nets
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Z.Thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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