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Welcome to Rotation Watch! Each week this article will break down who is gaining and who is losing minutes around the NBA. Fantasy managers want the players that are getting the opportunity to shine, not the ones who are sitting on the bench and watching from the sidelines.
Some of basketball's biggest stars are making their return to their team's lineups shortly. Deandre Ayton has completed his 25 game suspension. Atlanta Hawks power forward John Collins is eligible to return next week. De'Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley are returning for the Sacramento Kings after injuries. What this means for fantasy basketball managers is that some of the sneakier plays are going to get their minutes cut when these stars return to the starting lineups. It will become even more important to mine those minutes and this article will keep you up to date on what trends to watch for over the coming weeks.
So without further ado, let's start searching those box scores from December 9th to December 15th and look for those hidden gems that are grabbing some minutes to help your fantasy basketball team.
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including NBA Writer of the Year, Best NFL Series, MLB Series, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!
NBA Playing Time Changes
Dennis Schroder (PG - Oklahoma City Thunder)
Season: 29.5 Minutes per Game
Week 8: 31.3 Minutes per Game
Dennis Schroder has been coming off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder after their offseason acquisitions of Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Despite this, he is having a solid season and proving to be a worthy asset in fantasy basketball.
Over the last seven days, Schroder is averaging 19.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 1.0 blocks, and 3.0 made three-pointers. Those are all above his season averages and it's hard to keep him off fantasy rosters at this point.
The only caution to picking him up would be that he is on a hot shooting streak that will likely end and is unsustainable. Over the last seven days, Schroder is shooting 51.3% from the field and 48.4% from three, and those are both well above his season averages of 46.5% and 34.6%, respectively. Schroder shouldn't be universally owned, but there's a case to be made that he is a must-own in 12-team leagues.
Jeremy Lamb (SG, SF - Indiana Pacers)
Season: 31.1 Minutes per Game
Week 8: 25.0 Minutes per Game
The clock is ticking on Jeremy Lamb's time to shine. Despite Pacers Head Coach Nate McMillan saying that Victor Oladipo won't return in the "near future", the former All-Star is already participating in full practices. Lamb has been usable this season but is choosing to falter at exactly the wrong time if his fantasy managers want him to continue having a sizeable role in the Pacers offense.
For the year, Lamb is averaging 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 made threes in 31.1 minutes. That was not the case in Week 8 though. Lamb struggled to 8.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and only 0.7 threes made per game in 25 minutes. That dropped him outside the top-150 players in ESPN leagues for the week.
If Lamb wants to continue contributing towards the success of his owner's fantasy basketball teams, he will need to turn it around quickly before Oladipo comes back and he loses a lot of looks in Indiana.
Joe Ingles (SG, SF - Utah Jazz)
Season: 28.4 Minutes per Game
Week 8: 35.0 Minutes per Game
Welcome back, Joe Ingles! After a shaky start to the 2019-20 fantasy basketball season, Ingles has found his form. That is due, in part, to the timing of Mike Conley's hamstring injury, but many fantasy managers will hope that Ingles has found his stride and will continue his Week 8 production once Conley returns.
In Week 8, Ingles averaged 15.0 points, 7.0 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.3 made three's in 35.0 minutes. That is the Joe Ingles that fantasy managers were hoping for when they drafted him this season. If we expand the sample size to the five games since he returned to the starting lineup, the Australian is still averaging a solid 11.8 points, 7.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals.
Conley is close to a return and may play on Tuesday night against the Magic, but that doesn't make Ingles any less of an add. Conley has been battling the hamstring injury all season, and it only takes one tweak before Ingles gets thrust back into a big minutes role again.
Larry Nance Jr. (PF, C - Cleveland Cavaliers)
Season: 25.3 Minutes per Game
Week 8: 21.5 Minutes per Game
Larry Nance Jr. isn't winning anyone a fantasy championship but can be a solid contributor when a roster needs to be shored up. Unfortunately, that was not the case in Week 8 and he saw his numbers collapse.
On the season, he was averaging 9.0 points in 25.3 minutes but over the last seven days that number has fallen to 4.3 points per game. He totaled 16 points over 83 minutes and that includes an overtime game against the San Antonio Spurs.
Nance Jr.is owned in 48% of ESPN leagues, but that number needs to be lower. There are more attractive waiver-wire options that can contribute to more categories for fantasy managers over the rest of the season.
Myles Turner (C - Indiana Pacers)
Season: 29.8 Minutes per Game
Week 8: 25.3 Minutes per Game
Myles Turner is not a bad player. He can be very useful at times and be valuable to many fantasy rosters. Unfortunately, that has not been the case of the past two weeks and for most of the 2019-20 fantasy basketball season. He is currently the 27th ranked center on ESPN's Player Rater and the previous two weeks have not offered any signs of a comeback.
And now, in Week 8, he saw his minutes per game drop from 29.8 to 25.3. This is all happening WITHOUT Victor Oladipo in the lineup. Maybe when Oladipo returns the All-Start can open more space for Turner, but Head Coach Nate McMillan said that he won't return in the "near future".
Turner is already averaging below his career averages in points, rebounds, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage. Fantasy owners should thinking about abandoning this sinking ship before they end up underwater and have missed out on several other options at the center position.
