Streaming players that play on days where you have empty starting spots on your team is one of the strategies to fantasy basketball that allows you the most flexibility as you are able to choose the strengths of the players you target to best suit your needs in that week's matchup.
It does require for you to give up on your worst player though to make room for a streaming spot, which usually isn't too big a price to pay. If you're up for cutting one of your poorer guys to be able to increase your chances of winning week-in week-out, I am here to provide some additional info on this.
As always, we're looking ahead to the NBA schedule for next week and pointing out a few options that can help you out. Here are the fantasy basketball streamers for Week 4.
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The two scarcest days next week are Tuesday and Thursday with just three games apiece, so there is no doubt most teams will need help fielding a decent amount of players on one or both of these days. Therefore it's no surprise that our focus will be on teams playing on both or at least one of these days.
All other days have at least seven games played so you should be able to have your pick from teams playing on these days.
Here's the low-down:
Teams with 4 games:
Atlanta Hawks
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Denver Nuggets
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers
Teams with 3 games:
Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Teams with 2 games:
Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 16
Tuesday: 6
Wednesday: 26
Thursday: 6
Friday: 22
Saturday: 14
Sunday: 14
Back-to-Backs (beware of older or banged-up players who might rest):
Monday/Tuesday: ATL, PHI
Tuesday/Wednesday: MIL, POR
Wednesday/Thursday: IND, MIA, TOR
Thursday/Friday: -
Friday/Saturday: BOS, CLE, DET, MEM, MIN, NOP
Saturday/Sunday: LAC
Sunday/Monday the following: ATL, CHI, DEN, HOU, LAL, OKC, PHO, POR
Days with six or fewer games
Tuesday: 3 games
Thursday: 3 games
Teams playing on BOTH days:
Los Angeles Clippers (4 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Philadelphia 76ers (4 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Utah Jazz (3 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Teams playing on Tuesday:
Los Angeles Clippers (4 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Philadelphia 76ers (4 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Utah Jazz (3 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Atlanta Hawks (4 games - Mon, Tues, Fri, Sun)
Milwaukee Bucks (4 games - Tues, Wed, Fri, Sun)
Portland Trail Blazers (4 games - Tues, Wed, Fri, Sun)
Teams playing on Thursday:
Los Angeles Clippers (4 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Philadelphia 76ers (4 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Utah Jazz (3 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Miami Heat (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Indiana Pacers (3 games - Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Toronto Raptors (3 games - Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Teams with a GOOD START to the week (three games from Monday to Thursday)
Miami Heat (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Philadelphia 76ers (4 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Teams with a GOOD END to the week (three games from Thursday to Sunday)
Los Angeles Clippers (4 games - Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Teams with a POOR START to the week (one or no games from Monday to Thursday)
Orlando Magic (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Washington Wizards (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Boston Celtics (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sat)
Cleveland Cavaliers (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sat)
Detroit Pistons (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sat)
Houston Rockets (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun)
Oklahoma City Thunder (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun)
San Antonio Spurs (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun)
Teams with a POOR END to the week (one or no games from Thursday to Sunday)
Orlando Magic (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Washington Wizards (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Dallas Mavericks (3 games - Mon, Wed, Fri)
New York Knicks (3 games - Mon, Wed, Fri)
Sacramento Kings (3 games - Mon, Wed, Fri)
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 4
Tuesday and Thursday (three games played on both) are, by far, the hardest days to field a decent team.
LA Clippers, Philadelphia (four games this week) and Utah (three games) are the only teams playing on both of these scarce days so their players will be our primary targets for the week.
There are six other teams that play a game on one either Tuesday or Thursday:
- Tuesday - Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland (four games)
- Thursday - Miami (four games), Indiana and Toronto (three games)
Players from these teams can prove helpful as well.
Streaming Options for Week 4
Shallower League Streaming Adds for the Week (Rostered in 25-75 % of Yahoo leagues):
Reggie Jackson, PG/SG, LAC, (65% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST
Ivica Zubac, C, LAC, (58% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
Nicolas Batum, SF/PF, LAC, (39% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK
Eric Bledsoe, PG/SG, LAC, (30% Rostered) - Strong Cats: STL, AST
Terance Mann, SF, LAC, (29% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL
Luke Kennard, SG/SF, LAC, (25% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, a bit of REB
Matisse Thybulle, SG/SF, PHI, (54% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL/BLK - buyer beware: is listed out due to safety protocols on Saturday
Tyrese Maxey, PG/SG, PHI, (62% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL, AST, FT%
Seth Curry, PG/SG, PHI, (77% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL, FT%
Georges Niang, SG/SF, PHI, (32% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS - positive circumstance: there are many players out for Philly at the moment
Joe Ingles, SG/SF, UTA, (51% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST
Royce O'Neale, SF/PF, UTA, (25% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL
Hassan Whiteside, PF/C, UTA, (40% Rostered) - Strong Cats: BLK, FG%, REB
Cam Reddish, SG/SF, ATL, (48% Rostered) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM, STL
De'Andre Hunter, SF/PF, ATL, (57% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS
Bobby Portis, PF/C, MIL, (49% Rostered) - Strong Cats: PTS, REB, STL/BLK
Grayson Allen, SG/SF, MIL, (41% Rostered) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM, FT%, REB
Pat Connaughton, SG/SF, MIL, (26% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, a bit of STL
Larry Nance Jr., PF/C, POR, (34% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK - buyer beware: plays a very limited role in Portland
Anfernee Simons, PG/SG, POR, (33% Rostered) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM
Duncan Robinson, SG/SF, MIA, (56% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, a bit of REB, FT%
Chris Duarte, SG, IND, (72% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%, a bit of REB, STL
Justin Holiday, SG/SF, IND, (26% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL
Precious Achiuwa, SF/PF, TOR, (32% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB
Shallower League Add
Reggie Jackson, PG/SG, LAC, (65% Rostered)
Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST
I don't love Reggie as a fantasy player in category formats as he ruins your FG% and doesn't contribute much in stocks, but with his usage this year and the schedule the Clippers have next week, it's hard to look past him in shallower leagues.
He is playing the most minutes on the Clippers (over 35 a night) and his FG attempts (16.8) are second to only the team's star player Paul George. Reggie is getting enough shots to contribute quite nicely in three-pointers and even in points despite the fact he is shooting very poorly from the field. His averages of 16.8 PTS with 3.1 3PM on 37.3 FG% and 81.8 FT%, 3.9 REB, 4.1 AST, 0.6 STL, 0.0 BLK and 1.5 TO have him at #124 on Yahoo rankings. Not great, not terrible.
I know it's a long shot that Jackson is still sitting on your waiver wire, but in case he is, if you don't care much about the inefficiency and the lack of defensive stats, Reggie will play on all days with seven or fewer games next week, and with him playing in all eight games so far this season, his counting stat contribution in points, threes, dimes and even boards could come in quite handy.
Deeper League Add
Georges Niang, SG/SF, PHI, (32% Rostered)
Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS
Positive Circumstance: there are many players out for Philly at the moment
Just one week ago I couldn't have imagined Niang would be my pick for the Deeper League Add (not even for the Insanely Deep League Add if I'm honest), but here we are...
With quite a few players being out for Philly (Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Danny Green to name a few) Niang has really stepped up and is returning top-100 value in the previous week with averages of 14.5 points, 2.8 three-pointers, 41.3% from the field, 81.8% from the charity stripe, 4.5 boards, 2.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.3 blocks and 0.5 turnovers in 28 minutes per outing over four games in this period.
This didn't go unnoticed by fantasy managers and Georges, who was rostered in under 5% of Yahoo leagues a week ago is now rostered in 1 of 3 leagues. And if you believe in him and need a sharpshooter to help you win threes and points next week, you might just help him climb even further. His path to minutes seems safe (maybe not exactly 30 a night like in his previous three games, but at least around 25) and if he keeps shooting he could be good for three 3PM and around 15 points with a few other counting stats.
Furthermore, Philly has 3 games from Monday till Thursday, so you can swap him then for another streamer who has a better finish to the week.
Insanely Deep League Add
Furkan Korkmaz, SG/SF, PHI, (10% Rostered)
Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%
Buyer Beware: missed the previous game due to wrist soreness
Before you read any further, make sure you have checked whether Korkmaz played on Saturday or not and if there's any news on his availability for next week. Phila has three games to start the week so if he isn't playing he is probably not worth picking up.
That being said, I'm pretty sure Korkmaz wouldn't be available in so many leagues if he didn't miss the previous game, and they're calling it wrist soreness which doesn't sound too serious, so if he's good to go the quickest fantasy GMs will have the opportunity to benefit from it.
Furkan did quite well in the first two games that Tobias Harris missed last week, scoring in double-digits while shooting 50% or better in both of them and getting a combined four three-pointers, seven boards, six dimes, two steals, one block and just three turnovers in a total of 51 minutes.
With Harris at risk to miss more games, and now Thybulle also entering the health and safety protocols, should Korkmaz be fit, he is in for 25 minutes a game again - and he already shown us he can use this time pretty well.
Other Deep League Options for the Week
Rostered in less than 25% of Yahoo leagues
Danny Green, SG/SF, PHI, (19% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, a bit of STL/BLK - buyer beware: missed the previous two games with a hamstring issue
Shake Milton, PG/SG, PHI, (18% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST
Furkan Korkmaz, SG/SF, PHI, (10% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT% - buyer beware: missed the previous game due to wrist soreness
Eric Paschall, PF/C, UTA, (1% Rostered) - Strong Cats: not much really...
Kevin Huerter, SG/SF, ATL, (21% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, AST
Danilo Gallinari, SF/PF, ATL, (9% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%
George Hill, PG/SG, MIL, (10% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, STL - buyer beware: his role will decrease now that Jrue Holiday is back
Jordan Nwora, SF, MIL, (4% Rostered) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM
Thanasis Antetokounmpo, SF, MIL, (3% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL - buyer beware: his role will decrease when Brook Lopez returns
Nassir Little, SF, POR, (3% Rostered) - Strong Cats: a bit of 3PM, REB, STL/BLK
Cody Zeller, PF/C, POR, (2% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%
Dewayne Dedmon, C, MIA, (4% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB
Markieff Morris, PF/C, MIA, (2% Rostered) - Strong Cats: nothing special really...
P.J. Tucker, PF/C, MIA, (5% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, a whole lot of minutes, not so many stats
Torrey Craig, SG/SF, IND, (1% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB
Khem Birch, PF/C, TOR, (22% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK
Svi Mykhailiuk, SF, TOR, (7% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, a bit of PTS
I hope you find this useful and that it will help you win your matchups next week!