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Welcome to a brand new column here at RotoBaller, which combines my love of fantasy basketball with my love of advanced stats.
Every week, I'll scour various sites for advanced stats, tracking data, play type data, and whatever else I can find to help you identify some potential fantasy sleepers moving forward. Maybe we find that a player is collecting a lot of potential assists but they aren't turning into actual assists just yet. Maybe we see that a player has a high usage rate when he shares the floor with certain players and because of an injury, that player will be doing so more. Maybe we can identify a player who'll be really useful in a couple of weeks by noticing a trend early.
So, let's get going. Here are some interesting things I discovered this week while diving into some of my favorite data sites.
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Tyus Jones Could Be An Assist Riser Soon
In addition to tracking assists, the NBA's stat site tracks potential assists. What this shows us is who is making the right passes that should turn into points, even if their teammates aren't converting.
Usually, this list isn't much different than the real assist list, but right now there's one key difference I'm seeing: Memphis Grizzlies guard Tyus Jones.
Over the past four games, Jones is 11th in the NBA in potential assists per game at 14.5. He's 19th in actual assists per game over that span.
Memphis is a banged-up team, so it makes sense that the assists aren't fully happening right now. And Jones is only a placeholder at point guard until Ja Morant is back. But in the short term, there's some real value here with Jones if you need someone who should be posting top-15 assist numbers in the near future.
DeMarcus Cousins' Rebounding Rate
Among players who've averaged at least 10 minutes per game in January, DeMarcus Cousins has the highest rebounding rate at 25.5 percent, which means that when he's on the floor, he's grabbing about one-fourth of the available rebounds.
Cousins is only playing 13.5 minutes per game this month. Volume matters here and Cousins isn't really getting it. But when Christian Wood is out like he was on January 6th, Cousins is someone whose rebounding prowess can really shine, as he had 14 boards in that game.
The biggest thing for Cousins is that Houston doesn't really have much depth at the five in terms of conventional post players. There's Cousins. There's Wood. That's it, really. So while Wood does impact Cousins' ability to be successful, the lack of depth here means that Cousins is really just one spot away from being able to jump onto the floor and rip down rebounds.
Deandre Ayton Leads The NBA In Paint Touches This Month
Deandre Ayton is having a really nice season in Phoenix, even if his scoring numbers are down from 18.2 per game last year to 13.4 this year.
But I think that's going to change.
Ayton led the NBA in paint touches per game last season, but in December got off to a slower start and was fifth in paint touches -- literally just times touching the ball in the paint. But since January has begun, he's right back at the top of that leaderboard.
And hey, that helps explain why his four most efficient games of the season have been his four games in January! Ayton is shooting 75.6 percent from the floor this month, including an 88.5 percent mark when shooting inside of 10 feet.
It seems clear the Suns want to use Ayton in the paint as much as they can. That's going to keep leading to high-level shooting from him. Expect a high field goal percentage to continue and for his scoring to shoot up at least a few points.
Elfrid Payton Is Getting To The Bucket
Guess who is sixth in the NBA this month in field goal attempts inside of five feet?
If you guessed Elfrid Payton, you probably read the header of this section, because I can't imagine another way you'd have guessed Payton.
His nine field goal attempts per game inside of five feet rank high, though he's shooting 44.4 percent on them so far, which is the worst mark of anyone in the top 25 in attempts from there. That's...bad, but I still think we have to like that Payton is getting that deep penetration, and based on how high everyone else's shooting percentage is that close to the bucket, I expect Payton's number to go up soon. If he can get to the hoop, he'll score better at the hoop.
Payton is off to the best start of his career, averaging 14.8 points and shooting well from three in the early going. Considering the only other viable point guard on this team is Immanuel Quickley, Payton should see plenty of minutes for the foreseeable future, especially with the Knicks currently over .500. The way he's being used offensively is really nice in terms of how it should help him have success in this league. Payton's definitely someone I'd like to have on my fantasy team.
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