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Welcome back, fantasy basketballers! I hope everyone is hanging in there through the flurry of health and safety concern DNPs and postponed games.
This past week was filled with a number of obstacles for fantasy managers and it looks likely that the trend will continue at least throughout the next week or so, if not longer.
Regardless, we’ve still seen some players raise their dynasty stock over the past week. Here are four players who have made the most notable leaps.
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Tyrese Maxey (G, PHI)
Philadelphia 76ers rookie point guard Tyrese Maxey drew his first career start this past Saturday against the Denver Nuggets as the 76ers were forced to play with a depleted roster due to health and safety concerns. Saying that Maxey had a green light for the game would be an understatement. The rookie from Kentucky fired up 33 shots in the game and was surprisingly efficient with them, knocking down 18, including going 3-for-8 from downtown. Maxey finished the game with 39 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and two turnovers.
Here’s a look at his breakout game, where you can see so many of his natural scoring abilities on display:
As far as this season goes, Maxey has some significant competition for playing time. Seth Curry, Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz (adductor) are the primary concerns, though Korkmaz has been out multiple weeks with a left adductor strain and still appears to be week-to-week. Korkmaz is a free agent after this year, but Curry and Milton are signed on through 2022-23.
Milton hasn’t really done anything to lose his role as the second unit playmaker for the 76ers and Curry has been on fire to start the year, shooting 59.5% from three while hitting 3.1 threes per game, providing for a perfect complement to Ben Simmons.
Maxey turned 20 years old this past November and clearly has a bright future ahead. The only questions are really just how bright it is and how soon it will be realized. He may have a few years ahead where his fantasy value is capped by his inability to see more than around 20 to 25 minutes per game on a consistent basis. You may have to be patient if you have Maxey on your dynasty roster, but the upside return at some point, whether it’s with the 76ers or elsewhere, could be an absolute offensive stud who could score a lot of points while adding steady threes, assists, steals and some rebounds as well.
Tyrese Haliburton (G, SAC)
While one rookie named Tyrese has had the most notable single-game rookie performance so far this year, another rookie named Tyrese has arguably been the most impressive rookie overall so far.
Sacramento Kings rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton has been thrust into a key role on the team right out of the gate. He’s been one of the team’s best offensive creators so far this year. Through his first nine games, he averaged 12.1 points and 5.3 assists per game, while committing only one turnover per contest. Haliburton’s PER of 19.72 is second on the team to Richaun Holmes (21.61), amongst players seeing over 20 minutes per game.
Haliburton is a special playmaker. There was little doubt about that going into the 2020 NBA Draft. He’s got great vision and is regularly able to beat defenders off the dribble and find weaknesses in defenses. One of the biggest questions about his game going into the year was whether his three-point shot would need some modification due to its somewhat unnatural style:
Haliburton has certainly put any shooting concerns to doubt so far in his career as he’s shooting 50% from beyond the arc on 4.9 three-point attempts per game.
De'Aaron Fox is the Kings franchise point guard and is unlikely to be going anywhere anytime soon. Haliburton could find himself in a C.J. McCollum type of role, a secondary guard with a lot of usage who has the luxury of not being guarded by an opposing team’s top perimeter guard defender.
Because Haliburton has been so effective out of the gate, it’s not unreasonable to think he could reach around 17 or 18 points and about seven assists and 1.5 steals per game as soon as next year and then only improve from there. He should also provide a good amount of threes and solid percentages as well. He’s shooting 52% from the field and 81.8% from the line so far this year. If you’re looking for a potential foundational, stat-stuffing guard in dynasty leagues for several years to come, Haliburton is a great target.
Payton Pritchard (G, BOS)
The Boston Celtics entered the year facing a tough task as they looked for ways to make up for the absence of Kemba Walker (knee). Marcus Smart was inserted into the starting lineup and Jeff Teague appeared to be set for a role as one of the team’s primary distributors. Yet instead of Teague, it’s been rookie point guard Payton Pritchard who has been the most effective Celtic guard off the bench so far this year, playing a similar role we’d seen Smart play in recent years and helping the team win seven of their first 10 games despite Walker’s absence.
Through his first 10 games, Pritchard was extremely efficient, shooting 51.6% from the field 90% from the line. His best game so far came on January 4th against the Toronto Raptors, when he shot 8-for-13 from the field, 2-for-4 from three and 5-for-5 from the line while dropping 23 points alongside eight assists. He’s only playing 22.9 minutes per game, so his averages of 8.6 points, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 threes per game don’t jump out at you, but his per-36 minutes averages of 13.5 points, 4.9 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.7 threes give you an idea of the type of player Pritchard could be in another year or two.
If Pritchard remains in Boston, he’s likely to only see around 20 to 25 minutes per game over the next few years, unless the team makes a big roster-condensing trade where they lose some guys like Smart or even Walker. Pritchard should have deep league fantasy value with just 25 minutes per game, helping provide low-end assists and steals, but if he were to find himself with closer to 30 minutes per game at some point, he could make a Fred Vanvleet-like ascendance. He doesn’t have quite the scoring upside of VanVleet, but he plays the same type of hard-nosed basketball on both ends of the floor and his all-out hustle should continue to manifest itself in various fantasy categories.
Nicolas Batum (F, LAC)
Hey, look at that! Veterans can be dynasty risers, too!
Breaking the monopoly of rookies in this week’s dynasty risers column is Los Angeles Clippers forward Nicolas Batum. Formerly a regular top-50 or at least top-75 fantasy player, Batum saw his fantasy value bottom out during his time with the Charlotte Hornets. Last year, he only played in 22 games and managed just 3.6 points per game while shooting 34.6% from the field.
This year, Batum has found new life in the starting lineup for the Clippers. Through 11 games, Batum averaged 10.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.8 threes and 1.3 steals per game. He’s also been extremely efficient, shooting 50.7% from the field and 89.5% from the line.
Batum turned 32 in December and it looks like he has at least a little bit more in the tank. He signed a one-year deal with the Clippers this past offseason, worth around $2.5 million, and could be in line to see a more significant payday in 2021 if his production continues.
At his fantasy best, Batum was a great middle-round stat-stuffer, providing a steady stream of threes and steals. He’s a career 43.5% shooter, so we may see his shooting level off soon, but if it doesn’t, he could prove to be a lesser – but more efficient – version of his old self going forward. He should be rostered in just about all fantasy leagues at this point and could be in line to continue his fantasy come back for another year or two to come.
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