RADIO
Welcome to the fantasy basketball risers and fallers column, a weekly look at a few players whose stock is rising and a few who've been struggling with some analysis of why that's been the case. As always, this doesn't mean you need to drop these players who are struggling, but this could be a useful piece for making some trade decisions or for making some tough lineup choices.
It's been a couple of weeks since our last column because the end of the semester was a busy time for me with four classes of essays to grade, but we're officially back. And not back in a "Texas is back" college football way, but in a real "let's get back to discussing the NBA moving forward" way.
If you have any fantasy basketball questions, follow me on Twitter, where I'm always willing to respond to your tweeted questions: @juscarts
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Fantasy Basketball Risers
Brandon Clarke - PF/C - Memphis Grizzlies
Remember when Brandon Clarke fell to the 21st pick in the NBA Draft and everyone on Draft Twitter was collectively like "what, how, why???"
Over the past four games, Clarke is averaging 18 points per contest along with 5.8 rebounds per game. He's shooting 66.7 percent from the floor even though he's shooting just 20 percent from three. With a very high free throw percentage for a big and an increased scoring load on a Grizzlies team that needs all the help it can get, Clarke is trending up.
Joe Ingles - SF/SG - Utah Jazz
We're just a couple weeks removed from Ingles being so disappointing that people were dropping him in most formats, but in seven games since returning to the starting lineup he's basically finally been the guy we thought we'd see this year.
Over that seven-game stretch, Ingles is shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from three on 4.6 attempted treys per game. 13 points, five rebounds, and six assists per game are solid averages and have helped him regain his fantasy value after a long period of mucking around in fantasy purgatory.
Hassan Whiteside - C - Portland Trail Blazers
Whiteside continues to put up strong stats for the Trail Blazers.
He's had a double-double in nine straight games, and his last two games have been wild from a rebound perspective: 16 points and 23 boards against the Warriors, followed by 10 points, 17 rebounds, and five blocks against the Magic.
Whiteside has also recorded at least one block in 10 consecutive games, with multiple blocks in eight of those. He's basically doing all the things you think of when you think of Hassan Whiteside, and he's doing them at a supercharged rate.
Bam Adebayo - PF/C - Miami Heat
Whiteside's former Heat running mate is now the main center in Miami and he's been putting together some great performances.
In the last eight games, Bam is averaging 20.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.6 steals, ad 1.4 blocks per game on 59.2 percent shooting, which...those are superstar numbers. I don't really get many chances to watch the Heat, but last weekend I visited our site's NFL editor while I was on a trip, and he's a huge Heat fan, so I watched the Heat/Mavericks game where Bam got a triple-double and...wow.
Fantasy Basketball Fallers
Danuel House Jr. - SG/SF - Houston Rockets
House's hot start is a distant memory now, and over the last five games he's averaging 6.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game on 36.1 percent shooting. He's shot just 17.6 percent from three over that span.
House is a fun player, but he's also basically always going to be the fifth option for the Rockets, which means that he has to be efficient with the looks that he gets to have fantasy value. Right now, that's not happening.
Miles Bridges - SF - Charlotte Hornets
Bridges has fallen before 30 minutes in consecutive games and averaged just five shot attempts per game in those contests. With Marvin Williams back and needing minutes, Bridges' days of playing 30-plus minutes and taking double-digit shot attempts appear to be over for now, which drops his fantasy value down by a pretty significant amount.
