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The fantasy NBA playoffs are drawing near, and if you still haven't booked your spot, better make it fast!
There's no room for sentiment at this point so if your bottom-of-the-bench guy is playing poorly or is playing for Portland (who has just two games this week) don't be too hesitant to drop. That game or two in hand could make the difference between fighting for the ring or missing the playoffs altogether.
As always, I have taken a look ahead at the NBA schedule for next week, and here are the fantasy basketball streamers for Week 19.
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NBA Schedule Guide - Week 19
All days this week have between six and nine games played, so it's really not easy to predict which days will be difficult for fantasy GMs. Instead, we will focus on teams that have a strong start or finish to Week 19, in an attempt to maximize games played over the course of the entire week.
Here's the low-down:
Teams with 5 games:
Toronto Raptors
Teams with 4 games:
Brooklyn Nets
Cleveland Cavaliers
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
Sacramento Kings
Teams with 3 games:
Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Dallas Mavericks
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
San Antonio Spurs
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
Teams with 2 games:
Portland Trail Blazers
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 14
Tuesday: 12
Wednesday: 16
Thursday: 14
Friday: 18
Saturday: 12
Sunday: 16
Back-to-Backs (beware of older or banged-up players who might rest):
Monday/Tuesday: BKN, MIN, TOR
Tuesday/Wednesday: HOU
Wednesday/Thursday: MIA, SAC
Thursday/Friday: ATL, CHI, DET, TOR
Friday/Saturday: MIN, ORL, PHI
Saturday/Sunday: MEM
Sunday/Monday the following: DEN, OU, NYK, UTA
Teams with a GOOD START to the week (three games from Monday to Thursday)
Toronto Raptors (5 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Brooklyn Nets (4 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sun)
Miami Heat (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Sacramento Kings (4 games - Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat)
Teams with a GOOD END to the week (three games from Thursday to Sunday)
Toronto Raptors (5 games - Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Memphis Grizzlies (5 games - Mon, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Teams with a POOR START to the week (one or no games from Monday to Thursday)
Portland Trail Blazers (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Denver Nuggets (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun)
New Orleans Pelicans (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun)
New York Knicks (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun)
Phoenix Suns (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun)
Utah Jazz (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun)
Philadelphia 76ers (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sat)
Washington Wizards (3 games - Tues, Fri, Sun)
Teams with a POOR END to the week (one or no games from Thursday to Sunday)
Portland Trail Blazers (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Charlotte Hornets (3 games - Mon, Wed, Sat)
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 19
With all days having between six and nine games played, I've opted to focus on teams that have a good start or end to the week instead of trying to predict which days will be scarce for fantasy GMs (as different teams will have different needs here).
Toronto has a five-game week, so their players are great options in that regard. Brooklyn, Miami and Sacramento (along with Toronto of course) all have three games from Monday until Thursday, so streaming one of their players can make for a good start to the week, and in addition to Toronto, Memphis is the other team that finishes the week with three games from Thursday until Sunday.
These five teams look the most likely to be of use for fantasy teams, and picking their players will leave some room and flexibility to navigate the rest of the week with other remaining adds.
Streaming Options for Week 19
Shallower League Streaming Adds for the Week (Rostered in 25-75ish% of Yahoo leagues):
Chris Boucher, PF/C, TOR, (67% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK
Thaddeus Young, PF/C, TOR, (25% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK, FG%
Seth Curry, PG/SG, BKN, (78% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%,
Patty Mills, PG/SG, BKN, (40% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%
LaMarcus Aldridge, PF/C, BKN, (53% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, FT%, BLK
Cameron Thomas, SG, BKN, (26% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL
Duncan Robinson, SG/SF, MIA, (48% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS
Richaun Holmes, PF/C, SAC, (66% Rostered) -Strong Cats: REB, BLK, FG% - buyer beware: questionable for Monday and his playing time and form are significantly down recently
Justin Holiday, SG/SF, SAC, (31% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL
Davion Mitchell, PG/SG, SAC, (27% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST - buyer beware: his form is significantly down recently
Steven Adams, C, MEM, (71% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK, FG% - buyer beware: poor FT%
Kyle Anderson, SF/PF, MEM, (39% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, a bit of AST, STL/BLK
Brandon Clarke, SF/PF, MEM, (44% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK - buyer beware: got poked in the eye on Saturday, hopefully he will be okay to play
De'Anthony Melton, PG/SG, MEM, (41% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, STL, REB
Shallower League Add
Chris Boucher, PF/C, TOR, (67% Rostered)
Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK
Boucher is kind of a definition of a low floor, high ceiling player. When his stocks are coming, he can win you a category or two almost on his own. But they haven't been coming lately so it was just a few points and boards with solid FG% and not much else.
The good news is that Boucher has been playing over 22 minutes a game in the last four games. The bad news? He's been averaging 7.8 PTS with 0.3 3PM ON 60.0 FG% and 75 FT%, 6.3 REB, 0.0 AST, 0.0 STL, 0.5 BLK and 0.5 TO which is good enough for #223 in Yahoo rankings. Ouch!
20+ minutes is usually enough for Boucher to hover around top 100, and it looks like he will be getting about 20 minutes the rest of the way. His poor play saw him get dropped in a lot of leagues, despite his favorable schedule next week. So if you're a believer in his ability, and you think Chirs can turn it around, there's no better time to roll the dice on him than in his five-game week.
Deeper League Add
Thaddeus Young, PF/C, TOR, (25% Rostered)
Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK, FG%
Thad has been known to be a valuable, low-key fantasy contributor for years. After being underutilized in San Antonio (under 15 minutes a game in just 26 games this season), he was finally traded to Toronto and already played four games averaging almost 20 minutes per outing.
Thad is always a threat to get multiple stocks, and with the bigs in Toronto not performing too well and OG Anunoby breaking his finger, Thad might just get the nod!
He is shooting poorly from the FT line (just 28.6%) but he is decent from the field (50.0%). Furthermore, he is averaging around seven points, four boards, almost two assists and a steal per game in his four games with the Raptors.
If you're a Thad fan like myself, and believe he can restore his former fantasy glory, he is a speculative add in deeper leagues, but one that can pay dividends in the five-game week.
Insanely Deep League Add
Gabe Vincent, PG/SG, MIA, (7% Rostered)
Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, STL, FT%
Positive Circumstance: Kyle Lowry is out on Monday (personal)
If you're looking for upside in threes, points, assists and steals, with good FT%, Gabe could be a decent shout in the upcoming start of the week. He has played 24+ minutes in 11 of his last 12 games and failed to hit a three only twice during this stretch. He is averaging 4.1 dimes, 1.8 threes and 1.1 steals with no misses from the line (10 attempts).
Furthermore, Kyle Lowry is out on Monday due to personal reasons. The last time this happened Lowry missed almost a month and Gabe played 30+ minutes a game (and played quite well at that...).
Now let's hope Lowry's personal thing is nothing serious, but Gabe could still get the opportunity to do very well in his absence. And with three games in the first four days of next week, it's a good time to gamble on him.
Other Deep League Options for the Week
Rostered in less than 25% of Yahoo leagues
Precious Achiuwa, SF/PF/C, TOR, (16% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK
Khem Birch, PF/C, TOR, (9% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK, FG%
Bruce Brown, SG/SF/PF, BKN, (22% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL
Goran Dragic, PG/SG, BKN, (8% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST
Kessler Edwards, SF, BKN, (1% Rostered) - Strong Cats: a bit of REB, STL, BLK
James Johnson, PF/C, BKN, (2% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK, FG%
P.J. Tucker, PF/C, MIA, (12% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL
Gabe Vincent, PG/SG, MIA, (7% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, STL, FT% - positive circumstance: Kyle Lowry is out on Monday (personal)
Dewayne Dedmon, C, MIA, (2% Rostered) - Strong Cats: REB, STL/BLK, FG% - buyer beware: plays limited minutes
Caleb Martin, SG/SF, MIA, (3% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, REB - buyer beware: listed as questionable for Monday due to Achilles soreness
Donte DiVincenzo, PG/SG, SAC, (11% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, STL
Jeremy Lamb, SG/SF, SAC, (3% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, a bit of AST and STL
Moe Harkless, SF/PF, SAC, (4% Rostered) - Strong Cats: a little bit of REB, STL/BLK
Tyus Jones, PG, WAS, (4% Rostered) - Strong Cats: AST, STL, 3PM, FT%
Ziaire Williams, SF, MEM, (2% Rostered) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, a little bit of everything
Good luck with the PO hunt guys, let's get to it!
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