Welcome to this week’s roundup of the biggest risers and fallers in fantasy basketball!
As the season unfolds, player performances continue to shake up the rankings and impact fantasy rosters. Whether it’s a breakout star making waves or a struggling veteran losing ground, staying ahead of the trends is crucial for your fantasy success.
In this weekly breakdown, we’ll highlight the top performers climbing the charts and those whose value is slipping, helping you make smarter lineup decisions.
Risers
Kel’el Ware, C, Miami Heat (20.4% rostered in ESPN leagues)
Ware has quietly been one of this season’s best rookies and recently exploded onto the fantasy scene with a boost in minutes due to Jimmy Butler‘s two suspensions. Erik Spoelstra then put Ware into the starting lineup beside Bam Adebayo on Jan. 21 and Ware responded with back-to-back 20 and 10 double-doubles, and he’s scored at least 20 points in three straight games. He’s also hit five 3-pointers and blocked six shots over that stretch and is now my favorite to win Rookie of the Year. He should be rostered everywhere.
Onyeka Okongwu, C, Atlanta Hawks (42% rostered)
Okongwu has spent the better part of the last five seasons patiently waiting to be inserted into the starting lineup for the Hawks and it finally happened on Jan. 18 in an overtime win against the Celtics. While the Hawks have lost three out of his four starts, it looks like Okongwu is officially their starting center going forward. He’s posted strong double-doubles in three of his last four games, and the future is bright for Okongwu.
Tari Eason, SF/PF, Houston Rockets (30.9% rostered)
Eason missed more than a month with a lower left leg injury but finally returned to action on Jan. 16 and has been lights-out ever since. He’s getting 24 MPG right now and has filled up the stat sheet in all four of his January games, compiling 11 steals over his last three. The Rockets are one of the league’s best young teams and it appears that there’s room for Amen Thompson, Eason and Cam Whitmore to all provide fantasy value for as long as Jabari Smith is out. But Thompson and Eason should be good to go, even when Smith returns.
Malik Beasley, SG, Detroit Pistons (22.7% rostered)
Along with the Cavaliers and Rockets, the 23-21 Pistons are one of the league’s most surprising teams and Beasley is a big reason why. While it can be argued that a suddenly streaking Jalen Duren has been the team’s second-best player behind Cade Cunningham, Beasley gets that title in my book. Originally thought of as a one-trick pony and 3-point specialist, Beasley has averaged 16 points and nearly a steal per game this season in 28 minutes. And if you need threes, he’s one of the league’s best shooters, hitting a career-high 3.7 per game on 40% shooting. He’s in the process of tracking down Payton Pritchard in a bid to win Sixth Man of the Year.
Derrick Jones Jr., SF, Los Angeles Clippers (3.1% rostered)
Jones is officially hot, going off for a career-high 29 points with a monstrous stat line against Boston last Wednesday. That was a bit of a fluke since the Clippers rested several stars, but Jones backed it up with 19 points, eight rebounds, two steals, a block and three 3-pointers in Thursday’s win over the Wizards, when the Clippers were back at full strength. He’s been starting all season but has been especially effective over his last six games. Get him while he’s hot.
Fallers
Jimmy Butler, SG/SF/PF, Miami Heat (92.8% rostered)
Butler has been suspended for nine of his last 12 games for conduct detrimental to the team and is in a high-profile standoff with general manager Pat Riley. While it appears likely that Butler will eventually be traded, Riley is going to play hardball and could choose to continue his beef with Butler rather than move the disgruntled star. While it’s possible that Butler could be traded any day now, there are no guarantees that it will happen. And his history of missed games and dwindling production is a bad combination. Move him for whatever you can get.
De’Andre Hunter, SF/PF, Atlanta Hawks (31.9% rostered)
Hunter has been mired in a terrible shooting slump over his last two games, hitting just 5-of-25 shots and failing to score more than 10 points. He was having a strong season and is still in the Sixth Man of the Year race, but he’s going to have a tough time catching Beasley and Pritchard at this point. Bogdan Bogdanovic is finally healthy again and scored 23 points on Thursday, while Vit Krejci has been playing at a high level recently. I believe that Hunter’s going to have a tough time matching his first-half success the rest of the way.
Aaron Gordon, PF, Denver Nuggets (54.4% rostered)
Russell Westbrook is vibing with Nikola Jokic, who has triple-doubled in five straight games, and has been starting for the Nuggets, pushing Gordon to the bench. While it’s possible that Gordon could rejoin the starting unit once he’s fully recovered from his calf injury, he has said he’d accept a bench role going forward. Gordon has come off the pine in the six straight games since his return and hasn’t played more than 22 minutes in any of them. The Nuggets have won all six of those games and there’s a very good chance that Gordon is now their sixth man. The drop in minutes is going to continue to hurt his fantasy value going forward, and dropping him for Ware makes sense, as they are heading in opposite directions.
Stephen Curry, PG, Golden State Warriors (99.9% rostered)
While Curry is one of the few fantasy guarantees in a wacky Warriors rotation, he’s not playing up to his standards and they’ve lost six of their last 10 games, falling out of the playoffs for now as the 11th-best team in the West. Despite shooting it well, Curry hasn’t scored more than 21 points in three straight games, hasn’t been taking many shots (15.3 per game over that stretch), and the Warriors look like a ball of confusion. Maybe they’ll make a trade in an attempt to get Curry some help and break the Warriors out of their funk, but the 36-year-old doesn’t look like the player he once was, at least for now.
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