Pistons forward Marvin Bagley III has seen big minutes and solid production over the last couple of weeks.
If you’re new to this column, here’s what we will be looking at each and every week.
Every week, we’ll be looking at players who are widely available and rostered in fewer than 60% of fantasy leagues on Yahoo. We’ll be focusing on 8-cat leagues because turnovers are a waste of a category, to be honest. We’ll be looking at players who can help you in each of the eight categories who you can get before your league-mates catch on.
The eight categories we’ll focus on each week are:
- Points
- Rebounds
- Assists
- Steals
- Blocks
- Threes
- Field-goal percentage
- Free-throw percentage
Let’s get to it.
Points
Darius Bazley (SF/PF – OKC): 54%
The Thunder continue to Thunder, but Bazley has picked up steam after a rough patch in February.
It’s hard to fully trust Bazley, but he’s scored at least 14 points in five straight games, which includes three games with at least 25 points.
In all of those games, Bazley has played at least 30 minutes, and the Thunder should continue to give him the high workload volume over the next couple of weeks.
Rebounds
Marvin Bagley III (PF/C – DET): 60%
Bagley is better suited for points leagues, but he’s posting 10th-round value over the last couple of weeks.
Since March 4 – seven games – Bagley has scored in double-digits in all seven games and has a double-double in three of those.
In the last month, he’s averaging 7.6 boards per game, and the Pistons are playing him big minutes. He should be rostered in all 12-team leagues by now.
Assists
Immanuel Quickley (PG/SG – NYK): 36%
Quickley continues to see consistent minutes, which isn’t something that seemed like a possibility a month ago.
He’s been above 20 minutes in all of his games in March so far, and he’s rewarded fantasy managers as the No. 53 player in fantasy over the last two weeks.
In that time, Quickley has averaged 15.3 points and 4.7 assists for the Knicks. He should provide mid-round value going forward with the solid floor he’s offering.
Steals
If Jones doesn’t make the first-team All-Rookie team, then there is a conspiracy out there.
Jones broke out for a big 22-point performance recently, but it’s the steals that fantasy managers should want from him.
He has at least one steal in 10 of his last 11 games, making him an under-rostered fantasy player still.
Blocks
Isaiah Hartenstein (PF/C – LAC): 12%
Hartenstein’s 69 blocks rank 20th in the league heading into Saturday. That surprised me, to be honest.
He, of course, had four his last time out, but we’ll take them as the season winds down.
I like him as a deeper-league target, and he could approach standard league value if he can ever see consistent minutes in the mid-20s.
Threes
Bones Hyland (PG/SG – DEN): 28%
Can Mike Malone just give Bones the run he needs the rest of the season, please? He’s been on fire of late, scoring 17 points in three of his last four games, and 21 points in an additional game.
Over his last four games, Bones has 14 made threes and is putting up top 100 numbers.
Free Bones for the rest of the season.
Field-goal percentage
Bitadze season is back, folks. He’s the least talented of the slew of Indian big men, but right now, he’s the healthiest one.
Opportunity = production.
With Jalen Smith and Isaiah Jackson both getting hurt, Bitadze should continue to get big minutes for Indiana. The production is there for him, but the fouls are always a concern.
Free-throw percentage
Davion Mitchell (PG/SG – SAC) :16%
You know the drill by now with this category. We find someone who can knock down free throws, yes, but it’s also to highlight a player who we can’t quite squeeze into any of the above categories. This week, we’ll talk about Mitchell.
Mitchell has been in this column off and on all season, and he’s back here for the final few weeks of the year.
He’s been playing consistent minutes for the Kings of late, and he’s hit double-digits in points in five of the last six games.
What’s more, he has two two-steal games in those games, too, which is what we want to see from Mitchell going forward.
