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As the momentum towards the NBA trade deadline continues to build, injuries continue to silence their business, giving some unexpected opportunities. We’re also starting to see some teams show their cards when it comes to what the rotation could look like post-All Star break. As always, the waiver wire is the place to be, providing managers with trade players who can rise to incredible basketball levels. And remember, never assume a player is registered. It always pays to double check, just in case they’re overlooked.<\/p>\n
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Identifying players who benefit from expanded roles\u2013whether it’s an offensive threat bringing in points and threes or a defensive-minded player who maximizes your blocks and steals\u2013is important as you navigate the season.<\/p>\n
Let’s dive into nine key NBA sleepers whose current stats suggest they are ready for significant value and are currently listed in less than 40% of Yahoo leagues.<\/p>\n
Toronto seems more comfortable playing Murray-Boyles in a consistent role, having logged at least 31 minutes in five of his last six games. Jakob Poeltl continues to struggle with a back injury that cost him a large chunk of the season, giving Murray-Boyles a chance. His production has remained a bit variable, though we have seen some real positives, especially on the defensive end. In his last six games, the rookie has averaged just over 37 points per game, more than enough to warrant inclusion in all leagues, including High Score.<\/p>\n
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But another injury to Anthony Davis led to Marshall being able to hold onto his spot in the rotation. The fact that Davis is likely to miss at least six weeks, coupled with the fact that the current route in Dallas remains up in the air, means we have a good situation for someone like Marshall. He has scored in double digits in seven straight games, totaling at least 22 points in his last three games. During that seven-game span, he averaged nearly 35 fantasy points per game, including a 56-point performance in a win over the Nets. Now that we have certainty about his role, he makes a safe addition to many fantasy teams.<\/p>\n
Coming off of two outstanding games, including the best performance of his career, Sensabaugh has a lot of momentum right now. While his 43-point outburst is clearly unsustainable, he has been trending, even before that. Seen as a potential player late in the draft, Sensabaugh’s role has been perfect to start the season. There were actually games where he wasn’t even in the swing. However, things have changed for the forward in the last few weeks, logging at least 30 minutes in eight of the last 12 games, showing some offensive qualities in the process. There are never any guarantees when it comes to Utah’s night shift, which adds an element of risk for anyone playing for the Jazz. That being said, it makes a lot of sense for Sensabaugh to be there every night, making him a viable addition in high scoring leagues.<\/p>\n
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Although the absence of Ryan Kalkbrenner allowed Diabate to return to a starter-level position, he has continued his strong play, even with Kalkbrenner back. In fact, he has now played at least 30 minutes in four of the last five games, scoring effectively, albeit at a low volume, while grabbing his usual share of boards. He’s certainly not an option that works for everyone, given his limited skill set. However, if you need big men’s numbers, Diabetes seems like a worthy risk.<\/p>\n
As we’ve been opening and closing fantasy rosters all season, the time may have come where we need to go and add Tyson again. Injuries to both Darius Garland and Sam Merrill will likely open up more playing time, something Tyson was able to capitalize on early in the season. While his numbers haven’t been too bad of late, his production has been impressive. However, considering he can now get into the role for 30 minutes per night, that production could be trending in the right direction. In 37 games this season, Tyson averaged 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.9 3-pointers in 26.9 minutes per game, making him a top 100 player in the major leagues.<\/p>\n
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Although we have a very small sample size when it comes to Cisse, there have been signs over the past week that he could be a name to watch. As Daniel Gafford continues to deal with what appears to be a chronic ankle injury, Cisse could find himself a big part of the rotation. In Thursday’s win over the Jazz, despite coming off the bench behind Dwight Powell, Cisse had the best performance of his young career, recording 10 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks in 24 minutes. He obviously comes with some risk given the uncertainty in Dallas, but for those looking for upside, he could be worth taking a flight.<\/p>\n
Love has been able to carve out a consistent role for himself, scoring in double digits in 13 straight games. Most of his value comes from points and 3s, which is definitely an advantage for those in the point format. However, he has managed to break into other categories, seeming to gain more confidence with every appearance. In four games this past week, he averaged 17.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 3.3 3-pointers, enough for more than 30 fantasy points per game.<\/p>\n
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Despite the recent acquisition of Trae Young, the narrative coming out of Washington is that Young won’t touch the floor until after the All-Star break. The news should ease doubts about Johnson’s role, as he has started 10 straight games. His all-around productivity leaves little to be desired, making him a very attractive target in scoring formats. While there will likely be some ups and downs, he’s shown enough to at least be considered consistent, especially when what we’ve seen so far can be considered his baseline.<\/p>\n
It’s certainly been a roller-coaster season for Williams, whose role seems to fluctuate between a roster full of variables. After picking up a guard tag midway through November, he was replaced by Ryan Nembhard, who flashed upside for a while before regressing to the point where he could no longer plan. Although Williams is still on the bench, he has clearly moved ahead of Nembhard, scoring at least 14 points in seven of the last eight games, including three 20-pointers. An ankle injury to Cooper Flagg could also work in Williams’ favor, making him an easy pick in all formats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Written by Adam King, RotoWire.com As the momentum towards the NBA trade deadline continues to build, injuries continue to silence their business, giving some unexpected opportunities. We’re also starting to see some teams show their cards when it comes to what the rotation could look like post-All Star break. As always, the waiver wire is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2352,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351\/revisions\/2352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}