Basketball Pickups: James Wiseman shining as starting center

We are entering one of the stranger weeks of the fantasy basketball season. There were 11 games on Monday, and there are 12 games on Wednesday and Friday before we close out the week with a 10-game day on Sunday. However, there are only four games on Tuesday, two games on Thursday and three games on Saturday. That makes streaming players on those light days even more valuable, since you likely won’t have an issue filling out your lineup on the other days.

The Warriors, Heat, Lakers, Bucks, Thunder, Pelicans, Mavs and Kings play on Tuesday, with Dallas and Sacramento playing each other on the second night of a back-to-back. Make sure you’re streaming anyone you can from those teams, with an extra emphasis on the Pelicans and Bucks, since they play on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

James Wiseman- 33% rostered in Yahoo leagues

Jalen Duren missed a third straight game on Monday, which allowed Wiseman to start once again. During these three starts, he is averaging 17.7 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting 71.9% from the floor. He isn’t really contributing any value in other categories, but those are certainly productive numbers.

Marcus Sasser- 4%

Sasser has had a few starts recently that didn’t go well, but Monday’s opportunity certainly did. He started in place of Cade Cunningham and had 24 points and six assists. Detroit only had games on Wednesday and Friday for the rest of the week, but if Cade continues to miss games, Sasser should continue to start. Hopefully he can have more games like this one.

Payton Pritchard- 40%

I’m going to keep saying it until Pritchard is rostered in over half of Yahoo leagues. He needs to be added everywhere for the rest of the season, since Boston has no reason to play all of their starters every game. He has gone from being a solid depth piece to seeing a huge role every night. He sits just outside the top-100 over the past two weeks and just outside the top-50 over the past week in 9-cat leagues. They play on Thursday and Saturday, which makes Pritchard even more valuable.

Miles McBride- 28%

McBride “only” played 43 minutes during New York’s blowout win over Detroit on Monday, and he finished with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. He has started their last four games and has provided second round value while playing 45.5 minutes per game. He should be streamed everywhere until OG Anunoby returns.

Jared Butler- 1%

When he has gotten the minutes, Butler has been a solid source of dimes and steals. He played 27 minutes off the bench against the Bulls and had 13 assists, two steals and two blocks. He also had a nine assist game last week when he played 31 minutes. He probably won’t give you double digit assists again, but he can be a solid source of dimes in deeper leagues.

Dalano Banton- 37%

Portland is starting to play games without Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant and Deandre Ayton, which opens the door for plenty of young guys to see bigger minutes. Banton has thrived in the month of March, and he had 28 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, one steal, two blocks and two triples on Monday while playing 39 minutes off the bench. We’ve seen Portland tank hard during the final few weeks of the last two seasons, so don’t be surprised if Banton continues to play big minutes for the rest of the year.

Drew Eubanks- 2%

Jusuf Nurkic exited from Monday’s loss to the Spurs with an ankle injury after he stepped on Jeremy Sochan’s foot. If Nurk remains out for their game on Wednesday, Eubanks should move into the starting unit. He hasn’t been great as a starter this season, but the opportunity is enough for him to warrant consideration.