Fantasy Basketball Pickups - Week 15

Yahoo Fantasy basketball analyst Dan Titus explains why fantasy managers should add the Hornets’ Dennis Smith Jr., the Rockets’ KJ Martin, the Nets’ Seth Curry and the Knicks’ Isaiah Hartenstein.

Video Transcript

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DAN TITUS: What's happening? It's in the middle of week 14. Going to make some recommendations ahead of week 15 that you'll want to jump on right now, that are less than 50% rostered in Yahoo leagues. The first one is Denis Smith Jr, he's 21% rostered. Right now he's probably not going to be available in competitive leagues. But if you see him out there floating on waivers in shallow leagues, pick him up immediately. He needs to be rostered in all formats after LaMelo Ball suffered another devastating ankle injury. Don't know how long he's going to be out. But expect a multi-week absence here. And Dennis Smith Jr filled in admirably for him in the past.

So he should be a good source of points, 3's, and assists, as well as steals while LaMelo Ball is out. Pick him up immediately. The next player is KJ Martin, who is 19% rostered in Yahoo leagues. Similar to the LaMelo injury, Kevin Porter Jr hasn't returned to the court yet. And all those minutes-- a majority of those minutes, I should say-- have gone to KJ Martin. And Jabari Smith also left Wednesday's contest with an ankle injury. And KJ Martin has logged 16% of his minutes at power forward.

So between those two injuries, I think KJ Martin is going to luck into some minutes here. And over the last five games without Kevin Porter Jr, he's averaging 14 points with seven rebounds. So the Rockets play four games in week 15. So if either KPJ is out or Jabari Smith Jr, I think KJ Martin's going to continue to be a worthwhile stream in fantasy. So the last person I'm going to pick up is Seth Curry of the Brooklyn Nets. He's 34% rostered right now. Someone else has to score for this Brooklyn team besides Kyrie Irving, and I think it's going to be Seth Curry.

In three games without KD, Seth Curry has averaged almost 17 points with three rebounds. He's obviously going to be a good source of points and 3's, but I think you'll also see some sneaky steals in there as well. So give him a look if you're looking for those specific categories. I think Seth Curry is going to continue being around a top-100 player as long as KD is going to be out. And if you need a quick flyer, Isaiah Hartenstein. I think he's a good look now that Mitchell Robinson has also been ruled out for the next three weeks, potentially more.

He just had surgery on his fractured thumb that he suffered on Wednesday night. So next man up could be Jericho Sims, but I think I'm leaning towards Isaiah Hartenstein here. Give it a flyer, the Knicks have a couple more games in week 14 to figure it out before they head into week 15 in a grueling match-up versus the Cavs, the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets. So those are my picks for week 15, good luck.