The Playlist: Wacky Week 9 schedule and fantasy basketball pickups
Yahoo Fantasy analyst Dan Titus preview the upcoming week in fantasy hoops and offers several players to target on waivers.
Video Transcript
[HIP HOP BEAT]
DAN TITUS: Welcome back to "The Playlist." It's week nine, so let's get right to the pickups.
First pickup is Caris LeVert. He may not be available in deep leagues, but shallow leagues you definitely want to check. He's 52% rostered right now as of Monday. And I think that that's going to change pretty quickly with Darius Garland being out for a few weeks with that jaw injury.
Caris LeVert has always been a bucket whenever he's gotten starter's minutes, but it's really what he does for stat stuffing across other categories that really makes him valuable in fantasy. Don't sleep on him. Rush to the waiver wires and add him right now.
The second player is Dante Exum of the Dallas Mavericks. Kyrie Irving still in a walking boot, so I still feel like there's a lot of value there for Dante Exum to perform. He's been a top 50 player over the last two weeks. So you should definitely add him if you're looking for points. He's been averaging 19 over the last two weeks, along with assists and rebounds, and he'll give you a steal. Pick him up, as well.
Isaiah Hartenstein, talked about him last week. He's still not starting, but I don't think it matters. He's going to be averaging a low end double-double, gives you the stocks that you need from the center position, and he's now getting minutes. He's played over 30 minutes in his last two outings. So make sure you pick up Isaiah Hartenstein, still under 50% rostered.
And lastly, got to go to the Bay with Brandin Podziemski. This kid, the rookie out of Santa Clara, is definitely surprising people. I don't know what it is about Santa Clara, man. They just keep on finding these gems. Last year it was Jaylin Williams. This year it's Brandin Podziemski. But he's starting. The last three games for the Warriors, 11 points, four rebounds, and four assists over that span.
But it's really the stocks that really makes him valuable in fantasy. He's averaging three over the last three games. And while that may not hold, he's still definitely a 3-and-D guy that can give you really good rebounds for his size and the position. So make sure you pick up Brandin Podziemski.
It's week nine, and obviously we have Christmas right around the corner. So this is going to be an interesting week, another abbreviated week for fantasy basketball. There's going to be no games on Sunday once again. This is the third time in four weeks. It sucks. But there's still plenty of games that you can stream and plenty of teams that you can stream from.
So 15 teams play four games this week. 14 teams play three games. And then you have the one lone team, the Phoenix Suns, playing two games. Now typically, I recommend fading that two-team squad. But in this week in particular, the Suns play on Tuesday and Friday, two very streamable days that you'll want to get some production from.
So you'll want to hold on to players like Eric Gordon, Grayson Allen. Maybe you want to take a flyer on Drew Eubanks if you need some rebounds and some blocks later on in the week. But make sure you hold on to them.
And then also the Warriors play on Tuesday and Friday, as well. So Dario Saric, Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, even though all he does is really score and rebound, he becomes fantasy viable as a streaming option. So make sure you pay attention to those players.
And make sure you continue to monitor the injury reports, because there's a lot of good players that are coming back in Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. But then also you have fantasy players like Mark Williams, who continue to be listed as day to day and doubtful as well as Markelle Fultz. So make sure you have an eye on Nick Richards or Jalen Suggs if he was for whatever reason dropped in your league.
But we'll see you next week make sure you have a safe and fun happy holiday. And the Christmas slate is going to be fun, so make sure you tap in on Monday. Peace.