On Thursday night there were only two games, so the “Pickups of the Day” aren’t the most attractive adds, but we still saw some solid performances from players rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo Leagues. These guys don’t offer quite as much upside as someone like Jalen Duren (39%), who still isn’t rostered in nearly enough leagues, but they still look like solid additions to deep league teams. So, let’s get to it.
Lonnie Walker (11%) – After struggling in the Lakers’ season opener, Walker bounced back in Thursday’s narrow loss to the Clippers, providing 26 points (9-of-21 FG, 6-of-6 FT), three rebounds, three assists, two triples, two steals and just one turnover across 37 minutes. Walker appears to be locked into a 30-plus minute starting role in Los Angeles, and the Lakers desperately need his shooting, so he should have the green light to fire away from deep. He’s not the most efficient scorer, but if you need some points and triples with a trickle of steals, Walker is worth a look.
Marcus Morris (20%) – Morris contributed 14 points (5-of-9 FG, 3-of-3 FT), four rebounds, one assist, one 3-pointer, one steal and just one turnover across 23 minutes in Thursday’s season-opening win over the Lakers, and he’ll have some decent opportunity while Kawhi Leonard ramps up. I wouldn’t anticipate Morris having great rest-of-season value, but Leonard came off the bench and only logged 21 minutes Thursday night, and as long as that’s the case, he should get enough touches to make a marginal impact in fantasy hoops.
Patrick Beverley (28%) – Through the first two games of the season, Beverley has registered four rebounds, three assists, two triples, six steals and four swats, that’s the attractive part of his game. The less attractive aspect is that he’s only scored a total of eight points on 2-of-12 shooting, but with Beverley, you just take the good with the bad. If you’re in a deep league and need some defense stats, Beverley could be your guy.
Grayson Allen (16%) – Allen shot just 3-of-10 from the floor in Thursday’s season-opening win over Philly, but he also went 4-of-5 at the stripe and finished with 12 points, three rebounds, four assists, two triples and an unfortunate three turnovers in 32 minutes. He’s not the most exciting grab out there, but he should be able to sustain some low-end value in deep leagues while Khris Middleton (wrist) is sidelined.
And that’s it. It’s tough to get much from just two games from mostly contending teams, but these are some guys that could boost you in triples, and Beverley is a defensive specialist. But really, you should go out and grab Duren if he’s still somehow available in your league.