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The Week Ahead: Week 11
4 Games: BOS, CHI, CLE, DAL, HOU, LAC, LAL, MIA, MIN, NYK, OKC, PHX, SAC, SAS, UTA
3 Games: ATL, BKN, CHA, DEN, GSW, IND, MEM, MIL, ORL, POR, TOR, WAS
2 Games: DET, NOR, PHI
Players Who Entered Health & Safety Protocols over past 24 hours
Jayson Tatum & Dennis Schroder
The Celtics currently have a total of 10 players in quarantine, although Josh Richardson should clear his second, 10-day quarantine by Tuesday, and he’ll likely be taking a more proactive role in the offense with Tatum and Schroder unavailable. Right before Richardson was forced into quarantine, he put up 27 points, five triples, five boards, four dimes, three steals and just one turnover across 32 minutes, so he’s someone to monitor this week with four games on the schedule for Boston. I’d also anticipate some explosive lines from Jaylen Brown.
A day after Robert Covington, Dennis Smith Jr. and Ben McLemore went into quarantine, Jusuf Nurkic and Cody Zeller joined them in the health & safety protocols on Sunday, so it’s unlikely any of these guys will be available for Week 11. Expect major minutes and decent uptick in usage for Larry Nance Jr. this week.
Naz Reid & D’Angelo Russell
Naz Reid and D’Angelo Russell have joined Karl-Anthony Towns, Jarred Vanderbilt, Anthony Edwards and Taurean Prince in quarantine, and while we may see Edwards and Vanderbilt return this week, it’s unlikely we’ll see D’Lo, KAT or Reid during Week 11. Patrick Beverley and Josh Okogie have cleared quarantine and were able to practice on Sunday, so perhaps those two will be able to return to the floor for either Monday’s game vs. Boston or Tuesday’s game against New York.
Beverley, Malik Beasley and Jaden McDaniels will be the primary beneficiaries while all these guys are the other guys are out.
Green entered the health & safety protocols on Sunday, so he won’t be available for Week 11, but we should see Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole return to the floor this week. While Green is out, Otto Porter Jr., Juan Toscano-Anderson and Nemanja Bjelica will all see a boost, with OPJ being the most attractive fantasy option out of that group. Stephen Curry will also be asked to do a bit more on the playmaking end sans Draymond.
The sharpshooter went into quarantine in Sunday, so we likely won’t see him back on the floor until the middle of Week 12. However, with Jalen Green already back and Kevin Porter Jr. (thigh bruise) seemingly on the cusp of his return, Mathews might not have that much value once he is cleared to return. He’s not a guy I’d be clinging to in standard formats.
Payton going into quarantine is fairly meaningless with Chris Paul and Cameron Payne healthy, but Crowder has been averaging 28 minutes as a starter this season, so his absence will be felt. Expect more minutes for Cameron Johnson and JaVale McGee in Week 11.
Miles Bridges & P.J. Washington
Assuming this wasn’t a false positive for Bridges and Washington, we won’t be seeing either of these guys this week, so expect guys like Gordon Hayward, Kelly Oubre Jr., Jalen McDaniels, Mason Plumlee and Nick Richards to all help pick up the slack. If McDaniels finds himself in a starting role, he’ll be a guy to consider adding in standard formats. Per-36 minutes this season, McDaniels has put in averages of 13.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.0 triples, 0.9 steals and 0.9 swats per contest.
Dillon Brooks & De’Anthony Melton
We saw John Konchar get the start on Sunday with these two out, and he produced 11 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks over 28 minutes. He can be inconsistent, but he’ll have plenty of opportunity for Memphis this week. We’ll also see an uptick in usage from Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr.
Coby White replaced Ball as a starter on Sunday, but he left a lot to be desired in fantasy hoops with his stat line of eight points (3-of-10 FG, 2-of-2 FT), two rebounds, one assist, one block and two turnovers in 33 minutes. When White is scoring at a high level, he’s not doing much for you in fantasy hoops, and he’s a fairly inconsistent scorer. I think the true beneficiaries in Ball’s absence will be Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, as they’ll both see more playmaking responsibilities coming their way.
Rondo’s not a large enough part of the rotation in L.A. for his playing status to truly impact fantasy hoops.
While it was Keita Bates-Diop (10 points, six rebounds, two assists in 25 minutes) who got the start sans Murray on Sunday, it was Tre Jones who had the more impressive stat line with eight points, five rebounds, 11 assists and just one turnover in 21 minutes off the bench. Derrick White also saw some more playmaking responsibilities and dished out 10 dimes in just 16 minutes of floor time in a blowout win over the depleted Pistons. Expect more robust stat lines from White this week, and Jones could be a guy to think about streaming in deep leagues with four games on the schedule for San Antonio in Week 11.
John Collins went into quarantine on Sunday, and Delon Wright followed him on Monday, joining Jalen Johnson, Wesley Iwundu, Onyeka Okongwu, Sharife Cooper, Lou Williams, Kevin Huerter, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Danilo Gallinari and Trae Young in the health & safety protocols. It’s looking pretty grim in the ATL, although we might see Young return to the floor for Wednesday’s game in Chicago, and if he is able to get back out there he’ll get all the shots he wants. However, for Monday’s game, I’d anticipate major minutes for guys like Cam Reddish, Skylar Mays, Clint Capela and Gorgui Dieng, with Reddish (38%) being the most attractive target of the players who are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
As long as Lowry is out, Gabe Vincent should continue to flirt with minutes in the 30s as a starter, making him an attractive streamer with four games on the schedule for Miami this week. In his nine starts this season, Vincent has put forth averages of 13.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 2.3 triples, 0.8 steals and 2.8 turnovers per game on 44.1% shooting.
Down Goes PG-13
On Sunday the Clippers announced that Paul George had been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and he will miss the next 3-4 weeks of action. Luke Kennard got the start in his place on Sunday night, but he only saw 17 minutes of action and went 3-of-10 from the floor for eight points, two triples, one rebound and nothing else in a narrow loss to the Nuggets.
Eric Bledsoe was L.A.’s leading scorer in the three-point loss, going 8-of-17 from the floor and 1-of-2 at the line for 18 points, 10 assists, two rebounds, one 3-pointer, five steals, two swats and three turnovers in 37 minutes, so it looks like he’ll be the main man on offense for the Clippers over the next 10 days.
Brandon Boston Jr. was also impressive in his 33 minutes off the bench, as he finished with 18 points (6-of-15 FG, 4-of-5 FT), three rebounds, two assists, two triples and two turnovers, so he’s someone to put on your watch list.
Terance Mann will continue to log major minutes while PG-13 is out, and over the past eight games, he’s been a late-round producer behind averages of 12.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.1 triples and just 1.1 turnovers per contest on 55.7% shooting from the field and 80% at the stripe. Perhaps we’ll get a glimpse of that guy who we saw drop in 39 points and seven triples in the Clippers’ Game 6 route of the Jazz roughly six months ago.
Light Days
Thursday – Four Games
PHI vs. BKN
MIL vs. ORL
CLE vs. WAS
GSW vs. DEN
Saturday – Six Games
NOP vs. MIL
SA vs. DET
CHI vs. WAS
LAC vs. BKN
DEN vs. HOU
GSW vs. UTA
Streamers: Shaquille Harrison, Bruce Brown, Nicolas Claxton, RJ Hampton, Dean Wade, Corey Kispert, Gary Payton II, Otto Porter, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Nemanja Bjelica, Jeff Green, Facundo Campazzo, Bones Hyland, Herb Jones, Tre Jones, Frank Jackson, Hamidou Diallo, Luke Kennard, Eric Bledsoe, Terance Mann, Joe Ingles (Donovan Mitchell not traveling for two-game road trip due to sore back)
