Week 12 Schedule Grid: Games Played
4 Games: ATL, CHA, DAL, MEM, MIN, OKC, ORL, PHX, TOR
3 Games: BOS, BKN, CHI, CLE, DEN, DET, GSW, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MIA, MIL, NOP, PHI, POR, SAC, SAS, UTA, WAS
2 Games: NYK
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Week 12 Streaming Schedule
Monday (7 Games)- ATL @ IND, ORL @ CHA, MEM @ HOU, BOS @ SAS, MIN @ NOP, DAL @ OKC, GSW @ PHX
Tuesday (5 Games)- UTA @ TOR, DET @ MIL, NYK @ DEN, POR @ SAC, PHI @ LAC
Wednesday (9 Games)- DAL @ CHA, MIA @ CLE, ATL @ WAS, NOP @ BKN, MIN @ BOS, ORL @ CHI, DET @ MEM, PHI @ PHX, OKC @ LAL
Thursday (3 Games)- TOR @ SAS, DEN @ SAC, HOU @ GSW
Friday (10 Games)- UTA @ CLE, WAS @ MIA, IND @ CHI, BKN @ MEM, ORL @ MIN, DAL @ BOS, ATL @ MIL, LAC @ PHX, NYK @ LAL, OKC @ POR
Saturday (8 Games)- CHA @ DEN, UTA @ DET, DAL @ PHI, NOP @ CLE, TOR @ MIL, MEM @ SAS, HOU @ POR, GSW @ SAC
Sunday (7 Games)- BKN @ CHI, LAL @ MIN, ORL @ LAC, MIA @ ATL, WAS @ OKC, IND @ TOR, CHA @ PHX
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Back-to-Backs:
Sunday (Dec. 30) - Monday: Mavericks, Wolves, Thunder, Magic,
Monday-Tuesday: None
Tuesday-Wednesday: Pistons, 76ers
Wednesday-Thursday: None
Thursday-Friday: None
Friday-Saturday: Cavaliers, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Bucks, Blazers, Jazz
Saturday-Sunday: Hornets, Raptors
Sunday-Monday (Jan. 7): Nets, Lakers, Magic
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Schedule Notes:
This week has a pretty level playing field, with nine teams playing four times, 20 teams playing three times and one team (NYK) playing twice.
The schedule is pretty light to open the week, as there is not a single team that plays more than two games from Monday-Thursday.
The back end of the schedule isn’t much different, as the Raptors are the only team that plays three times from Thursday-Sunday.
Apart from teams previously mentioned above, the following teams play three times in four nights at some point: Cavs (Wednesday-Saturday), Mavs (Wednesday-Saturday), Grizzlies (Wednesday-Saturday).
There are four quality streaming days this week, or days with seven or fewer games. This week they fall on Monday (7), Tuesday (5), Thursday (3) and Sunday (7).
The following teams have the most quality streaming days: Hawks (2), Hornets (2), Nuggets (2), Warriors (2), Rockets (2), Pacers (2), Clippers (2), Wolves (2), Thunder (2), Magic (2), Suns (2), Kings (2), Spurs (2), Raptors (2).
Waiver-Wire Pickups:
*These are guys you should consider keeping for the long haul. To qualify these players have to be available in at least 50% of Yahoo Leagues.
Rodions Kurucs (36%)- Prior to his five-point dud vs. the Hornets, the rookie forward put together a terrific 3-game stretch with averages of 17.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.0 blocks and 1.7 triples with at least 33 minutes in each. Allen Crabbe (knee) is still banged up and wasn’t playing well anyways, so I like Kurucs’ chances of sticking in the starting lineup. “[Kurucs] is making it hard. That’s not going to be an easy decision. I will say we’ll look at it hard,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I like that defensive versatility and that size. He keeps playing like this, it’s going to be tough to take him out.”
Cody Zeller (28%)- He’s coming off one of his worst weeks of the season, so he should be available in a bunch of leagues. Plus, he snapped out of his funk on Friday with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double to go with four assists, one steal and four blocks in 26 minutes. He’s ranked No. 101 in per-game value which is a ninth-round value on the season.
Monte Morris (44%)- If I’m the Nuggets, I find a way to keep Morris involved once they get Gary Harris and Will Barton back. Morris is second in the NBA in assist-tunover ratio and is ranked 10th in offensive rating. He’s also been productive for his fantasy owners with top-50 value in standard leagues over the past month with 13.2 points, 4.3 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.8 triples on 50.8% shooting. “Littlest guy on the floor — least experienced guy on the floor — coming up in big, big ways time and time again,” coach Malone said of Morris. “I am thankful he is a part of our family.”
Malik Beasley (12%)- If we hear that Gary Harris and Will Barton won’t come back this week, Beasley should be on your radar. He’s in the midst of the best 4-game stretch of his career, putting up 16.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.0 triples with at least 26 minutes in each. He did tweak his ankle on Friday night and wasn’t able to return, but he didn’t sound concerned. “I’m a mutant. So I’ll be alright.”
P.J. Tucker (43%)- It’s not always pretty, but Tucker has top-90 value over the past two weeks and he’s 11th in the NBA in minutes per game (35.0). In that span, he’s pulling down 8.0 boards per game with 10.9 points, 1.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.6 triples. He also has just 1.0 turnovers, making him much more valuable in 9-cat than 8-cat.
Josh Hart (48%)- Hart was having a rough December, but he has some life again thanks to LeBron James going down. In his last two games without LBJ, Hart has played an average of 34.0 minutes with 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 3.0 steals, 0.5 blocks and 2.0 triples on 50% shooting. He was one of Los Angeles’ best role players to start the year, so maybe he can go on a run even when LBJ comes back.
Tyler Johnson (44%)- If you missed out on the Justise Winslow sweepstakes, Johnson is a nice consolation prize with top-40 value in his last three games. He put up 16.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.7 blocks and 3.7 triples in that span, and while he likely won’t be this good, I have him pegged as a top-100 guy with Goran Dragic out indefinitely.
Luke Kornet (9%)- Whether it was a fluke or not remains to be seen, but you can’t ignore when a player moves into the starting lineup and puts up 23 points, five assists, three rebounds, one block and seven(!) triples in 34 minutes. The Knicks are in player evaluation mode, so maybe Kornet can run away with the job like Emmanuel Mudiay did when he was given a shot at point guard. The fact that Enes Kanter is on an expiring contract and already clashing with coach David Fizdale can only help his case. “I want to look at it for a little bit,’’ Fizdale said. “That’s part of the deal. He was the one guy that I hadn’t looked at in that lineup. I just felt like with that group why not look at it with some space. It looked pretty good.”
Mikal Bridges (21%)- The rookie put up a monster line on Friday and is averaging 8.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.7 blocks and 1.5 triples on 40.5% shooting over the past month. That’s good for top-90 value in 9-category leagues, and his workload has been trending up for weeks with the Suns using so many 3-wing lineups. His teammate, Richaun Holmes (17%), has seen his minutes dip below 20 in five out of his last six games, but I’m still holding in most cases for his per-minute upside.
Bryn Forbes (22%)- He’s undervalued and has been a sneaky top-60 play over his last five games with 15.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.8 steals and 2.6 triples. His numbers are a bit inflated because he’s hitting 56% from the field in that stretch, but pick him up while he’s hot and figure the rest out later.
Dante Exum (2%)- He was a sleeper in one of my preseason columns, but he’s been underwhelming for most of the season. However, he’s finally starting to figure things out with 17.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 triples in just 19.0 minutes over his last two games. His per-minute production has been sexy for the past two seasons, but his workload always held him back. Well, that may change because the Jazz are using him next to Donovan Mitchell and Ricky Rubio more often. However, the real reason he’s on this list is because Jae Crowder and Rubio are both hurt, so Exum is going to be busy against the Knicks on Saturday and maybe into Week 12.
Tomas Satoransky (21%)- He should be one of the top adds of the week with John Wall expected to undergo season-ending surgery. Satoransky hasn’t played that well this season, but he has too much opportunity to ignore, especially with Austin Rivers out of the equation. In 30 starts last season, Satoransky averaged 10.4 points, 5.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.0 triples on 53.2% from the field with top-75 value.
Thomas Bryant- Another one of my favorite pickups this week. Bryant has top-40 value in his last five games with 14.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.6 triples. Yes his numbers are inflated because of his Wilt Chamberlain game, but his per-minute upside is terrific and the Wizards might be more willing to play him big minutes with a rebuild likely coming to Washington. “I give him and our staff credit,” coach Scott Brooks said. “They’re developing him. … He’s really improved on the defensive end.”
Streaming Options:
*These are guys you can dump straight back to the waiver wire after getting a game or two of value out of them.
Jeremy Lin (11%)- He’s simply not worth owning while Trae Young is healthy, but usually gets the job done as a streamer with 11.2 points, 4.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 0.6 steals and 1.1 triples over his last five. His expiring contract gives him some stash appeal around the deadline, though.
Kevin Huerter (10%)- The rookie wing has been demoted to the streaming section after a tough week. Taurean Prince should be back in a week or so, meaning the rookie’s window for value is closing. Still a solid 3-point streamer this week with seven games of at least two triples in December.
Marcus Smart (39%)- He’s a 3-category specialist with 4.3 assists, 2.7 steals(!) and 1.5 triples in December. He’s second in the NBA in steal percentage.
Ed Davis (7%)- He’s second in the NBA in rebounding percentage and continues to be the best rebounding specialist for streaming purposes.
DeMarre Carroll (6%)- Allen Crabbe (knee) remains out and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson can’t seem to get his act together. Carroll is heating up with 13.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 triples over his last two games.
Cedi Osman (23%)- If he played for almost any other team we probably wouldn’t be talking about him, but someone has to score on that roster. If you don’t care about your FG%, Osman has double-digit points in seven straight games, but the rest of his stats are pretty empty outside of rebounding and a handful of triples.
Alec Burks (9%)- I could literally copy/paste what I just said about Osman, as Burks’ FG% is a red flag as well. With that said, Burks’ output in assists (18 over his last five games) gives him a better floor.
J.J. Barea (19%)- If you ever need to stream assists, you can’t go wrong with the NBA’s leader in assist percentage. He’s averaging 6.3 dimes per game over his last six outings.
Maxi Kleber (2%)- Coach Rick Carlisle turned to Kleber for Dallas’ two matchups with Anthony Davis, but who knows, maybe he sticks with him. Kleber has a fantasy-friendly game and put up 8.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 4.0 blocks and 1.5 triples in his last two games. He can do a little bit of everything.
Mason Plumlee (17%)- I’m downgrading Plumlee from a waiver-wire pickup to a streamer, as Paul Millsap’s (toe) return is imminent. Plumlee has been a solid source of rebounds (8.8), out-of-position dimes (3.0) and steals (1.0) over the past two weeks while hitting 50% of his shots.
Reggie Bullock (22%)- Detroit’s wing rotation is still mostly a fantasy wasteland, but Bullock is the only one with a pulse. He didn’t have a great week, so he’s more of a two-category streamer for his points and triples — he has a combined 25 triples over his last seven games.
Austin Rivers (7%)- He has a small window for low-end value until Chris Paul (hamstring) is cleared. In his first two games with Houston he put up 10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 triples in 32.0 minutes. That’s a fair expectation in the short term.
Tyreke Evans (37%)- As is turns out, Evans revealed that he hasn’t been 100 percent this season because of his knee. Luckily, he said he’s doing much better after a PRP injection and it showed in his last two games with 14.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.0 triples. If he strings together a couple more solid showings I’ll promote him to the waiver-wire section.
Garrett Temple (24%)- He’s been playing out of his mind lately with 13.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.6 blocks and 2.6 triples in 32.6 minutes over his last five games. He’s shooting 57.1% from the field and the blocks are fluky, so he will come back to earth sooner rather than later.
Kelly Olynyk (33%)- He’s going to have random stretches of mid-round value, but he’s been cold for over a week and his minutes reflect that.
James Johnson (32%)- He ruined the fantasy momentum of Derrick Jones Jr. and played 25+ minutes in three straight games before leaving Friday’s game early with an illness. Johnson can stuff the stat sheet, but Miami is a mess right now with their volatile rotations.
Tyus Jones (5%)- With both Derrick Rose and Jeff Teague banged up, Jones becomes very interesting with per-36 minute averages of 6.3 assists and 2.3 steals. He leads the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio and is 5th in steal percentage.
D.J. Augustin (36%)- I still don’t think he’s anything more than a streamer despite Augustin putting up 22.0 points, 6.0 assists, 1.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 2.5 triples over his last two games. He’s ranked just inside the top-125 on the season.
Terrence Ross (31%)- After a two-week slump, Ross is finally heating up with 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 3.0 triples in his last two games. Ross was a mid-round player for over a month earlier this season, so maybe he can earn himself a promotion to the pickup section after this week.
T.J. McConnell (5%)- If you’re looking to stream assists and J.J. Barea is unavailable, McConnell is a solid option with seven dimes in three straight games.
Derrick White (11%)- He’s not easy to trust after burning fantasy owners earlier in the season, but he should at least be on your watch list with 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals over his last five games.
