Washington

Wizards

Despite moving to a team with a far less talented roster, Poole’s production has faltered in nearly every statistical category this season. If he’s ultimately ruled out Wednesday, his nearly 30 minutes per tilt would likely be divvied up between the likes of Corey Kispert and Bilal Coulibaly. If Shamet and Davis also sit, Jared Butler could mix in for some backcourt minutes as well.

Coming into the season, Gafford had a lot of hype surrounding him because of Washington’s lack of depth at center behind him. He hasn’t lived up to the expectations, but he has still had a solid year. Managers would love to see more games like this as he recorded just his third double-double of the season. He was also able to set a season-high for scoring. Gafford’s fantasy value in inflated by his blocks (2.1) and field goal percentage (70.3%), which are both in the top ten in the NBA. Unfortunately, his points and rebounds are a tad low. Performances like this are what managers envisioned when they drafted him, so hopefully we can see more like this.

After a few poor performances in a row, Kispert was able to find his shot in this game. He knocked down four triples in this game after hitting a total of three across his last three outings. Kispert hasn’t been able to provide much fantasy value this season outside of a few big scoring nights from beyond the arc. He hasn’t been able to take advantage of Washington trading away a lot of their scoring this summer despite a strong finish to last season. This was only his fourth game with at least four 3-pointers this season.

Kuzma has carried Washington’s offense this season, and that continued in this game. He ended up fouling out late in the fourth, but that didn’t impede his ability to provide fantasy managers with really solid value. Kuz is in the midst of the best season of his career. He is averaging career-highs in points, assists, field goal percentage and free throw percentage despite playing his fewest minutes since joining Washington. The expectation was that Kuzma and Jordan Poole would take turns shooting bad shots, which would result in both scoring a lot of points on inefficient shooting splits. That hasn’t been the case for either party (Poole has the inefficient shooting part down), and there isn’t much of a reason to think that Kuz will slow down.

Is Poole beginning to turn things around? As a scorer, he’s put up 19 points or more in four of his last five games. However, the production in other categories has been lacking, hence his being ranked outside the top 200 in 9-cat per-game value over the last two weeks. Poole has been of greater value to points league managers than those looking to win category leagues, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

Avdija’s Wednesday night came to a painful end, as he suffered an apparent right forearm injury after attempting a shot during the fourth quarter. He didn’t appear to be receiving any treatment on the Wizards bench after exiting the game, and that may be a good sign regarding the severity of the injury. The 22 points matched his season-high, and this was a much-needed performance. Avdija scored a total of 27 points in the three games prior, shooting 10-of-23 from the field and 2-of-7 from three. He’s closing in on top 100 per-game value for the season, well ahead of his Yahoo ADP of 146.

Averaging just over 23 points per game, Kuzma’s accounted for 22 or more in five of his last six games. Posting solid offensive numbers while taking care of the basketball, he’s approaching top-50 per-game value in 9-cat formats. Given Jordan Poole’s struggles, the preseason fantasy hype appears to have been directed toward the wrong Wizards player. Washington finishes its Week 6 slate with another game in Orlando on Friday.

Gafford’s closing in on top 50 per-game value in 9-cat formats, with the playing time being his biggest issue. The good thing is that the minutes have increased, with Saturday’s loss to the Hawks (18 minutes) being the exception. Gafford’s played 27 or more in five of his last six games, averaging 26.9 over the last two weeks. If he can get the season-long minutes average into the high-20s, that would do wonders for fantasy managers who have DG rostered. Danilo Gallinari, who has served as Gafford’s backup, finished Monday’s win with 16 points, two rebounds, two assists, and three 3-pointers in 19 minutes off the bench.

Avdija was one of seven Wizards to score in double figures, as the team picked up its third win of the season. Rostered in 65% of Yahoo leagues, he’s been a solid option in category leagues, ranking just outside the top 100 in 9-cat per-game value. And Monday’s effort was much-needed, as Avdija scored 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting in losses to the Bucks (Friday) and Hawks (Saturday). He won’t be a league-winner by any stretch of the imagination, but Avdija has the tools needed to be a quality contributor throughout the season.

Kuzma had arguably his best game of the season on Monday, as he finished two assists shy of a triple-double. In addition to leading the Wizards in points and rebounds, Kuz’s eight assists were countered by just one turnover. While Jordan Poole (10 points, three assists, and one steal in 25 minutes) has floundered thus far, Kuzma has performed well for fantasy managers. He’s providing 6th-round per-game value in 9-cat formats and 5th-round value in 8-cat. But things will get considerably more difficult, as the Wizards finish Week 6 with two games in Orlando.