With NBA play resuming on Wednesday, now is a good time to hold a roundtable discussing a few questions that will impact fantasy basketball for the rest of the season. The last question focuses on the “silly season.” Every year, there tend to be a few players who emerge during fantasy playoff time, providing surprisingly positive value. Rotoworld fantasy basketball writers Nick Schlain, Noah Rubin, Raphielle Johnson, and Zak Hanshew offer their picks for the “silly season.”
Pick one low-rostered (below 40 percent in Yahoo leagues) player from each conference that you believe can be a “silly season” standout, and provide a couple of sentences explaining your choices.
Schlain: Caris LeVert (27 percent) and Donovan Clingan (38 percent)
LeVert was traded to Atlanta in a deal with the Cavaliers before the deadline. He’s only played three games with the Hawks but is averaging 15.7 points, seven rebounds, and three assists per game. He’s played over 30 minutes off the bench in two of three games and, in his last game, was just three assists shy of a 20-point triple-double. The Hawks are going nowhere without Jaylen Johnson this year. Trae Young has dealt with an Achilles injury all season and could be shut down before we get to the fantasy playoffs. LeVert is already playing a lot off the bench and could stand to benefit even more from the Hawks succumbing to the “silly season.”
Clingan really should be rostered in more than 40 percent of fantasy leagues. Deandre Ayton is out with a calf injury and will return in mid-March at the earliest. Clingan played 31 minutes against the Nuggets just before the All-Star break and had 17 points and 20 rebounds. With Ayton out for at least the next month, the rookie will have the chance to continue to play a lot and put up some serious numbers. Who knows if the Trail Blazers will even return to Ayton as the starting center when he returns. By then, Clingan will have plenty of opportunity to establish himself as the starter.
Rubin: Bub Carrington (21 percent) and Clingan
Clingan was my first pick in our “silly season” draft on the Rotoworld Basketball Show. You don’t want to let this guy sit on your waiver wire. Deandre Ayton (calf) will be out until mid-March at the earliest, and it could certainly be much longer to help Portland’s lottery odds. Clingan played 21 minutes in the game when Ayton injured his calf, and he contributed 21 points, seven rebounds, one block, and one three-pointer without missing a shot. Clingan started at center for the Trail Blazers in their next game, their final outing before the All-Star break. He played 31 minutes and finished with 17 points, 20 rebounds, two assists and three blocks. He’ll split the center minutes with Robert Williams, but Clingan doesn’t need many minutes to dominate fantasy basketball. Expect him to provide dominant numbers in rebounds, blocks and field-goal percentage, and he is talented enough to provide a few assists and the occasional three-pointer.
Carrington is another rookie who entered the All-Star break on a high note. He returned to the starting lineup for Washington’s last five games and averaged 16.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, six assists, and 3.6 three-pointers while shooting 56.9 percent from the field and 100 percent from the free throw line. It would be surprising if the Wizards took him back out of the starting unit over the final two months of the regular season. Washington currently holds the worst record in the league, so their priority will continue to be the development of their young core. Carrington could be the team’s point guard of the future, and his recent production has been encouraging. I’m expecting him to keep that going in March and April.
Johnson: Keon Johnson (19 percent) and Toumani Camara (35 percent)
In the East, I’ll take Brooklyn’s Keon Johnson (19 percent rostered, Yahoo). Over the past three weeks, he’s averaged 14.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.7 assists, and 1.8 three-pointers, which has been suitable for ninth-round value in nine-cat formats. And that’s with him shooting 37.4 percent from the field. Shooting efficiency has not been a strength for the former first-round pick. Still, he can provide reliable value with the Nets focused on player development and the draft lottery.
As for the West, Toumani Camara (35 percent) feels like an obvious answer. The former second-round pick who was included in the three-team trade headlined by Damian Lillard has provided top-75 value in eight- and nine-cat formats over the past three weeks. While Camara’s defensive ability has been well-known, he’s improved offensively, shooting 51 percent from the field and averaging 11.7 points per game during this stretch. Also, he isn’t (in my opinion) among the Trail Blazers who may be at risk of a late-season shutdown.
Hanshew: Clingan and Guerschon Yabusele (31 percent)
Deandre Ayton will be sidelined for an extended period, and Robert Williams III can never stay on the court. Cue Clingan, the talented rookie who’s excelled when given additional playing time. Clingan posted 17 points, 20 boards, two dimes, and three swats in his last game, following up a 21-point, seven-rebound effort against the Nuggets two nights prior. He’s got a clear path to silly season greatness, taking over as Portland’s top option at center.
Despite playing four of the Sixers’ final six games before the break, Joel Embiid can’t be relied on to stay healthy. The biggest beneficiary of additional Embiid absences would be Yabusele, but the latter has earned a starting spot even when Embiid is available. Yabusele has been a top-85 player over the last month and a top-60 player over the previous two weeks.
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