COVID is tearing through the NBA at a rate we've never seen before. That's left teams completely decimated and forced to sign free agents to hardship contracts, though that hasn't even always been enough to prevent postponements. However, some players and teams have avoided protocols more than others, and there are still players putting together noteworthy performances that are largely overshadowed by the league's dominant storyline.
LeBron is having his best fantasy season since 2013-14
James hasn't been this productive per-game for fantasy managers since his final year in Miami. Despite questions about the fit of Russell Westbrook and the overall construction of the roster, James is cutting through all that to have a fantastic individual season. While his rebounds (6.6) and assists (6.6) are down, he's made up for it. He's drilling a career-high 2.7 threes per game, helping lead to 26.4 points per game. But, the most significant swing pieces are his defense and free-throw shooting. James is averaging 2.7 combined steals-plus-blocks this season compared to last year's mark of 1.7, and his free-throw percentage is up to 77.2 percent after last year's mark of 69.8 percent. And with Anthony Davis out for at least a month with a sprained MCL, James' numbers could become even better. He's currently ranked fourth in fantasy on a per-game basis in eight-category leagues.
Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum are climbing the rankings
Congratulations if you managed to buy low on either Lillard or Tatum. After starting their respective seasons slowly, both
COVID is tearing through the NBA at a rate we've never seen before. That's left teams completely decimated and forced to sign free agents to hardship contracts, though that hasn't even always been enough to prevent postponements. However, some players and teams have avoided protocols more than others, and there are still players putting together noteworthy performances that are largely overshadowed by the league's dominant storyline.
LeBron is having his best fantasy season since 2013-14
James hasn't been this productive per-game for fantasy managers since his final year in Miami. Despite questions about the fit of Russell Westbrook and the overall construction of the roster, James is cutting through all that to have a fantastic individual season. While his rebounds (6.6) and assists (6.6) are down, he's made up for it. He's drilling a career-high 2.7 threes per game, helping lead to 26.4 points per game. But, the most significant swing pieces are his defense and free-throw shooting. James is averaging 2.7 combined steals-plus-blocks this season compared to last year's mark of 1.7, and his free-throw percentage is up to 77.2 percent after last year's mark of 69.8 percent. And with Anthony Davis out for at least a month with a sprained MCL, James' numbers could become even better. He's currently ranked fourth in fantasy on a per-game basis in eight-category leagues.
Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum are climbing the rankings
Congratulations if you managed to buy low on either Lillard or Tatum. After starting their respective seasons slowly, both have managed to climb back up the fantasy rankings. Since he returned from his abdominal injury Dec. 12, Lillard has ranked ninth on a per-game basis of all players that have appeared in at least three games since then. In 39.5 minutes, he's averaged 31.7 points on 42.7 percent shooting, 6.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds. The biggest positive is that he's getting back to the free-throw line, with the star point guard averaging 9.7 attempts from the stripe during this stretch.
During this same stretch, Tatum is the eighth-ranked player, and that rank maintains if you extend the timeline back to Dec. 1. In his past 10 appearances, he's averaged 29.2 points on 47.9 percent shooting, 8.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steals in 36.5 minutes.
Tyrese Haliburton proves he can be a high-usage player
Haliburton had a great rookie campaign, but questions emerged about whether or not he could function as a high-usage player running an offense. He was again in a relatively minor role this season, but injuries and protocols have thrust him into more responsibilities lately. Over the past three games, Haliburton has averaged 24.0 points on 55/57/86 shooting, 10.7 assists (only 3.7 turnovers), 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 38.7 minutes. His shooting percentages will come back down to Earth, but this has been a great sign for fantasy managers invested in Haliburton, especially in keeper leagues.
Cade Cunningham takes over as the best fantasy rookie
Despite an awful start to the season, Cunningham has become comfortable lately and has surprisingly already emerged as the top fantasy rookie. He's ranked 49th on the season, with Evan Mobley (54) and Scottie Barnes (62) not too far behind. The guard has been outstanding over his past 10 appearances, ranking 21st in fantasy during this span with averages of 18.7 points on 44.7 percent shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.6 combined steals-plus-blocks. He still needs to get his turnovers (4.5) under control and get to the free-throw line more (2.1 attempts), but the strides he's made need to be acknowledged first.
Gary Trent is a high-level 3-and-D producer
Trent was an afterthought in most fantasy drafts. His ADP rested at 136 before the start of the season. He's turned into one of the best sleepers of the year, as he ranks 42nd in per-game production. Trent is locked into the starting shooting guard spot and has been putting on a fantastic 3-and-D display. In 34.6 minutes per game, he's drilling 2.7 threes and collecting 2.2 steals to go along with his 16.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists. There's no reason to assume he'll slow down any time soon since he's been doing this for over a third of the season and his three-point percentage (38.3) is consistent with his career average.
Caris LeVert goes from buy-low to sell-high
A back injury forced LeVert to miss the first six games of the season. When he returned, he was struggling. His first 16 appearances saw him average just 13.9 points on 41/26/73 shooting with 2.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 26.8 minutes. However, something clicked for LeVert from Dec. 3 onward. During this stretch, he's been the 39th-best player in fantasy on a per-game basis with averages of 21.3 points on 47/43/91 shooting, 4.1 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 34.0 minutes. He may actually be a sell-high at this point, given his injury history and bloated shooting percentages over the past eight games.
Al Horford coming back down to Earth
The 35-year-old started off the year looking refreshed back in Boston. In his first 15 appearances, he ranked 31st in per-game production behind 13.1 points on 46/31/82 shooting, 8.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 blocks in 29.4 minutes. Since then, he's averaging 10.8 points on 44/28/94 shooting, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 blocks in 29.9 minutes, leading to a rank of 77. The blocks were certainly unsustainable given recent career averages, but it's surprising to see his three-point percentage crater on the season as a whole. He's shooting only 29.5 percent on the year after five straight seasons of at least 35 percent. It's difficult to know exactly how to project Horford moving forward, but he probably won't get back to the heights we saw him at during the very beginning of the year.
