Wednesday's Fantasy Basketball Streamers: Moses Moody, Jabari Smith Jr., and More
Streaming players from three NBA teams that have good matchups on Wednesday.
The Bulls might be the story of the season early on. Their 6-1 record is second in the league, but while the 7-0 Thunder were expected to excel, Chicago has been a perennial play-in team, not one that competes for the top of the conference.
There's a long way to go; they could fall to the middle of the pack after one bad week. For now, though, Bulls' fans can dream of something bigger than fighting for the eighth seed in mid-April.
Shifting to fantasy basketball, let's look at streaming players from three NBA teams that have good matchups on Wednesday. Most stats are from NBA.com.
Use FantasySP's waiver wire tool to find the players who are being added to fantasy rosters most often each week!
Boston Celtics vs. Washington Wizards
Washington is one of our favorite streaming targets here, as they play fast and loose (so to speak). The Wizards play at the second-fastest pace and have the third-worst defensive rating, a profile they have kept for several years.
The Celtics look different without Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and others, and that leaves room for fantasy production from other players. Seven guys are playing at least 20 minutes per game, and only four of them were on the team last season.
Guard
Boston's best players are guard-heavy, not leaving a lot of room for lower-level guys to get big minutes. Gonzalez averages 14 minutes per game but doesn't put up many stats.
Forward
Hauser is at about 24 minutes per game and Minott 21. Hauser scores more (9.6 points versus 7.4), but Minott does everything else a little better. Both players are low-level streamers who have deep-league value.
Center
Queta is averaging nearly 23 minutes per game with 8.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks. He is a moderately productive player who has some low-level fantasy value and is a good streamer today. Garza doesn't contribute much and isn't fantasy relevant.
Golden State Warriors @ Sacramento Kings
Sacramento ranks in the middle in pace, but they are less than one possession per game away from the top 10, still offering value with the speed at which they play. Their best asset for our purpose is that they hold the fourth-worst defensive rating.
The Warriors were also listed here yesterday with a good matchup against the Suns, and they scored 118 points after 68 in the first half. Golden State is a team with some intriguing players that you can pick up as streamers.
Guard
Podziemski is the guy to go after here, as he has played more minutes than Hield and put up better stats. He ranks in the top five on the team in points, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks. Hield is just a scorer and nothing else, and he has done that at a lower level this season, though he did score 12 points yesterday.
Forward
Moody scores more than anything else, though he has seen his average dip just a bit from last year. He gets a bump here because Jimmy Butler left yesterday's game with back soreness, and there's a chance he won't play today.
Moody played 34 minutes and scored 24 points yesterday; he has plenty of fantasy value if Butler does indeed miss this game.
Center
With Horford out yesterday, Post and Jackson-Davis handled many of the center minutes. Post scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in 27 minutes, while Jackson-Davis had just seven and two in 16 minutes.
Horford is expected to play in this one, and that pushes Jackson-Davis to the fringe of the rotation while leaving Post without enough production to make a real fantasy impact. Horford hasn't put up hardly any stats this season, leaving him off the fantasy radar.
Houston Rockets @ Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies are a team in flux, having made a major trade this offseason (sending out Desmond Bane) and now seeing their star, Ja Morant, show consternation. They play at the seventh-fastest pace and have the sixth-worst defensive rating, fitting nicely as one of our target teams.
Houston is a team with championship aspirations after adding Kevin Durant in the offseason, and they have started on the right track with a 4-2 record. The Rockets won't have their real test until the postseason, and in the meantime, they have plenty of players with fantasy value (though most are heavily owned).
Guard
Sheppard figured to benefit the most when Fred VanVleet went down for the season, but he has only been moderately involved, playing fewer than 20 minutes per game. Though Okogie has played a little more (21.5 minutes per game), Sheppard does everything at a higher level, and he's the guy you want from this group as a lower-level streamer.
Forward
Smith missed Houston's most recent game with an ankle sprain and is questionable for this one, so verify his status before gametime. He is owned in about 40% of leagues, offering plenty of availability, which is a surprise for a guy who is involved at a decent clip.
Eason is playing 23.5 minutes per game and scoring 10.8 points, decent streaming numbers. If Smith misses this game, it opens more minutes for Eason (who played 30 when Smith was out on Monday).
Center
Adams has decent streaming value, averaging 6.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in close to 22 minutes. He also missed Monday's game and is questionable for this one. Capela's only value comes if Adams misses the game, as Capela is otherwise on the fringe of the rotation. Even without Adams, Capela only has limited fantasy value.
