December 26 Fantasy Basketball Drop Candidates: Naji Marshall, Sam Merrill, Draymond Green and More

After going over some more fantasy basketball waiver wire options, let's talk about some of the most-dropped players.

Here's the last drop candidate story we did at FantasySP.

More drops can be found daily on the FantasySP waiver trends most dropped tab, which can be found on any fantasy basketball page on the site. 

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Should You Drop Mitchell Robinson?

Robinson is owned in 37% of fantasy basketball leagues after being dropped in 4.7% of leagues.

He has played four games in a row for New York, and availability is most of the battle for Robinson. He started that stretch by scoring 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds over 26 minutes off the bench.

He logged 22 minutes in the next game, providing nine points and seven rebounds. Robinson started the third game in that stretch, tallying just two points and seven rebounds over 26 minutes.

Robinson had 13 rebounds on Christmas, but did not score over 16 minutes off the bench. That up-and-down production is not great for fantasy owners, so a good amount of owners are dropping him today.

He's a better deep-league fantasy asset, and I don't see that changing at any point this season. Robinson can be a good fantasy asset on points and rebounds alone, but with inconsistent results, he's tough to trust.

Feel free to fire him up in some deeper leagues, but treat him more as a streamer than a keeper in those formats. It'd take multiple injuries ahead of him, plus consistent playing time to get him into standard league territory.

Should You Drop Naji Marshall?

Marshall is down 4.6% today - he's rostered in 72% of leagues overall.

His production has dipped a bit of late, but he's still delivering nice fantasy results. Over Marshall's past three games, he has tallied 44 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and one steal.

He's averaging 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.1 blocks over 28.5 minutes in his 13 starts and 32 games overall. Marshall is shooting 53.5% overall and he's 30.9% from 3-point land.

Marshall averaged 17.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.1 blocks over 32.3 minutes in the seven contests before this three-game stretch, so you can see why he was owned in so many leagues.

I still like Marshall as a standard league asset, just not a guy to roster and utilize in all those leagues. He's a streaming option, and a pretty solid one at that.

Scour the waiver wire and see if there's a bit better long-term asset available to you, because while Marshall can be productive, especially in stretches, he's not a fantasy difference maker.

Should You Drop Sam Merrill?

Merrill is rostered in 43% of leagues after being dropped in 3.4% of leagues.

He recently returned from a long absence, and has three games under his belt since. Merrill tallied four points, five assists and one rebound and steal in the first game he played - he logged nearly 26 minutes off the bench in that one.

He's started the past two games. In the first, he had 22 points, seven assists, six rebounds and one steal over 25 minutes. Merrill regressed to 11 points, five rebounds, two steals and one assist over 29 minutes in his last game.

That up-and-down production has him being dropped today. I think that's a mistake in deeper leagues, as he can be a pretty well-rounded fantasy asset. He's averaging 13.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.2 blocks over 26.1 minutes in his 10 starts and 15 games overall. Merrill is shooting 45.9% overall and he's 43% from deep.

Those are pretty solid marks for a deep-league fantasy asset, so he's a streaming option in those leagues, at least. I think he has standard league streaming appeal, but of course, he will need to deliver more consistent results (and good ones) to be a more trusted fantasy player.

Should You Drop Keldon Johnson?

Johnson is down 2.9%, bringing his overall mark down to 44%.

His playing time has been up and down of late, and his production has followed suit. Johnson has played between 14-23 minutes over the past six games for the Spurs, scoring in double digits in half of those contests.

He had 13, 12 and 25 points over a three-game stretch, but dropped to nine points in his last outing, and that was in just 17 minutes. 

For the season, Johnson is averaging 12.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.1 blocks over 23 minutes in 30 games (all off the bench). He's shooting 57.8% overall and is 39.3% on his 3-pointers.

A lot of the games he's played have been without Victor Wembanyama, which helped him produce a bit more. With Wemby back now, we are likely going to see lower production from Johnson.

I don't think he's worth a roster spot in standard leagues anymore, and he's not a very good streaming option at this point in those leagues. I do like Johnson in deeper leagues, but don't think he needs to be owned in all those leagues either.

Keep an eye on his production and add and drop him as his numbers go up and down this season. It'd take a long-term injury to his teammates, or a roster shakeup to get him into a spot where he could be a legit standard league option for longer stretches. 

Should You Drop Draymond Green?

Green is rostered in 78% of leagues after being let go in 2.2% of leagues.

He has been an underwhelming fantasy asset this season. Of late, he's struggled, with just one game in double figures as a scorer over the past five. He's averaging just 8.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks over 22.8 minutes in those five contests.

For the season, Green is at 8 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks over 27 minutes a night. He's shooting just 40.4% overall and he's 32.4% from deep.

There's some value in his numbers, as they are pretty well-rounded ones, but his production has faded as he's aged. I think he's an overrated fantasy asset that is being rostered in more leagues than he should due to being a bigger name.

I still like him a bunch in deeper leagues, but would look for a better long-term option in standard leagues. You could try to flip Green in a trade, but I don't think you're going to love the return. It might be better than what's on the waiver wire, so it's worth trying at least.

Other Drop Candidates

San Antonio's Luke Kornet has been let go in 4.6% of leagues and he now sits at 33% rostered.

Cleveland's Lonzo Ball has been dropped in 3.3% of fantasy leagues so far today. He's owned in 16% of leagues overall.

Los Angeles Lakers' Jake LaRavia is down to 22% owned after being let go in 3% of leagues. Marcus Smart, another LA Laker, is down 3% to 20% overall.

Denver's Bruce Brown is down to 39% owned after a 2.7% dropoff. Philadelphia's Kelly Oubre Jr. is also down 2.7%, bringing his overall mark to 48%.

Oklahoma City's Cason Wallace is owned in 47% of leagues after a 2.5% dropoff today.

Cleveland's De'Andre Hunter is down 2.4%, bringing his overall mark to 57%.

San Antonio's Dylan Harper has been let go in 2.3% of leagues and he's owned in 54% overall now. 

Golden State's Quinten Post has been dropped in 2.3% of leagues - he's rostered in 16% of leagues overall.