NBA Fantasy Basketball Streaming Strategy: Top Friday Matchups and Waiver Wire Targets
Streaming players from three NBA teams with good matchups on Friday.
Welcome to another weekend! Remember when it was just Christmas and the New Year? Well, we're already halfway through January. This year will be over before we know it.
Moving to fantasy basketball, let's look at streaming players from three NBA teams with good matchups on Friday. We'll focus on the guys who get on the court and are widely available in fantasy leagues. Most stats are from NBA.com.
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Brooklyn Nets vs. Chicago Bulls
The Bulls play at the fourth-fastest pace and have the fifth-worst defensive rating. They are slowly moving down the list of the fastest teams, but they are creeping down toward the bottom of the league in defense at the same time, leaving them as a prime target team.
Brooklyn also has a bottom-10 defense, but they play slow, so they don't end up as a target team. Throw in their bottom-five offensive rating, and it's not hard to see why they are far below a playoff level.
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Guard
Demin plays the most from this group and has especially been productive over the past month. Beginning on December 14, Demin has scored double figures in 10 of 12 games while averaging more than three rebounds, four assists, and one steal; he's a decent streamer.
Powell and Traore are lower-level statistical players who generally aren't on the fantasy radar, though Powell is coming off back-to-back games with at least 10 points.
Forward
Mann and Wolf are two more reserve players who don't put up enough numbers to be fantasy relevant. They are both just under eight points per game, and while Mann also makes 2.5 three-pointers, there's not enough production here for your fantasy lineup.
Center
Clowney plays 28.5 minutes per game and scores 13 points, decent production. He doesn't do much else, keeping him below the fantasy level most days, but he has some intrigue here, especially because he can slot in at forward and center. Sharpe is just a backup who doesn't put up enough stats to be a fantasy option most days, though he is coming off three straight games with at least eight points and nine rebounds.
Indiana Pacers vs. New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans plays at the ninth-fastest pace and has the fourth-worst defensive rating. They join the Nets (and a few others) by marrying their bottom-10 defense with a bottom-10 offense, pushing them down the NBA hierarchy.
The Pacers have their own issues; it's a day of bad teams matching up. Indiana might trump everyone else, as they have a league-low nine victories.
Guard
These guys are all role/bench players who aren't productive enough statistically to be on most fantasy radars. McConnell averages around 10 points and five assists per game, but there's nothing else from this group that is appealing in fantasy. Benedict Mathurin is also out, which helps the guys at both guard and forward.
Forward
Nesmith plays 30 minutes per game and averages around 14 points and five rebounds. When the matchup is right, he is a decent streamer. The others are backup players who don't up enough numbers to move the fantasy needle.
Center
There aren't a lot of good center options on the Pacers, so minutes are available, but that doesn't mean the guys take advantage statistically. Huff averages over eight points and two blocks per game, but that's as good as it gets here.
Sacramento Kings vs. Washington Wizards
Washington plays at the seventh-fastest pace and has the second-worst defensive rating. If you're going to talk about bad teams, you can't leave out the Wizards, who now have to navigate the world of tanking along with having a talented veteran like Trae Young. They're doing the job early by holding him out until at least the All-Star break (that could quickly become the whole season).
Sacramento is a lowly team themselves, but they got word that Domantas Sabonis could make his return for this game after missing two months of action. Sabonis' return changes the whole dynamic of the lineup, so it's important to note his status before playing anyone from the Kings.
Guard
Schroder is averaging 13 points and 5.7 assists per game; that's fine low-to-mid-level streaming work. Monk is around 12 points but doesn't add anything else, leaving him as a lesser fantasy player, though he does have a high ceiling, like when he scored 26 points and made seven three-pointers on Monday.
Forward
Achiuwa has played at least 30 minutes in each of the past three games, accumulating 39 points and 28 rebounds in that time. While he's on the court more, he has fantasy intrigue, but the return of Sabonis would directly affect that. Clifford is another backup player who doesn't make fantasy noise.
Center
Raynaud is the biggest beneficiary of Sabonis' absence; the return of the star big man pushes Raynaud into fantasy obscurity, as he will be in a reserve role.
