Fantasy Basketball Drops: Overreaction or Legit Concern?

We tend to go over fantasy basketball wire options often, but are going to discuss some drop candidates now.

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.

Also be sure to check out our story on the  season-ending injury for Jimmy Butler III. 

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy basketball trade analyzer and the Trade Value Chart to break down trade scenarios.

Jake LaRavia, Los Angeles Lakers

LaRavia is the most-dropped player today, even over Butler. LaRavia has been let go in 12.9% of leagues, bringing his overall mark to 38%.

He continues to start for the Lakers, but he's seen his usage really drop over the past two contests. LaRavia played 28 minutes in the one game and just 19 in his last one.

LaRavia has combined for just four points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals in those two games. He had been in double figures in six of the past eight contests before that, so that drastic change is why he's being dropped today.

The Lakers are still without Austin Reaves, which gives LaRavia a chance at more playing time and production. It just hasn't come in either of the team's past two contests.

I'm not ready to fully give up on LaRavia, but another poor showing would get me there. At this point, he's been dropped in most standard leagues already, and now he's being let go in deeper fantasy setups too.

He still has some value in deeper leagues, so it'd take a few more poor showings in a row to have me move off LaRavia. For now, I'd just bench him (if you are determining a starting spot between him and another player).

Until Reaves is back though, LaRavia has a chance to be a decent fantasy asset, so don't write him off completely.

Caleb Love, Portland Trail Blazers

Love is rostered in 34% of leagues now after being let go in 11.2% of leagues.

Love has been a very steady fantasy asset for a while, but a six-point showing in his last game has fantasy owners bailing on him. He had two rebounds and one assist and steal over 21 minutes in that contest.

That was his lowest minute total in a while, but with so many Trail Blazers out with injuries, I'm not convinced that Love is going to completely fall off, like his drop percentage might suggest.

He averaged 29.3 minutes in his previous 14 games before that six-point showing, and he started just once in that stretch. Love also averaged 16.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks per game.

Fantasy owners tend to react too quickly to these down showings when we're looking at non-established players. Love is in his rookie year and has been a constant fantasy force over the past several weeks, yet he's being dropped after just one down performance.

I'd have waited for one more down showing before considering dropping Love. It's a chance to possibly scoop Love up for free in deeper leagues, and I'd be more inclined to do that than to drop him in any more leagues. 

Don't drop him in deeper leagues if you are thinking about it. Hold him another game or two and see if he bounces back. If he doesn't, then at that point is when I'd be dropping him.

Day'Ron Sharpe and Egor Demin, Brooklyn Nets

Sharpe and Demin are down 10.3% and 10.2%, respectively. Sharpe is rostered in 36% of leagues, while Demin is sitting at 44%.

Sharpe was inactive for the team's last game. He has an illness, so it's not something that should keep him out a long time.

He scored five points in his last game, but was at 14 or 15 points in the three games before that. Sharpe is a pretty good source of rebounds as well, and those two things make him a pretty good fantasy asset.

In 39 games (three starts), Sharpe is averaging 7.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks over 17.9 minutes.  There's enough in those numbers for deep-league usage, but only if he's playing and producing.

With him missing the last game, it makes sense to be dropping Sharpe. When he's back on the court, he could be added right back, so watch his availability. 

Sharpe is likely to top out as a deep-league asset, but as his own percentage says, he's an asset in almost all deeper leagues.

Denim also missed the team's last game, so he's in a similar boat to Sharpe. Missed games is a theme for Demin, who has played eight of the team's 11 games so far this month. He missed the last game with an injury management tag.

Since December 14, Demin has averaged 14.1 points, 3.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 0.4 blocks over 27.6 minutes a contest. He's started all 14 games in that stretch.

So much like in the case with Sharpe, we have a fantasy player delivering decent results. It's concerning how often he's missing games, but he had been playing enough when active.

However, he has logged 19 and 22 minutes in his past two contests he's played in. That lower amount of playing time sucks up some of his fantasy value, and then adding in a missed game after that, Demin is trending in the wrong direction.

He's not a guy to write off for good, but until we see an increase in playing time again with Demin, he should continue to be dropped.