Top Fantasy Basketball Players to Drop as Injuries Mount Late in Season

We just went over some fantasy basketball drop candidates a couple days ago, but have another batch to discuss as the work week ends.

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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Michael Porter Jr. - Brooklyn Nets

Porter is rostered in about 91% of fantasy leagues right now. He was at 100% just two days ago.

He's being dropped because he's picked up another injury. Porter has a hamstring injury that's supposed to keep him out 2-3 weeks.

The regular season ends in a couple weeks, so we might have seen the last of Porter. He's averaged 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.3 blocks over 32.5 minutes a game, but has only logged 52 games.

Porter was a great fantasy asset when healthy, but now is droppable in most redraft leagues. He could be stashed in case he returns late in the regular season, but I'd only be able to justify that if you have an IR spot to stash him in. 

You won't be able to find that level of production on the waiver wire, so streaming Porter's roster spot might be the way to go.

Jarace Walker - Indiana Pacers

Walker is owned in about 66% of leagues right now. He was sitting at 77% just two days ago.

He tallied just 10 points in his last appearance, while also having seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Walker played 33 minutes, so that's still a good mark.

Walker has scored in double figures in each of the past five games, while adding a healthy amount of boards and other stats too. I'm a bit surprised to see him being dropped with that production, but he wasn't worth that 77% ownership mark.

I still like the idea of streaming him in standard leagues when the Pacers are playing, but he's not someone to hold consistently in those leagues. He should be held in all deeper leagues.

Keep an eye on him in case he hits a hot streak and takes off, but he's probably just a standard league streaming option for the remainder of the season.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. - Miami Heat

Jaquez is rostered in 84% of fantasy leagues. That's down from 90% earlier this week - three days ago to be exact.

He has a hip injury that kept him out of the team's last game. Jaquez only logged about 20 minutes in his last appearance, tallying six points and rebounds along the way.

When healthy, Jaquez can be a good fantasy asset, but with him missing games, he's droppable in fantasy leagues, especially where there's no IR spots to stash him in. It's a bummer, because he's been a decent asset most of this season.

There's no timetable for his return, so his status needs to be monitored closely. When he's active again, he'll be added back in a bunch of leagues, so be ready to make that move. The longer he's out now though, the lower his own percentage is going to go.

Donte DiVincenzo - Minnesota Timberwolves

DiVincenzo is down to 91% rostered. He was at 94% two days ago.

DiVincenzo is someone I highlighted earlier this week with Anthony Edwards dealing with an injury. In his past two games though, DiVincenzo has been a bust.

In about 28 minutes on Tuesday, DiVincenzo failed to score across eight field goal attempts. He had three assists and one rebound, steal and block. On Wednesday, DiVincenzo tallied nine points, seven assists, three rebounds and a steal - better, but still not worth being owned in that many leagues.

It's hard to drop DiVincenzo because of the Edwards' injury, but he's just not producing enough to warrant that high of an own percentage. He could bounce back as soon as the team's next game, but he's definitely a riskier fantasy option after his past two outings.

So DiVincenzo is another player to keep close tabs on. Drop him in more standard leagues if he continues to struggle, while adding him in those same leagues if he bounces back.

Lauri Markkanen - Utah Jazz

Markkanen is rostered in about 87% of leagues right now. He was at over 90% owned yesterday, and every day before that.

He has an ankle injury that will be a week-to-week concern. With the regular season winding down and the Jazz well out of things, we might have seen the last of Markkanen too.

Markkanen averaged 26.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1 steal and 0.5 blocks over 34.4 minutes a night in his 42 games played this season. So while he's missed a ton of games, Markkanen really was a very good asset when active.

You won't find that level of production on the waiver wire, but an active player is better than one who won't suit up, maybe for the rest of the year. Move on from Markkanen if you need his roster spot to be contributing.

Myles Turner - Milwaukee Bucks

Turner is down to 87% rostered right now. He's been over 90%, and up at 100% most of the season.

Turner has had a rough go of things in his first season with Milwaukee. He's averaged 12 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and blocks and 0.7 steals over 27.3 minutes a night in his 64 games played.

He's only missed one game since mid-February, but he's just not producing. Turner had three points and rebounds and one assist and steal over 18 minutes in the Bucks' blowout loss to the Jazz on Thursday.

Turner has scored in double figures twice in 10 March games. That's just not good enough, and he shouldn't be rostered in nearly as many leagues right now.

Drop Turner and look elsewhere for fantasy help. In this case, you should be able to find more productive players on the waiver wire, even if you have to stream to get the job done.