The Poole is as soon as once more open and Dame continues to be smoking

Week 14 of the NBA season is behind us, and now it is time to mirror, overreact and assess the fantasy basketball panorama. We’re almost six weeks away from the fantasy playoffs, and we’re geared up with loads of knowledge to guage participant efficiency. With Week 15 underway, conserving tabs on the gamers exhibiting sustained efficiency indicators or these due for a market correction is vital should you’re questioning if you should purchase, promote or maintain a selected participant.

Let’s dive into this week’s risers and fallers.

RISERS

Damian Lillard – PG/SG, Portland Trail Blazers

Present per-game rank:16

I can not not put Dame Dolla on this listing after he dropped his fourth profession 60-point sport in opposition to the Utah Jazz final night time. He is now tied with Michael Jordan and James Harden for the third-most 60-point games in league history, trailing solely Kobe Bryant (6) and Wilt Chamberlain (32).

Yeah, Wilt was that dude. However Lillard can also be him.

He is ranked third in per-game worth over the past month and first over the previous two weeks. He is dropped over 50 factors twice in that span whereas averaging 39.5 factors per sport. Dame is doing actually every little thing to maintain the Blazers within the playoff race whereas anchoring fantasy models in all codecs. He is been wildly environment friendly over the previous 14 days, capturing 54% from the sphere, 95% from the road and 43% from three whereas making over 5 per contest. And it is not simply the scoring; Lillard’s averaging over 12.5 rebounds and assists with one steal, too.

Josh Hart and Jusuf Nurkic left Wednesday’s contest with accidents, so the Blazers will should be much more depending on Lillard within the close to time period, which ought to solely increase his fantasy worth even greater.

Jalen Williams – SG/SF, Oklahoma City Thunder

Present per-game rank: 146

The Thunder rookie has been as marketed, offering fifth-round worth over the previous two weeks in fantasy due to his mixture of effectivity and lock-down protection. Have a look at how he swats Trae Young after which runs the size of the ground to complete for the dunk:

The effectivity is nothing new, as he is been over a 51% shooter for the season, however over the previous 14 days, he is swiped two steals per contest as properly. He is averaging probably the most factors, rebounds, assists and steals this month, which is nice to see, contemplating a lot of his fellow rookies are regressing, hitting that inevitable rookie wall.

That is not the case for Williams, as he is one among solely three rookies to rank within the prime 100 over the previous month (together with Keegan Murray and Walker Kessler).

Surprisingly, he is solely 52% rostered in Yahoo leagues, down 7% since yesterday. If he is out there on waivers, choose him up expeditiously. Don’t be concerned concerning the threat of him getting shut down later within the season; he is enhancing month over month and is a certain wager to make the first-team All-Rookie group by season’s finish.

Jordan Poole – PG/SG, Golden State Warriors

Present per-game rank: 139

Okay, I do know what you are pondering. Jordan Poole — the man who pretty much got Steph Curry ejected in Wednesday’s slim victory over the Grizzlies? Yep, perhaps I am going off the deep finish, however hey, he made up for it by hitting the game-winning layup and getting the Warriors again to .500. However the extra encouraging information is that Poole will remain in the starting lineup going forward.

Steve Kerr shared his ideas on why he thinks Poole performs higher with the starters, and it is sensible, given how a lot consideration is drawn to Steph:

And the numbers do not lie. Here is Poole’s manufacturing as a starter versus off the bench this season:

Starter: 26.3 PTS, 3.2 REB, 4.2 AST, 44% FG, 89% FT, 33.2% USG

Reserve: 15.2 PTS, 2.2 REB, 4.7 AST, 43% FG, 82% FT, 25.8% USG

He is offered third-round worth over the previous two weeks, and now that he is entrenched with the beginning unit, it is solely up from right here. His turnovers will at all times be a hindrance, however the upside is way too excessive and fantasy managers ought to maintain their place. He is performed in each sport this season, and he does not have a relaxation or harm administration program like Steph, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green or Andrew Wiggins.

The Poole get together is again on.

FALLERS

Jakob Poeltl – C, San Antonio Spurs

Present per-game rank: 80

The Spurs large man is barely enjoying 24 minutes an evening over the previous two months, and to no shock, his manufacturing has suffered. He is been 123rd in per-game worth over the previous two weeks, however he is additionally been one of many hottest names circulating in commerce rumors just lately. I can not discern whether or not the Spurs maintain him on ice to protect his commerce worth or wish to see extra of Zach Collins. He’ll even be an unrestricted free agent on the finish of this season, and by all indications, the Spurs aren’t seeking to prolong him.

As a fantasy supervisor, I do not like what I am seeing, and I would be cautiously optimistic about his remainder of the season outlook. His numbers are on par with final season’s breakout (apart from PPG, however even that is a small margin of decline). Nonetheless, I would not really feel comfy shopping for into this dip due to the Spurs’ file, the uncertainty round his future and his declining function.

Dillon Brooks – SF, Memphis Grizzlies

Present per-game rank: 227

Brooks ought to be on waivers in all H2H leagues with 12 groups or much less.

He was serviceable whereas Desmond Bane was on the shelf with an injured toe, nevertheless it’s been ugly for the Grizzlies ahead since then. Regardless of having a number of above-average shooters on the roster, Brooks continues to hoist up dangerous photographs on a nightly foundation.

Based on ShotQuality, Brooks is in the 8th percentile this season in points per possession. Provided that this metric is graded out of 100, that is objectively horrendous. And shout out to Bryan Kalbrosky, who took a deep dive to verify that the analytics match what we’re all seeing: Terrible shot selection.

His inefficiency makes him very troublesome to roster in H2H leagues as a result of he does not accumulate sufficient assists to offset his turnover price, plus he is capturing beneath 40% from the sphere with 15 shot makes an attempt a sport. The month of January actually sealed the deal for me, as his scoring dipped from 17 per sport to 12 whereas capturing 35% from the sphere. I am staying so far as attainable from Brooks in fantasy, and you must too.