Fantasy Basketball 2019: Lineup Advice for NBA Week 15
January 21, 2019
This isn't quite the make-or-break point of the 2019 NBA fantasy basketball season, but you'll want to start planning your playoff push sooner than later.
Luckily, the Week 15 slate shapes up nicely to assist you, especially if you take advantage of this handy guide.
By examining schedules, matchups and recent trends, we've identified a couple players to consider starting, sitting and adding for your weekly slate.
Start 'Em
Danny Green, SG/SF, Toronto Raptors
So much for Green basically being a money-matching throw-in as part of the Kawhi Leonard-DeMar DeRozan swap.
Green has been a top-90 fantasy performer on the season, and January might be his most productive month yet.
He's scored at least 12 points in five of his last seven games, averaging 14.1 points on 51.5 percent shooting, 4.7 rebounds, 3.4 triples, 2.4 blocks-plus-steals and 1.4 assists in that stretch.
With the Raptors entering a four-game week, Green looks poised to keep his hot streak going. The slate includes a Houston Rockets team ranked 26th in defense and a Sacramento Kings club that plays at the second-fastest pace.
Kelly Oubre Jr., SF, Phoenix Suns
The December trade that sent Oubre to the desert didn't just change his location, it also moved him up the offensive pecking order. Despite receiving nearly identical minutes, he's averaging nearly an extra shot and half an assist more with the Suns than he had on the Wizards.
Oubre has been even more involved of late, averaging 14.6 shots over the last two weeks, which ranks third-highest on the Suns.
He's making the most of those chances, too, averaging 20.3 points on 49.0 percent shooting, along with 6.0 rebounds, 2.4 threes, 1.7 assists and 2.5 steals-plus-blocks. He's slated for four games this week, closing against a Lakers squad that ranks No. 3 in pace.
Sit 'Em
Kemba Walker, PG, Charlotte Hornets
Sitting studs is never easy, but Walker is kind of tying our hands here. Perhaps weighed down by the massive burden he's forced to carry—he basically is the Hornets—he hasn't been himself of late.
He's averaging 22.2 points on 40 percent shooting, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists (against 3.1 turnovers) and 0.8 steals so far this month.
Even if he reverses the trend this week, his contributions will be limited by a problematically brief schedule. Charlotte only plays twice this week and draws a top-10 defense each time in the Milwaukee Bucks (first) and Memphis Grizzlies (eighth).
Bojan Bogdanovic, SG/SF, Indiana Pacers
For the bulk of this season, Bogdanovic has been among fantasy basketball's better value buys. But for the last week or so, he has struggled maintaining that pace. Over his last six games, he's finished three with single-digit points, four with one triple or fewer, three with one assist or fewer and totaled just three combined steals and blocks. His shooting is down to 39.7 percent in this stretch.
Granted, you don't want to abandon ship over a small cold streak, but you have to take notice of said streak when it's attached to a player who will suit up only twice the entire week. Hopefully, you invested some of your savings on Bogdanovic into someone who can work as a suitable replacement.
Add 'Em
P.J. Tucker, SF/PF, Houston Rockets (45 Percent Owned)
Volume is perhaps the best thing you can find on the waiver wire, and Tucker offers plenty of it. He's probably been James Harden's most reliable teammate this season, and Tucker has the workload to prove it (career-high-shattering 35.4 minutes per game).
Over the last two weeks, Tucker has contributed 11.6 points on 43.5 percent shooting, 5.9 rebounds, 3.1 steals-plus-blocks, 2.4 assists and 2.3 threes. He'll have a chance to build on those numbers in a four-game week that includes one game against the New York Knicks' 29th-ranked defense.
Alec Burks, PG/SG, Cleveland Cavaliers (30 Percent Owned)
Has anyone ever been this happy to move to Cleveland? Burks' November trade to the Cavaliers nearly doubled his playing time, and he's now orchestrating one of his best seasons to date.
Since the calendar flipped, he's up to 12.1 points on 44.8 percent shooting, 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 threes and 1.2 combined steals and blocks.
The Cavs are on the docket four times this upcoming week, meaning Burks will have ample opportunity to keep stuffing the stat sheet. Even better: he'll get two cracks at the Chicago Bulls' 24th-ranked defense.
Statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com. Fantasy ownership via Yahoo Sports.
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