The willingness to entertain competition for the bottom spots on your fantasy basketball roster can be rewarding. When selecting this fluid collective of statistical contributors, it’s helpful to consider the bottom-of-the-bench players in direct competition with the talent floating around in free agency.
The goal of this weekly series is to identify players at each position widely available in free agency in ESPN leagues. Some are specialists capable of helping in one or two categories, while others offer more diverse and important statistical offerings. In the breakdowns below, I’ve listed the players at each position in order of priority, rather than roster percentage, in ESPN men’s basketball leagues.
shipowner
Scotty Pippen Jr., Memphis Grizzlies (registered in 45.1% of ESPN leagues): After an impressive 30-point, 10-assist game in a win against the Bulls last weekend, Pippen is making nearly six cents a night serving in the Tyus Jones role in Memphis. While we wouldn’t bank on such scoring success, it has become clear that Pippen is an integral part of the offensive build of this revamped Grizzlies rotation.
Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs (27.9%): Castle, who had 16 points and six assists last week, is building a solid foundation as a complementary playmaker for the Spurs. The most encouraging metric has been minutes, as Castle has clearly earned the trust of the team’s veteran personnel. It never hurts to be under Chris Paul’s wing.
Ty Jerome, Cleveland Knights (15.1%): Serving like Payton Pritchard of the Cavaliers, in that Jerome has somehow emerged as relevant based on his atypical shooting success. This could just be a hot streak, but Jerome’s guile in a Kenny Atkinson system fits well.
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Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers (37.6%): Sharpe loves watching the spin of his shot. This is a positive given the freedom this Portland rotation allows to find its own shot. There’s not much here beyond shooting, scoring, and a respectable steal rate, but these stats tend to come in clusters for Sharpe.
Jared McCain, Philadelphia 76ers (63.4%): McCain, the most popular addition to fantasy rosters over the past week, has become the truly rare positive in an otherwise disastrous start for the 76ers this season. While Jerome’s rise in scoring and shooting reads more like a problem than a trend, McCain’s arrival as a player who can find his own shot and work through screens suggests this could all prove sustainable.
Gary Trent Jr., Milwaukee Bucks (3.1%): The Bucks really can’t afford to rotate Trent much in the rotation, as the team is pretty thin in the backcourt. This leads to consistent minutes for an off-ball happy point guard who is also known for betting on steal defense. While his defensive reputation has rightfully degraded in recent years, there is enough steal production to warrant the “3 and D” label for Trent at this point.
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Trey Murphy III, New Orleans Pelicans (24.8%): The Pelicans welcomed Murphy back to the court a few weeks ago, as he now appears completely comfortable as a productive two-way wing. The fact that he played nearly 40 minutes in a win over the Warriors reveals a growing confidence in his health and his game.
Bennedict Mathurin, Indiana Pacers (60.7%): Like Sharpe, Mathurin is a classic score-first wing. Unlike Sharpe, Mathurin is also a bruiser on the glass and has even shown some rim protection over the past week. The fact that the Pacers are also missing a few wings from the rotation cements Mathurin in an important role most nights.
Kelly Oubre Jr., Philadelphia 76ers (31.5%): A chaos creator in both positive and negative aspects, Oubre has found a home as a glue in Philadelphia with a combination of scoring and defense. The team remains in disarray, but Oubre claims one of the most stable roles on the team.
Peyton Watson, Denver Nuggets (7.6%): Doing his best role as Aaron Gordon, Watson’s tire protection ratings reveal real value. You won’t get big scoring results with this complementary forward combo, but the minutes are real while Gordon recovers.
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PJ Washington, Dallas Mavericks (57.6%): Washington, the rare player averaging at least one steal and one block this season, seems really comfortable in Dallas. We’re seeing career-best rebounding numbers along with a really rare combination of defensive and shooting metrics. We’ve seen fun fantasy stretches from Washington since his days with the Hornets, but this looks more profitable.
Santi Aldama, Memphis Grizzlies (51.5%): It’s always great when a player, several years into his career, reveals a new skill at the NBA level. Suddenly, Aldama is showing impressive passing prowess, confirmed by registering almost four cents per game last week and 3.5 per game on the season. With the team relying on his size and ability in the paint, Aldama has been underrated.
Harrison Barnes, San Antonio Spurs (9.7%): A good way to grow old is to reflect on when Barnes was the young lottery gem on a juggernaut Warriors team. Do you remember that time? That was 13 years ago! Barnes, now a proven journeyman, has been particularly interested in the field lately, which has led to some amusing, if not entirely reliable, recent lines.
Center
Isaiah Hartenstein, Oklahoma City Thunder (55.7%): Chet Holmgren’s injury remains concerning, but at least the Thunder just came back from this major bruise. Hartenstein was immediately stellar for Oklahoma City and had a 13-point, 14-rebound, three-assist, four-block game last week against Portland. This should be a universal player.
Isaiah Stewart, Detroit Pistons (9.5%): The rule this week at the center was that your name had to be Isaiah and you had to be crazy glue for your team. Joking aside, Stewart is maximizing his minutes lately, especially with some impressive blocking results. The floor may be low at times, but Stewart can compile a rewarding score in most matchups.
special teams
This section focuses on specialists, players who shine in a singular category and can provide specific value to those in category and roto formats. Nominations are based on the category in which said players are useful and will rotate throughout the season.
3 points: Trent and McCain are near the top of the list of players who provided excess value from deep last week. We also find Barnes and Malik Beasley from Detroit as specialists on the surface.
Thefts: Tari Eason from Houston is quite the thief. If the minutes were more solid, he could be a league-winning type of winger. But for now he is more of a defensive specialist. Oubre ranks 10th in value added via steals on Player Rater last week.
Blocks: The team manages its minutes carefully, but if you can handle some light scoring nights in a broken class or league, Jonathan Isaac is back to deflecting nearly every shot when he’s on the court for Orlando. The aforementioned Watson features atypically high tire protection rates.
Rebounds: Does Moussa Diabate do much more than rebound? Not precisely. But man, he can recover. Trayce Jackson-Davis would probably need an injury ahead of him in the rotation to really help fantasy rosters, but there will be some big nights on the glass, even in a reserve role.
Assists: The Suns are getting great passing production from Tyus Jones, while TJ McConnell will always be a good source of dimes and steals.
