Don't have an account? Join the Best Live Fantasy Chat Community!
Already have an account? Log In
This is the thirdpart of the ongoing series about "forgotten" NBA players I decided to write this preseason to bring some names back to the fantasy basketball forefront.
I wanted to bring some players whose names have already (or could soon) entered the "forgotten" realm in the NBA, so that's why I'm highlighting them in this little preseason series of articles. This doesn't mean that you should rush to smash that "draft" or "add" button in your league draft or WW pool in some cases, but it definitely is meant to provide a list full of names that you should definitely keep an eye on, just in case.
Here is a partial chunk of the list of players I have chosen for this series, who might or might not have bounce-back campaigns depending on the chances they get, where they land, or even if they get signed to play basketball at all next year. One thing, though, is clear: do yourself (and the NBA as a whole) a favor, and don't forget about them!
If you have not forgotten about T.J. Warren that must be only because of this man's bubble run. That happened only two seasons ago, even though it feels like it's been 20 years since that moment. Warren finished the full (disrupted) 2020 season averaging nearly 20 PPG, 4+ RPG, 1+ APG, and 1+ SPG while not committing even 1.5 TOPG. He did all of that with an absolutely ludicrous shooting efficiency on top of everything, posting a sky-high 61.0 TS%.
Warren's calling card was simple to figure out: play a lot of minutes (32.9 MPG), hoist a lot of shots (14.9 FGA per game), and hit them at barely-believable levels (53.6/40.3/81.9 shooting splits). The minutes and the shooting attempts had been there for Warren in past seasons even though he was just 26 years old when the bubble arrived, but only once (and in a limited 43-game season) had he approached that TS% (58.2 in 2019).
Even while it'd be a little bit naive to think about Warren as someone capable of replicating that version of himself going forward--let alone coming off nearly two years off the court with just four games played in the last two seasons combined--you should keep in mind that he'll be the leading man of the Nets second unit so he will have a huge role when it comes to usage, taking shots, and putting up all of the numbers he wants.
If Warren can make it back healthy enough to play some 65+ games and 28+ MPG, he might be good for a 15-3-1-1 season as part of Brooklyn's second unit.
I was having an internal debate right before going ahead with this blurb. Should I write down Stephenson's name... or Darren Collison's? I opted for the former as he played last season in comparison to the latest missing on the 2022 season entirely, but I'm 99% convinced you had probably forgotten about the two of them. Not the NBA, though, as rumors and whispers out there have put both players in different franchises' radars of late including the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets.
Of course, other names that make little to no sense have been floated (Trevor Ariza, D.J. Augustin, Wayne Ellington, etc, etc...) but that's what happens when you either play in Hollywood or have a star-loaded team in BK. Anyway, and back to Lance, what about banking on The LeBron Whisperer one more time? Is that too much of a gamble? Lance, at the end of the day, got a temporary-deal re-inked by the Pacers last season after playing quite good basketball of Indy.
Stephenson wanted to come back to the NBA in the 2020-2021 two-year span but the COVID pandemic didn't allow him (because of one or another reason). Last year, finally, the league eased their limitations and rules enough for him to get signed, and all Lance did was appear in 46 games (starting one) for the Pacers logging nearly 18 MPG. The outcome? An above-average 1.01 FP/min (league-average at 0.90) to go with almost 18 FP/min and a per-game 8-3-3 stat line. Not bad.
Lance's shooting was rather mediocre, though, putting up a 53.6 true shooting percentage on 7 FGA per game and a measly 30% accuracy on his 2 3PA a pop. Only the unreasonable 78.8% from the free-throw line saved his TS%. Other than that, Lance was at his best when it came to dishing out dimes (3.6 APG, the third-best mark in his 10-year career) and didn't really commit that many turnovers (1.6) per game. The 30.2 AST% was incredible but the turnovers, when looking at them from the TOV% perspective (16.7%) sucked a bit.
All of the above said Stephenson must still be one of the most coveted last-resort veterans still available for free and probably one that will end signing with some needy franchise down the road and deeper into the season.
Big Boy Cody spent all of his career in Charlotte after the Bobcats drafted him with the fourth (!) overall pick of the 2013 draft and then the Hornets kept him in tow for another bunch of seasons. Portland signed him last year but ultimately waived him in February with Zeller becoming collateral damage of the CJ McCollum trade to New Orleans.
Zeller, mind you, still played 27 games in the PDX although averaging a career-low 13 MPG. Zeller is only turning 30 and although he's had a rough time with injuries throughout his career, the truth is that his game has stayed quite consistent and actually improved in the latter part of his NBA tenure--ages 26 to 29, that'd be.
While it is true that Zeller has not played more than 58 games in any of the past five seasons (62 in 2017), he's logged 1,000+ minutes in all but two of his nine NBA campaigns. He is not going to give you a full 82-game outcome, but you can count on some 20 MPG, 45+ games played projection easily... if Zeller gets signed, of course. Good for fantasy GMs, Zeller should have a (if little) market out there once the regular season arrives and that market should get bigger each passing week with injuries and needs popping up the Association.
Zeller has been rumored to be on the Celtics' radar after Danilo Gallinari's ACL injury. The big man is coming off averaging a 5-4-1 per-game line on just 13 MPG, which translates to an above-average 0.97 FP/min level of play that is good for the deepest of fantasy leagues out there. Zeller, mind you, has posted above-average per-minute figures in four consecutive seasons including two 1.04 and 1.06 seasons in 2020 and 2021 when he was available in 58 and 48 games (average 22 MPG) respectively for the Hornets.
If Udonis Haslem found a way to cheat Miami into extending him a one-year deal, there should be nothing stopping some other NBA franchise from approaching Okafor during the next few months in order to try and poach him from the Chinese Basketball Association. Okafor, who won't turn 27 until December, decided to sign with Chinese club Zhejiang Guansgsha Lions last February and then went on to lose the CBA Finals by a sound 4-0. Ugh.
Anyway, Okafor is still a very young talent forced out of the league in not the smartest of ways. If Brook Lopez could add a three-point shot to his arsenal, so could Okafor, right? Right? Even if he does not, Okafor is still a better player than some youngsters out there and there is no arguing against that. I'll die on that hill, folks, so don't try to change my stance on that.
Okafor's best fantasy season came in his rookie year when he finished as the meh-132nd-best player in the league. He never entered the top-200 list once more. That has more to do with the little playing time and chances he got after 2016 than anything else, though. Looking at Okafor's per-minute stats, things look entirely different. Barring last season, Jah was good enough to start his career averaging 0.92+ FP/min in five consecutive seasons leading up to two 1.06 and 1.04 campaigns in 2020 and 2021.
The truth is that Okafor's 2022 with Detroit was a year (27 games) to forget. He only averaged a measly 5-2 in 13 MPG to go with 0.5 APG and not much more beyond that. The TS% of 64.3 was good but that's only because of his baby-shot tendencies. Even then, all big men are good fantasy assets so if Okafor gets signed to an NBA deal and comes back to the USA then you should definitely throw a WW flier his way and see what happens next.
Happy Sunday RotoBallers, it's Division Series time and we're back for another day of MLB Postseason betting picks. Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day.... Read More
And then there were two. Two left playing anyway. The Yankees and Guardians are the only teams that haven't decided their division series round yet. We get prime-time baseball on Sunday. It's not all bad! For showdown mode on DraftKings, we pick one captain who costs 1.5x his normal salary, but he also scores 1.5x... Read More
RotoBaller has assembled a list of daily MLB injury updates to help you prepare both your seasonal and daily fantasy baseball (DFS) lineups, every day of the MLB season. Below is our updated list of injured MLB players for October 16th, 2022. Only players on teams that are scheduled to play today will appear below... Read More
Happy Saturday RotoBallers, it's Division Series time and we're back for another day of MLB Postseason betting picks. Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day.... Read More
It's all-day baseball time! No more of this split-slate nonsense. All four series have a game today and they are all staggered, so you have something to watch during commercials in college football games. Atlanta and Philly are the early birds again. Houston goes for the sweep in Seattle a couple of hours later. The... Read More
RotoBaller has assembled a list of daily MLB injury updates to help you prepare both your seasonal and daily fantasy baseball (DFS) lineups, every day of the MLB season. Below is our updated list of injured MLB players for October 15th, 2022. Only players on teams that are scheduled to play today will appear below... Read More
Happy Thursday RotoBallers, it's Division Series time and we're back for another day of MLB Postseason betting picks. Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day.... Read More
Well, we all (or at least a lot of us) complained about all the changes to baseball, but I'll go right ahead and admit it: the Wild Card round was a lot of fun and exciting even though my team didn't make it anywhere close to it. The Rays, Cardinals, Mets, and Blue Jays saw... Read More
RotoBaller has assembled a list of daily MLB injury updates to help you prepare both your seasonal and daily fantasy baseball (DFS) lineups, every day of the MLB season. Below is our updated list of injured MLB players for October 14th, 2022. Only players on teams that are scheduled to play today will appear below... Read More
It's all-day baseball time! No more of this split-slate nonsense. Mother Nature gave us a matinee today with the rainout in the Bronx last night, so the Yankees and Guardians will give the NL some added company on our Friday. Atlanta gets going in Philly in the afternoon and the Padres host the Dodgers out... Read More
Happy Thursday RotoBallers! This is John Brubaker dropping some of my favorite plays for today's slate. It's ALDS time, and we have just a two-game slate on the board for today. It's been a while since I've shared my MLB DFS articles with you, as there were no Thursday games last week, but I'm happy... Read More
RotoBaller has assembled a list of daily MLB injury updates to help you prepare both your seasonal and daily fantasy baseball (DFS) lineups, every day of the MLB season. Below is our updated list of injured MLB players for October 13th, 2022. Only players on teams that are scheduled to play today will appear below... Read More
Happy Wednesday RotoBallers, it's Division Series time and we're back for another day of MLB Postseason betting picks. Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day.... Read More
It's Sunday Morning Week 6... Do You Know Who to Start? Each Sunday morning of the NFL season, RotoBaller's experts will be moderating the industry's leading live chat room and answering a bunch of your fantasy football questions, from around 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM ET. Come join in on the fun, and get your... Read More
Here we go folks, Week 6 of the NFL season is right around the corner and we're ready to rock! We're back as always with our best and brightest, bringing you their updated Week 6 fantasy football PPR rankings for fantasy football, as of October 15th. Our goal as always is to help you set... Read More
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? These are two of the most common questions each week for fantasy football managers, and we're here to help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start. Who Should I Start for Week 6? PPR Half-PPR... Read More
As we head into the first round of bye weeks, the waiver wire is getting a little more complicated across the fantasy landscape. If you are okay with planning for your byes one week ahead of time and rostering players or defenses with a good upcoming matchup, you won't be scrambling at the last minute... Read More
Welcome back RotoBallers to our Week 6 matchups analysis and Start Em, Sit Em column for fantasy football. Last week was jam-packed with action, kicking off with an upset in London, ending with a great divisional matchup Monday night, and featuring another 70+ point game in between. Something to note is that we have arrived at... Read More
Welcome to Week 5 RotoBallers! The season is starting to ramp up, and it is crucial to make the optimal lineup decisions on a weekly basis. As injuries and bye weeks will start to pile up, it is important to start getting some wins under your belt to be in the playoff mix all season... Read More
Welcome to Week 6 of the WR/CB Matchup chart. As the year goes on, the PPGA metric will become more and more predictive. Last week, this article highlighted a lot of good matchups that resulted in big performances and some tough matchups that resulted in duds. Last week's article gave matchup boosts to Gabe Davis,... Read More
Every week, I share some of my favored choices and players to go with when dealing with challenging lineup decisions. These selections are based on my Premium Weekly Lineup Rankings, available as part of the RotoBaller NFL Premium Pass. Enter promo code KING at checkout for a discount and get access to my ranks in all formats, plus... Read More
Hello, fantasy football friends! Ok, wow...that's a lot of F's. Instead of F's, let's focus on another letter in Week 6...the letter B. B as in Bye weeks. For the first time in 2022, we have teams on byes, as the Lions, Titans, Raiders, and Texans won't be available to fantasy managers this week. B... Read More
Week 6 will be full of exciting and unexpected games like the NFL has given us all year. The NFL has been full of surprises between the Giants' surprising 4-1 start or the Rams and Bengals looking the way they do after coming off a SuperBowl trip. One thing that should be just as expected:... Read More
Week 5 saw some upsets, marginal, but it could have been a lot worse. The Jaguars and Packers lost, but what would have been left of survivor pools had the Bucs, Vikings, and Chiefs lost? Week 6 has some favorites, but not the most trustworthy ones. All season long I'll be bringing you weekly survivor... Read More
It's already Week 6 in the NFL, and it feels like the season just began. The running back landscape is tumultuous, to say the least, as consensus #1 overall pick Jonathan Taylor has been ruled out and a handful of key backs have either been ruled out or come in as true question marks. See... Read More
Week 6 is upon us and we have many receivers banged up heading into Sunday. We are being treated with a trio of top receivers in juicy matchups as Kupp (vs. CAR), Jefferson (vs. MIA), and Diggs (vs. KC) are set to go off. Check out our updated Week 6 fantasy football wide receiver rankings,... Read More