Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Kelly Olynyk, Chet Holmgren make the list
Injuries are the rules of the road these days and we’ll stick with finding some injury replacement, under-the-radar guys, as well as looking at some big names who appear to have hit a wall.
We’re smack-dab right in the middle of the NBA’s silly season and Coby White, Luka Doncic and James Harden were all out on Thursday night, while Donovan Mitchell finally returned from his knee injury.
Risers
Kelly Olynyk, PF/C, Raptors (27% rostered in ESPN leagues): Olynyk has been a top-35 player during his past seven games with averages of 14.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.9 steals, 1.1 blocks and 1.4 triples in 29 minutes per contest. He’s not a great rebounder but is sufficient and his steals, blocks and 3-pointers are fantasy gold. He’s the last big man standing in Toronto and he’s cooking right now. The only downside is the Raptors go 3-3-4-4 in games played per week to finish out the season, which isn’t ideal for the next couple of weeks.
Precious Achiuwa, PF/C, Knicks (22.6%): Achiuwa has quietly been nearly a top-40 player during his past five games with averages of 13.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 2.8 blocks and 0.8 3-pointers. He’s shooting 56% from the floor over that stretch, but is also hitting just 58% of his free throws. As long as you can survive the free throw shooting, the rest of his game has been rock solid over the past two weeks. The Knicks finish the season with a weekly schedule of 3-4-4-4 games.
Simone Fontecchio, SF, Pistons (7.4%): Ausar Thompson has an asthma issue and I’m not sure when we’ll see him again. Meanwhile, Fontecchio has averaged 14.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.4 blocks and 2.4 3-pointers during his past seven games. He has been a top-85 fantasy play over that stretch and he’s also shooting it well at 46% from the floor and a stellar 94% from the line. He should finish out the season strong, with or without the Thompson Twin, and the Pistons finish up 4-3-4-4 over the last four weeks of the season.
Vasilije Micic, PG/SG, Hornets (6.4%): Micic is rostered in more leagues than he was last week but is still widely available in way too many. The problem is the Hornets only have two games next week, but then finish 4-4-4 if you can survive that one. During his past seven games, Micic has averages of 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.6 3-pointers while shooting 49% from the floor and 94% from the line. He has been a top-115 player over that stretch and should be rostered everywhere until further notice, but the two-game week might be rough.
Bilal Coulibaly, SG/SF, Wizards (3.4%): Coulibaly has been starting for the Wizards and has scored 10 or 11 points in four straight games. He’s also a nice source of 3-pointers, steals and blocks and could end up being a silly-season hero, along with teammates Corey Kispert and Deni Avdija. Coulibaly has been a top-110 guy over his past five games with averages of 9.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.2 blocks and 1.6 3-pointers. He’s shooting just 37% from the floor over that stretch but hasn’t missed a free throw.
Others to consider: Alex Caruso, Corey Kispert, De’Andre Hunter, Dereck Lively II, Amen Thompson, Brandin Podziemski, Norman Powell, Duncan Robinson, Naz Reid, Jabari Walker and GG Jackson.
Fallers
Chet Holmgren, PF/C, Thunder (99.5%): As Victor Wembanyama runs away with the Rookie of the Year Award, Holmgren continues to struggle for the Thunder, returning just 10th-round fantasy value during his past six games. He has averaged 13.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.2 steals, 1.0 blocks and 1.2 3-pointers over that stretch while shooting just 44% from the floor and 81% from the line. He’ll bounce back, but he has been a bit too quiet over the past two weeks while Wemby continues to rack up big numbers on most nights.
Klay Thompson, SG/SF, Warriors (80.6%): While Klay keeps showing signs of life, the numbers just aren’t there and he has been just a top-160 player during the past two weeks. In his past seven games, Thompson has averaged just 15.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.3 blocks and 1.7 3-pointers on 41% shooting. When you can’t even rely on Thompson for 3-pointers, you know things are bad. And the season-long shooting slump has been disastrous.
Bam Adebayo, C, Heat (99.5%): Adebayo has been just a top-160 player during his past six games as a lack of assists and some poor shooting are messing with his fantasy managers right now. In his past six, Bam has averaged just 15.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks while shooting 45% from the floor and a paltry 55% from the line. He’ll bounce back, but it has been a pretty rough ride for his fantasy managers for a couple weeks now.
Walker Kessler, C, Jazz (69.3%): Kessler has never really gotten on track this season and has been a source of blocks without much else to offer for most of the year. He has ranked around 180 over his past two games, and you have to wonder if the Jazz are considering a shutdown. I know two games isn’t much to look at, but he has also been hurt, further adding to the misery. With averages of 4.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and just 1.0 blocks over his past two games, in fewer than 22 minutes a night, no one could blame you if you drop Kessler for a hot free agent. I would, if I had him.
Jusuf Nurkic, C, Suns (85.4%): The Nurk alerts have been few and far between of late and he has been barely inside the top 190 during his past seven games. With averages of just 9.0 points, 15.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.3 blocks, Nurkic has basically just been a rebounds guy, and nothing more. Yes, he has hit 58% of his shots over his past seven games, but he’s also shooting just 29% from the line over the past two weeks.
