Is Marquese Chriss on his way to carving out a huge role for himself in the second half of the season?
The NBA season is now eight weeks in the books. At this point in the year, you should still be looking for players that can help you win your week, but you should start researching players that can help you later in the season. Teams at the bottom of the standing like Dallas, Phoenix, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Miami are unlikely to make the playoffs and could rest some of their veterans and try and develop some of their younger players.
Today, we will focus on a few of these players, and a couple of players returning from lengthy injuries. So sit back and enjoy this week’s edition of Fantasy Basketball Deep Sleepers.
Import your team for free to get waiver wire advice 
Gary Harris (SG – DEN): 24.7% Ownership
Week 9 Schedule, three games- Monday VS Dallas, Tuesday @ LA Clippers, and Friday VS Atlanta
My number one pickup of the week hasn’t missed a beat since missing 16 straight games with a foot injury. In his two games back with the Nuggets, Harris has averaged 17 points, 4.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.5 three-pointers and 0.5 blocks in 31 minutes a game.
The third-year pro has also seen career highs in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, three-point %, and field-goal % this season. I expect Harris to be the most added player in Week 9, do yourself a favor a pick him up right now, because he won’t be available this time next week.
Justise Winslow (SG/SF/PF – MIA): 23.6% Ownership
Week 9 Schedule, three games- Tuesday VS Orlando, Thursday VS LA Lakers, and Friday @ New Orleans
Order in the court Bucci Justise is served (I love that commercial). It seems that coming off of an injury, a lot of people have forgotten about the former Duke Blue Devil as Winslow’s ownership is ridiculously low after missing 16 straight games with a wrist injury. Before the injury, Winslow was having an excellent sophomore season averaging 11.6 points, 4.7 boards, 4.0 dimes and 1.4 steals in 36 minutes a game.
In his three games back from the injury, Winslow’s minutes have risen every night from 21-to-29-to-32. In those three games, he is averaging 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game. With Dwayne Wade now in Chicago and the Heat clearly in rebuilding mode, I would expect to see Winslow’s usage continue to rise as the Heat continue to build around their second-year stud.
Tim Hardaway Jr. (SG – ATL): 4.9% Ownership
Week 9 Schedule, three games- Monday @ Oklahoma City, Wednesday VS Minnesota, and Friday @ Denver
Through four seasons, the second generation journeyman hasn’t come close to following in the footsteps of his much more successful father. However, things look to be trending upwards for the former Michigan Wolverine. Hardaway has now started five games in a row for the Hawks as Kent Bazemore is being eased back into action with a knee injury.
During the month of December, Hardaway Jr. has averaged 13.8 points, 2.6 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.8 three-pointers a game in 28.8 minutes a game. With Bazemore’s injury issues and Kyle Korver’s recent benching, it looks like the Hawks are starting to put their trust in Hardaway Jr. as he has led the Hawks in minutes over the last five games.
Marquese Chriss (PF – PHO): 2.8% Ownership
Week 9 Schedule, three games- Monday @ Minnesota, Wednesday VS Houston, and Friday VS Philadelphia
In deep leagues, I love targeting talented rookies or second-year players that play for bad teams. Late in the year, these teams have little to play for and usually rest their veterans and try and give their younger players as much time to develop as possible. Chriss, the 19-year-old rookie from Washington, would fit this description.
In his last three games, Chriss has averaged 10.7 points, 7.3 boards, 1.0 blocks, 1.3 three-pointers, and 0.7 steals in 28.7 minutes a game. With the Suns’ playoff hopes fading, and a stable of injury-prone veterans such as Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and Tyson Chandler who could miss some time. I expect to see the Suns unleash Chriss during the second half of the season along with fellow rookie Dragan Bender (another potential deep sleeper for later in the season) and Devin Booker.
That’s it for this week. We’ll be back every Monday as we continue to scour the depths of the waiver wire to find players owned in less than 25% of leagues who can help you win your week, and who could be long-term sleepers that help you win your leagues. If you have any question, feel free to hit me up on Twitter.
Archives
Fantasy Basketball DEEP Sleepers: Week 4
Fantasy Basketball DEEP Sleepers: Week 5
Fantasy Basketball DEEP Sleepers: Week 7
Fantasy Basketball DEEP Sleepers: Week 8
Steve Maro is a correspondent with FantasyPros. For more from Steve, check out his archive or follow him @maro_steve.
