It’s Saturday. You know what that means.
Not only is it time for another edition of the category analysis, but it’s also All-Star Saturday Night.
Before the slam dunk and three-point contest, take a few minutes to read our Week 18 category analysis piece as we get ready for our playoff push.
If you’re new to this column, here’s what we will be looking at each and every week.
Every week, we’ll be looking at players who are widely available and rostered in fewer than 60 percent of fantasy leagues on Yahoo. We’ll be focusing on 8-cat leagues because turnovers are a waste of a category, to be honest. We’ll be looking at players who can help you in each of the eight categories who you can get before your league-mates catch on.
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The eight categories we’ll focus on each week are:
- Points
- Rebounds
- Assists
- Steals
- Blocks
- Threes
- Field-goal percentage
- Free-throw percentage
Let’s get to it.
Points
Devin Vassell (SG/SF – SAS): 52%
I wanted to switch this up here but decided to put Vassell here for the second straight week.
The Spurs are embracing the tank and, with that, the youth. Throughout the season, we’ve seen the upside that Vassell has a scorer, and he’s going to be one of the main options for the Spurs’ offense moving forward.
Jason Richardson isn’t going to cut into his production, and over the last week, Vassell has a nice ranking of 69 overall in fantasy, with 14.4 points per game.
I can see a top 50 stretch to finish the season for the second-year wing.
Rebounds
Jonathan Kuminga (SF/PF – GSW): 29%
Starting. Off the bench. Doesn’t matter.
I’m confident in Kuminga playing about 22-26 minutes per game going forward and doing enough across the board to matter for fantasy managers.
Draymond Green is a few weeks away yet, so Kuminga should continue to be a secret weapon of sorts for Coach Steve Kerr to unleash.
Assists
Ish Smith (PG – WAS): 9%
Both Smith and new teammate Raul Neto are worth rostering, and even in a backup role, Smith is able to make a difference for fantasy managers.
In four games with the Wizards, Smith has 21 assists in a backup role where he’s seeing 23 minutes per night.
He’s also scored in double-figures in two of the games, making him a useful player in deeper leagues and a good backend option in 12-team leagues.
Steals
Chuma Okeke (PF – ORL): 40%
Okeke has been playing more minutes lately, averaging 30 minutes over his last two games.
Over the last two weeks, though, Okeke is tied for second in the NBA with Gary Trent Jr. and Kyle Lowry for total steals.
I question his overall ceiling, but he has been a top 45 player over the last month.
Blocks
Jaden McDaniels (SF/PF – MIN): 40%
You know I’m a big Jarred Vanderbilt fan if you’ve read this column.
Huge fan.
But we may be seeing a change in Minnesota as McDaniels has been outplaying him-both in production and in minutes.
McDaniels has played 32.3 minutes per game over his last three games with 15.7 points, 4.7 boards, and 3.3 STOCKs per game.
Vanderbilt, meanwhile, has averaged 26.3 minutes, six points, eight boards, and 1 STOCK per game.
Threes
Luke Kennard (SF/PF – LAC): 19%
It’s about noon eastern time as I’m writing this on Saturday – well before the three-point contest.
My money is on Desmond Bane to take home the contest because I’m a Memphis fan, but the betting favorite is Kennard.
After his performance Thursday, it makes sense why.
Kennard hit eight threes against the Rockets, and he’s averaging four per game over the last week and 2.7 made per game on the season.
He’s widely available and is able to do damage even with inconsistent minutes.
Field-goal percentage
Brandon Clarke (SF/PF – MEM): 48%
We talk about players with high ceilings often. We also talk about players who are good per minute but are inconsistent.
Then you have players with high floors who just offer solid all-around production.
That’s Clarke.
He’s posting top 66 numbers over the last month, and he’s been a top 40 player over the last two weeks.
During the last month, he’s been shooting 73 percent from the field with 12.3 points, 6.4 boards, 1.6 assists, and 1.9 STOCKs.
That’ll play, even if it isn’t going to blow you away.
Free-throw percentage
Goran Dragic (PG/SG – FA): 5%
You know the drill by now with this category. We find someone who can knock down free throws, yes, but it’s also to highlight a player who we can’t quite squeeze into any of the above categories. This week, we’ll talk about Dragic.
Dragic just got bought out by the San Antonio Spurs, making him a free agent and able to sign with any team.
The landing spot matters, of course, but as with most buyout players, he’s more than likely to land with a contending team.
It’ll likely be a bench role for Dragic moving forward, but he’ll offer backend 12-team value in a 20-minute per-game role in the right landing spot.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
