Welcome to Sleeper NBA Lock-In mode. To learn more about Lock-In mode, read our article here. This season, we will be discussing Lock or Pass decisions once per week in this column. Don’t miss out on the fun! Draft your team today!
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Sleeper NBA Lock In: Lock or Pass Week 14
What is Lock-In mode?
Lock-In Mode is a new way to play fantasy basketball that allows fantasy managers to Lock-In a player’s fantasy points following a game or choose to take the risk that they will score more fantasy points in one of the remaining games that week. You can Lock-In just one game per week and cannot Lock-In bench players.
This introduces a new layer of strategy to fantasy basketball while also making fantasy basketball more of a weekly endeavor with daily upkeep as opposed to daily management game that requires one to be on top of injuries and rest days to maximize output. This is great for those who are not available every evening or night to make lineup changes as needed and for those who just do not appreciate the daily grind that season-long fantasy basketball often requires.
Jalen Green (G – HOU): 56.50 fantasy points
Green was excellent against the Blazers on Wednesday, racking up 29 points to go with three assists, one steal, and one block. The fantasy total is his second-highest output of the month and is over 20 fantasy points more than he has put up in the past five games. This was an easy lock decision.
Choice: Lock
Victor Wembanyama (C – SAS): 70.50 fantasy points
Wemby was excellent on Wednesday night, racking up 24 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, one steal, and four blocks. He did his damage in just 27 minutes of action. Wemby has seen his minutes drastically reduced and even gets some load management nights off in back-to-backs. Wemby has two games left this week, but there’s no telling if he will play both of those games, increasing the risk if I pass on a poor result on Friday against the Blazers only for him to sit against the Timberwolves. 70.50 fantasy points would be a lock consideration even if he was playing a full complement of minutes and wasn’t getting vet treatment as a rookie. However, because those are considerations, I would be a fool not to lock in his third roughest fantasy total in over a month.
Choice: Lock
Early week decisions
Scottie Barnes (G/F – TOR): 72.50 fantasy points
Barnes went off on Monday against the Grizzlies, putting up monster numbers with 22 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, and six blocks. Five turnovers stopped this from being an 80+ fantasy point night, but it was still a special performance nonetheless. There was no way I was passing on this line, especially with it being his highest fantasy output in all of January.
Choice: Lock
Sam Merrill (G – CLE): 51.00 fantasy points
Merrill has proven he can get hot from deep, which makes him an ideal flex option for a format like Sleeper NBA Lock-In mode. Merrill exploded on Monday, draining eight of 13 shots from deep for 26 points. The total was his second-highest of the season and was one I had to lock in on a streaky player playing inconsistent minutes. He will continue to have moments for as long as Darius Garland is sidelined, but when I see a lock worthy night for a flex option, I will not hesitate on a player with Merrill’s profile.
Choice: Lock
Non decision decisions
There are a number of players who put up fantasy lines not worth considering and barely worth mentioning here, including Duop Reath (21.00), Julian Champagnie (12.50), Onyeka Okongwu (16.50), and Bilal Coulibaly (4.00).
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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.
