Aldama has made most of his fantasy opportunity
Santi Aldama has become a reliable big man for the Memphis Grizzlies, making him a plyer that should be rostered in most fantasy formats.
With Tuesday’s schedule consisting of five In-Season Tournament games before Wednesday’s 14-game bonanza, the pickings were slim regarding Pickups of the Day. However, injuries have thrust a few players onto the radar after they weren’t even an afterthought during the draft process. One of those players is Cavaliers rookie point guard Craig Porter Jr., who is currently rostered in 16% of Yahoo leagues. Injuries to Darius Garland (who’s now playing), Donovan Mitchell, and Caris LeVert pushed him into the Cavaliers’ rotation earlier this month, and his play has kept him there.
With Mitchell and LeVert sidelined for Tuesday’s game in Philadelphia, Porter logged important minutes in a game Cleveland needed to win in order to keep its hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals alive. In 27 minutes, he finished the three-point overtime victory with 12 points, three rebounds, nine assists, one blocked shot, and one turnover, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the foul line. Porter still hasn’t cracked the top 200 in 9-cat per-game value for the season, but he’s been a top 100 player over the last week, according to Basketball Monster.
With Cleveland playing the second game of a back-to-back Wednesday night against Miami, and finishing Week 5 with a Saturday/Sunday home back-to-back against the Lakers and Raptors, streaming Porter would not be the riskiest proposition. Mitchell is dealing with a right hamstring strain, while LeVert sat out Tuesday’s game with a sore left knee. Maybe LeVert is cleared to play against the Heat, but even if he is, there will still be a need for Porter at the point guard position.
Let’s take a look at a few other top pickups from Tuesday:
Aaron Nesmith (8%)
The game between the Pacers and Hawks was wild and should stand as one of the most entertaining when the regular season concludes in early April. The game featured 309 total points, and Rick Carlisle rolled out a new starting lineup. In were Nesmith and Buddy Hield, with Obi Toppin and Bennedict Mathurin being moved to the bench. Nesmith is the focus here, as he finished with 17 points, one rebound, one assist, one steal, one block, and one 3-pointer in 25 minutes. Not the most robust stat line by any stretch of the imagination, but the promotion makes him worthy of consideration in deep leagues. There’s no need for managers in standard leagues to take that leap just yet because the man he replaced in the lineup (Toppin) still played 34 minutes.
Grayson Allen (37%)
Allen has been on the fantasy radar for a few weeks now, but his inclusion on the list for Tuesday is all about the schedule. He didn’t have his best night in Tuesday’s win over the Trail Blazers, finishing with eight points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 35 minutes. But with Bradley Beal (back) out indefinitely and the Suns playing the second game of a back-to-back Wednesday night against the Warriors, some standard league managers may begin to sniff around in search of a streamer. Also, Devin Booker has not played both ends of a back-to-back yet this season. If that holds, Allen’s value will receive a welcome boost. After Wednesday, the Suns will play twice more in Week 5.
Max Christie (< 1%)
Like Allen, injuries and the schedule have Christie on this list as a player managers in extremely deep leagues may consider for Wednesday. Cam Reddish exited Tuesday’s win over the Jazz after minutes with groin tightness, and he didn’t appear to be moving too well when walking back to the locker room. With Austin Reaves already rostered in 88% of Yahoo leagues, most managers aren’t going to find him lurking on the waiver wire. But Christie, who started the second half of Tuesday’s game, won’t be hard to find. With there being 14 games on the schedule, he is not a player who has to be added; there should be better options. But mentioning him in this space isn’t the worst thing in the world.