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Welcome back, RotoBallers, to the 20th edition of my weekly fantasy basketball risers and fallers for the 2023-2024 season!
We're just a month away from the 2023-24 NBA regular-season finale, and things are getting intense between contending teams. While it might be a bit too late now if things haven't gone your way yet in your fantasy leagues, you can certainly use my help if you're still fighting for a spot in the fantasy playoffs, as I'm here to help you assess the value of some players who are seeing major production swings during the year.
With that being said, let's look at the risers and fallers from Week 20 of the NBA season.
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including NBA Writer of the Year, Best NFL Series, MLB Series, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win more with RotoBaller! Read More!
Fantasy Basketball Risers: Week 20
Corey Kispert - F, New Orleans Pelicans
In the offseason, I predicted that Corey Kispert would be the breakout star of the 2023-24 Wizards, and even though he certainly has the talent, the Wizards didn't give him the necessary playing time for him to succeed. Kispert only averaged 21.5 minutes a night in his first 15 games of the year, but he still managed to put up 18.8 points a night per 36 minutes during that span.
400th career 3PM for @corey_kispert. 👌🔥 pic.twitter.com/l0fMBVznqp
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) March 10, 2024
But now that the Wizards have benched Jordan Poole, the sharpshooter is getting a chance to show how talented he is. In his last nine games, Kispert has averaged 15.4 points a night while shooting 50% from the field and 40.4% from three. March and April have always been the best months of Kispert's young career, so we can expect him to continue his momentum.
Dennis Schroder - G, Brooklyn Nets
No, young NBA fans, Michael Jordan isn't a basketball "bandit". The real basketball "bandit" is Ben Simmons, who is out for the season yet again after just playing in 15 games. The Nets are frustrated with Simmons stealing so much money from them, but the one man who should be happy that the former number-one overall pick is out is Dennis Schroder, who is back to putting up his usual numbers since Simmons' injury.
Schroder put up just 8.2 PPG on 30.8% shooting to start his Nets tenure with Simmons. But ever since Simmons' injury, the German has averaged 18.1 points and 6.9 assists a night while shooting 53.9% from the floor and 56.3% from deep. With the Nets' season practically over, Schroder can put up even bigger numbers on a tanking team.
Paul George - F, Los Angeles Clippers
February was a terrible month for Clippers star Paul George, as he averaged 17.9 points while having some terrible shooting performances. But he has flipped a switch recently and now has a massive opportunity to put on a show for the fans as the main man. Since that slump, PG-13 is back to averaging his usual 21.8 points on a 62.7% true shooting percentage, which is eighth in the NBA among all players who have taken 90+ shots since the start of March.
Paul George. pic.twitter.com/gc7hpUFNMJ
— STEPBACK (@StepBackfr) March 9, 2024
But now his numbers could explode considering that Kawhi Leonard will be out due to an injury for a while. Since Russell Westbrook is also out, that leaves Paul George as the Alpha Dog of this team next to James Harden, and it's time for him to cook.
Fantasy Basketball Fallers: Week 20
Sam Merrill - G, Cleveland Cavaliers
Remember when Sam Merrill became a fantasy basketball sensation in January? Now, those days are long gone and he's simply a shooter who plays limited minutes and only shoots threes.
Sam Merrill is 6/35 in the last 5 games man. Why can’t we get him and CPJ to cook at the same time? It’s always one or the other 😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞 pic.twitter.com/5wRIXwwMvV
— SUPER BOOWWLL 🚽 SUPPPERR BRRROOOWWWNNNS 😒 (@The_1nine) March 12, 2024
There's nothing wrong with that if he makes his shots, as was the case during his first two games of March where he went 11-22 from deep. He got his first NBA start since May 2021 due to these two performances, but he has been ice cold since then, going 6-35 from three over his last five games and only attempting two field goals from inside the arc, missing both.
Kevin Huerter - G/F, Sacramento Kings
This has been a very frustrating season for Kevin Huerter, who was supposed to build upon his fantastic 2022-23 season where he averaged 15.2 points while shooting 48.5% from the field and 40.2% from three. Huerter has gone through so many stretches of inconsistent play this season that has made him a poor fantasy option.
You don't know if you're going to get a good week out of him or a bad week, and this might have to do with a hand injury that he suffered right before New Year's Eve. He never took time off to heal this injury and it shows. Last week, Huerter scored just 4.8 points per game while shooting 32% from the floor and going 3-16 from deep.
Moses Moody - G, Golden State Warriors
Another player who is having a frustrating season is Moses Moody who, unlike Jonathan Kuminga, has failed to break out and become a key contributor to the Warriors this season. For his career, in games where he has played more than 30 minutes, Moody has averaged 17.5 points a night with a 64.4% true shooting percentage.
But he has only played in eight such games and he simply isn't getting enough chances to show himself. Last week, Moody averaged just 6.8 points while going 0-10 from three, and now that we're nearing the playoffs, his chances will keep diminishing. Let's hope that Moody can have a season like 2023-24 Kuminga next season.
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