2024-25 Fantasy Basketball January Risers and Fallers

Welcome back, RotoBallers, to the third edition of my monthly fantasy basketball risers and fallers series for the 2024-25 season!

We're now less than a month away from the All-Star break, and things are starting to get spicy. If things haven't gone your way yet in your fantasy leagues, don't lose hope! Every month, 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 the third month of the NBA season.

Fantasy Basketball Risers: January

Trey Murphy III - F, New Orleans Pelicans

Trey Murphy III headed into the 2024-25 season looking to finally make that All-Star leap. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury cost him the first 10 games of the season, and the Pelicans went 3-7 without him.

TREY MURPHY CLUTCH REJECTION 🚫 pic.twitter.com/2FrTaLG54L

— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 16, 2025

Murphy shot 38.8% from the field in his first nine games back, which cost him his starting spot. Luckily for Murphy, his time as a bench player only lasted two games and he has been on fire since returning to the starting lineup.

In his last 14 games, Murphy has put up 24.7 points a night while shooting 47.5% from the field and 95.7% from the foul line. The Pelicans look like they might trade away some of their star players at the trade deadline, which could mean more touches for Murphy and an opportunity to be the face of the franchise.

Collin Sexton - G, Utah Jazz

Collin Sexton loves the middle of December. He averaged just 12.3 points in his first 22 games of the previous season, but went on a tear since mid-December and finished the year averaging 21.2 PPG in his last 56 games.

The same thing is happening again this year. Sexton started the year off slow, putting up 16.3 points per game before mid-December. But since December 16, Sexton has been on fire, with averages of 21.3 points and 5.3 assists on 48.3% shooting from the field and 42.1% from three.

Sexton is one of those players who gets better as the season progresses; he averages 17.7 PPG throughout his career in games before the All-Star break, and 22.6 PPG in games after the break.

Desmond Bane - F, Memphis Grizzlies

Desmond Bane was injured for almost half of the 2023-24 season and got hurt again after just five games into this season. He missed seven games and looked rusty when he returned, putting up just 12.9 points a night while shooting 27.8% from deep in his first 14 games after the injury.

But he has rediscovered his form this month. The former TCU Horned Frog has been active on both ends of the floor, stuffing the stat sheet with averages of 21.8 points, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 steals with a true shooting percentage of 65.5 in his last 11 games.

The Grizzlies have a tough schedule until the All-Star break but also have five games against below-average defenses, and Bane and the rest of the crew will hope to head into the break with momentum.

Cam Whitmore - F, Houston Rockets

After a good stretch at the end of his rookie season, many thought Cam Whitmore was going to get consistent minutes in the Rockets rotation as a sophomore.

Followed by a Cam Whitmore REVERSE WINDMILL. 👀 https://t.co/qdekmujyLD pic.twitter.com/0dIBQnlFwY

— NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2025

But Houston is contending now and can't afford many mistakes. Whitmore started the season off slowly, and as a result, was sent down to the G League.

But the 20th overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft has been rejuvenated since his return to the team. He has put up 13.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals while shooting 46.9% from the floor and 42.6% from beyond the arc in his last 12 games.

Fantasy Basketball Fallers: January

Buddy Hield - G, Golden State Warriors

The Buddy Hield cycle is real. He has been traded four times in his career and every time he starts great before falling off and becoming unplayable. Warriors fans, myself included, spent weeks trying to convince ourselves that Hield would be permanently fixed in the Warriors system.

We had three fanbases telling us about the Buddy Hield cycle like this, and we still didn’t believe it, lol pic.twitter.com/xvytDoYqro

— Youssef Mahmoud (@YoussefElelaimy) December 31, 2024

And after he started the year scoring 20+ points in six of his first seven games while shooting over 50% from three, we thought we had found our next Klay Thompson.

Unfortunately, Hield crashed back down to earth and has been downright disgusting this month. He averaged just 9.4 points on horrendous shooting splits (35.7 FG%, 29.7 3PT%) in his last 16 games.

Patrick Williams - F, Chicago Bulls

Bulls fans, it's time to have that conversation about Patrick Williams. Picked ahead of players such as Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, and Desmond Bane, Williams has failed to justify his draft position and his five-year, $90 million contract extension signed this summer.

One could make the case that it has to do with his mentality. Williams recently said he never wants to be "bad at anything on the court," which is a good mentality to have if you're a second-round pick.

However, a top-5 pick should always have the mentality of wanting to be the best, not wanting to avoid being the worst. After five years of having this mentality, it has finally caught up to him. Now, he's playing very poorly, averaging just 8.0 points and 2.8 rebounds a night on 36.4% shooting from the field in his last 10 games.

Nicolas Claxton - C, Brooklyn Nets

What happened to Nic Claxton? In the 2022-23 season, he led the league in field-goal percentage and averaged 12.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in just under 30 minutes a night. He was just 23 years old, but now he looks like a shell of his former self.

Nic Claxton… pic.twitter.com/lWhYNIBeNI

— Brooklyn Netcast (@BrooklynNetcast) January 16, 2025

Claxton has put up 9.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in his last 16 games while shooting 44.5% from the field. He has averaged a plus/minus of -7.1 this season, and it seems like a trade would be the only ideal solution for Claxton and the Nets organization.

He recently became eligible for a trade after signing his four-year, $100 million extension in the offseason.

Dennis Schroder - G, Golden State Warriors

Dennis Schroder is one of the most frustrating players I've ever seen in my years as a basketball fan. When he's on his game, very few players can score and dribble around as effortlessly as him. But when he's not, he actively hurts his team.

De'Anthony Melton was a great fit for the Warriors, but he got hurt, which forced them to trade him to the Nets for Schroder. On paper, it's a questionable fit at best. On the court, it has been a nightmare. Schroder has shot just 34.6% from the field and 27.4% from three since the trade, and the Dubs have gone 6-9.

The German was balling out with the Nets before the trade, and it's obvious that his style of play isn't a good fit with the Warriors system.